Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Miracles were a thing that Apollo never truly believed in.

He supposed he was a god, so technically he could cast a ‘miracle’ upon whomever he wanted, but that was just a mere upside of divinity. Even with the divinity he had he still hadn’t managed to accomplish the one thing mortals did everyday. Have a child of his own, one to cherish, love, gift, and play with. But that happiness was stripped away before his birth had even been foretold by the Lady Fates.

The sole purpose of every being, that right, had been taken, snatched away from Apollo’s feet like a carpet. The Crooked One, an artless, earth-vexing, bastard who upon seeing his defeat so clearly laid out in front of him, cursed the Kronides and their children to never conceive a child.

But, the one thing the Crooked One could never account for, despite being the titan of time, was fate. Because for some ill-conceived reason, one that even Apollo couldn’t have foreseen, four little demi-mortal children of gods had come into the world. Possibly more if the ‘Per-ce and Anna-beth’ that the Prince of Lies had mentioned were truly alive. Luke, what the Prince of Lies had named himself, had scampered away like a terrified cat after Ares, like an utter buffoon, hadn’t kept him scruffed well.

However, that was an argument for later as Apollo would simply spend his morning with his mortal brother, that's right, mortal brother. The infant, Jason, was a cute bundle of flesh and appendages. Everyone adored him and Apollo would tease Dionysus over the way he played with Jason who was strung up in a sling clinging to the himation of Zeus, Jason and Apollo’s ever-loving father.

Ares– cooing in a way that was only reserved for Aphrodite and the younglings– was clutching his auburn-headed daughter, Clarisse. Now that had been one interesting and not mildly disturbing encounter after the girl had screamed about Apollo eating her. What a ghastly thought!

The last of the three miracles that were currently on Olympus was the fair-skinned star of Hades. He was almost entirely covered by Hades and his shadows with only the faintest bit of his forehead and black hair sticking out.

Despite such a splendorous occasion occurring Apollo was worried. Worried for the Prince of Lies, the ‘Per-ce’ and ‘Anna-beth’ that were currently out in the wild world of Hellas. But most importantly Apollo was worried for Hermes, he hadn’t been seen in a year, Hermes was a trickster, yes, but a whole year missing was a ghastly thought that Apollo wouldn’t ordain if he wasn’t concerned. Apparently Dionysus and Pan had found the Luke child again, he had yelled at them about Hermes being captured, even holding his Caduceus!

But a god getting captured was a thought that would be whole-heartedly laughed at. Apollo was tempted to laugh at it but the way Dionysus eyebrows had scrunched up and Pan’s fake heartbeat quickened it made Apollo consider the thought.

Hermes being attacked did explain how he hadn’t scoured every nook and cranny until he found his son, of twelve summers, and brought him back to the confines of Olympus. But, Ares, Hades, and Father, hadn’t known about their respective miracles until they were found or brought to them. 

Apollo had performed check-ups on all the little stars after the request of their parents. What he found was damning to say the least. Hades' child was too small for his age, as if he had never had a sustainable food source to call his own. His soul was bare of claims from a mother, a father, and siblings, the only claims that touched Apollo’s fingers as he reached into his soul was that of a deeply cherished man, who based on the claim that wrapped around Apollo’s finger, was someone of brightness and someone who cared for the little shadow child deeply. 

The next had come from Clarisse surprisingly, her soul was rough around the edges but when you looked deeper, if you could look deeper, her soul shone with kindness and sympathy. The next had come from someone reckless, as if they would run straight into a storm if dared to. While Apollo admired the bravery he still questioned if this was a good influence on his nephew. 

The last one had come from two different souls yet they mirrored each other perfectly, while the both held sadness one had deep-buried sadness but it was covered in some semblance of a mask, trying to keep others out of its grief, while the other held the grief of knowing they left too early. 

The souls were familiar; it almost felt like he was looking into Dionysus, or Fathers soul but that was a silly thought, the only souls that could have those were the children of said two. And while Father had a few children Dionysus had none.

Lastly was little Jason, he smiled wide when Apollo held his two fingers to Jason’s heart. Claims from all the gods Jason had encountered from Olympus were forming. But there was one, it had been buried deep down like it had been suppressed by some unseen force but it was there, strangely enough it was the same reckless and dare-devil soul from Nico’s claims. Carrying a very similar formation as Jason’s own soul… strange.

Apollo’s pondering was stopped short when the strings of fate tightened around the throne room. It almost suffocated the presence of the gods like a noose of yarn. Before the feeling could drown out the essence of the gods the strings released it was a very similar feeling to when a bow was drawn then fired. A multicolored light silenced the voices of the gods. When the light had disappeared almost as if Helios had descended right then and there, the three little starlit miracles had disappeared from the hands of their parents. Now empty hands sat frozen in the air as the smell of blood, dirt, petrichor, and ozone filled the room.

“WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?” Father thundered, distantly Apollo could hear the prayers of hundreds if not thousands of mortals begging for relief, for escape.

Uncle Hades shadows started writhing before he began a little more than a being of shadows. Ares wasn’t doing much better, vulture wings flapped violently on his back while mouth had tusks growing out of it. Before anyone could chase after the thieves who dared to take three stars of the gods and not expect punishment, the three Lady Fates appeared before them.

In their hands were nine glowing threads. Apollo stared right at them expecting a vision or whisper of prophecy to invade his mind and sense, but none came. Vague prophecy was all fair game to him but prophecy being inaccessible was something that had never happened. In all his decades and centuries of living prophecy was always an open book for him, giving him answers, clues, or more questions, but never nothing. It was strange, even a little horrifying.

“Gods of Olympus,” Clotho, the spinner, began, “the threads have become too frayed. Now we shall take action and lift your curse.”

Aphrodite gasped, while Hestia let out a tear of joy. Apollo’s eyes were blown wide. The three fates taking action against the Crooked One was a dream come true, and gods had no dreams.

“However,” Lachesis continued, her voice smooth as silk, “you must listen to the stories of great heroes, who faced enemies larger than Ares has, fought battles bigger than Athena has planned.”

Exaggeration was not a thing Apollo thought the Fates would do. Apparently neither had the rest of the present gods, Ares and Athena were looking at the three like they had become crazy, perhaps they had, that might explain the block on prophecy that Apollo was experiencing.. 

“Now,” Atropos stated, her voice made Aphrodite, the oldest of all of the gods, cringe back, “They shall be summoned here, in their original form. A forcefield had been erected to prevent the mental and physical harm you might cause them.”

While the gods waited for the ‘heroes’ to be summoned Hestia clutched Ares and Uncle Hades who had begun to weep at the disappearance of his son. Father brandished his bolt. Despite Apollo having reminded his father that they couldn’t harm them because of the forefield he still did it anyway in case they needed to be ready for anything.

The multicolored light came back, but now when Apollo looked closer it almost resembled a clot of threads. When it disappeared ten adolescents had fallen onto the marble of the throne room, along with someone who looked awfully familiar to Apollo. Hermes’ sandy blonde hair, cerulean eyes, feathered ears, stared at Apollo in all its decrepit glory.

“Whu– where are weee?” A girl spoke. Her eyes were the exact same shade as Jason’s along with her face and hair texture. A silver circlet rested on her forehead glinting under the sunlight. Artemis had never mentioned a new hunter to Apollo. When he turned to look at his older twin she eyed the circlet with distrust and curiosity. Did she not know who this is? But her soul… her soul was the same thunder-sparking soul that was intertwined with Jason’s and Hades’ little star.

That was strange. Apollo felt like he was using that word for almost every experience he had on the current Brightest Star Day. His twin knew every hunter's name, alive or deceased, by heart. So why was she looking at someone who bore her circlet as if she didn’t know the girl. The circlets were impossible to acquire if you weren’t a hunter so she had to be one, but for Artemis not to know her would be impossible.

“Thalia!” A fair-haired boy said. If Jason had lost most of his baby fat this would be the picture-perfect image of what he would be like when he was older. The fates mentioned something about original form but what did that entail? Were these heroes in disguises or something else? The boy's soul had sparked to life upon seeing ‘Thalia.’

The wide smile replicated the one that Jason had given Apollo when he had poked his forehead, but the boy couldn’t have gone from two summers to sixteen summers in the blink of an eye. Jason wasn’t a god and he didn’t have any shape-shifting abilities that Apollo knew of.

There were however a few faces that Apollo could recognize. The face of a now adult Luke was staring at the gods from across the throne room, a long scar stretched from the corner of his eye to the bottom of his jaw, like it had been gouged out by a huntsman. There were also the older versions of Clarisse and Hades’ child, Hades child hadn’t lost his malnutrition, it seemed to cling to his frames more than it had when he was younger. Clarisse still had the spark in her eye from when she had almost slapped Apollo across the face when she scrambled away from him.

“Jason! How are ou ‘ere? And why are you ‘o much ol’er ‘ompar’d to us?” ‘Thalia’s’ slurred words were difficult to understand but the boy seemed to get the message. 

The boy, no, Jason, ran to Thalia’s side. Jason, he had come back, older and scarred. Apollo’s ichor threatened to boil over. His barely concealed rage threatened to drown the room in maladies, the only thing stopping him from lighting the room ablaze was the face of Jason who seemed to melt under the infernum that was the room.

He scrutinized the Thalia girl, she was reaching for, no, touching Jason with her grimy mortal hands. How could Jason allow this? How could the Fates allow this? Apollo knew they were strange, but to allow for a filthy mortal to touch a child of the gods? What sort of misbegotten reason would warrant such a heinous crime?

“Christ,” Dionysus and Pan swiveled around to face Luke, fluttering above the ground staring at the gods, “Why now?”

“YOU!” The adolescents yelled. 

They had a stockpile of weapons ranging from a bow, which Apollo approved of, to daggers, which Athena would gladly endorse. Despite the sight of the weapons being intriguing to Apollo he couldn’t help but let out a strangled gasp at mere children wielding them with such ease. No child should ever be accustomed to weapons in such a way that they were completely ready to war with them. 

The adult version of Clarisse stormed towards Luke, spear completely forgotten on the floor as she wound up and a loud slap rang about the room. She tackled Luke to the floor and punched his gut causing Luke to double over. Luke’s eyes– much like Hermes, Apollo noted, constricted violently at the attack.

“You mother-fucking, rat bastard! How could you run off like that you dickwad!”

“Clarisse be careful we don’t know if–” Whatever the tanned teen had wanted to say was cut off by a crack of lightning.

Father had stood up, glaring at Thalia with the intent to eradicate, “You girl!”

Jason for some foolish reason had decided to step between the two, Fathers eyes softened slightly but his brow was contorted in confusion.

“Lord Zeus please don’t!” Jason shouted over the torrent of rain pelting the mountainside. 

Apollo had forgotten how silly and forgetful most mortals could be, after all why would the little spark need to call Father, Lord Zeus? Apollo promised to teach his brother that he would never need to use such a formal title if he spoke to family.

“Brother, she has just committed a heinous crime and yet you defend her like she has done nothing wrong?”

The heroes began to murmur amongst themself mouthing words like ‘brother’ and ‘crime’ as if it were a foreign concept.

“She’s my sister!” Jason now stood fully in front of Thalia, intent on taking the brunt of Fathers blow.

Sister? Apollo questioned. No answer came through the mind link. Father and Mother looked dumbfounded by young Jason’s words. Apollo couldn’t say he wasn’t feeling the same. That would explain the tight connection the two had but for two miracles to exist? It was simply a fantasy made up by the most imaginative minds.

The gods of Olympus began to look closer at the girl. Noting the way her eyes shone an electric blue, almost glowing from the gloom of the downcast clouds. The way the girl's soul sparked abruptly. The all too similar face she shared with Jason made itself known. How her scent was that of fog, iron, and the gale at the top of a particularly high mountain.

The disheveled face of Hermes, it couldn’t be anything but him, but he was too scummy to have voluntarily changed form to look like that.

One of the adolescents began to speak, Apollo sucked in a sharp breath, for the child had his hair, his eyes, his scent, “Why are we here?”

Apollo cringed from the accent. The 𝜌 too forceful and the τη almost turning into a δ. He noted that the child was very straightforward in his statement, or that he didn’t know the language of Hellas that well.

The three Lady Fates watched with rapt attention and even detached amusement, if Apollo could read their expressions well, before they stepped in.

“Yes Prince of Knowledge and Health, to answer your question, you are here to tell your stories, and break these gods' curse. It should be very obvious that they are not who you know,” They spoke in eerie synchrony with each other.

Prince of Knowledge and Health. The words rang around Apollo’s head. Looking at the child, it all made sense to him, the similar scent, looks, and gleam in the child's eye were all traits the child, the miracle, had gotten from Apollo.

Where is his parent? How did I not know? How is he alive? When Apollo faced his child, they shrunk back in fear, slipping behind the son of Hades despite being half a head taller than him. 

Why would he not come running to him? Does he not feel safe? Why? Does he think I will hurt him? Apollo had no clue what could possibly warrant this behavior. Apollo’s mind was reeling, he had a child, his child was scared of him, his child was alive, they were grown, they put more trust in the Son of Hades than his own father.

“Child? Come here please. It’s safer… you are safer with your family, not with the likes of them…” Apollo pleaded with his child.

His child’s eyes were blown wide in surprise before quickly recovering and closing his mouth so that they could understand the trumpets of a swan and the chitter of a dolphin. 

With a voice that sounded like it was made with the utmost care and kindness Apollo’s child spoke, the sound of their voice lighting a blazing fire within Apollo’s chest, “I’ll stay here… sir,”

The elation that his child spoke to him was quickly swallowed by disappointment. To his dismay the child had used such formalities with his own father when he could’ve just called Apollo father and been swept right into his arms. The child continued to slink back, coming all the way to the older version of Clarisse who whispered in their ear. Whatever Clarisse had whispered into his child's ear had caused the child's shoulders to drop and sag, no longer tense from stress but quiet from anxiety.

If the child knew Clarisse then that meant that they were probably there to see the picture that Apollo had painted in that small town. While it may not have been the best first impression Apollo could give his child certainly understood his reasonings for such an action, after all, like father like son.

“Children please introduce yourself, name and godly parent only,” The Fates addressed the children, “Luke we ask that you give the Caduceus to Hermes, his snakes must miss him.”

Luke, who before the Fates addressed him, Apollo had entirely forgotten he was there, froze. He threw a short glance towards the disheveled Hermes who was currently choking on something. The skin around his neck, wrists, and ankles were red and rashed like they had been rubbed against rusty metal for months. Turquoise eyes belonging to a man on the cusp of adulthood turned to look at Hermes, for some absurd reason recognition flashed within his eyes.

“Well Castellan, or should I call you a different name?” The man asked, bitterness flowed into his voice like the tide, “Are you going on a second attempt of stealing objects of power?”

“Funny. But no,” Luke said, “I denounced that life when I regained my humanity back on [-----------].”

“You really think we're going to believe that shit [--------]?” The girl standing next to the other man's voice cut off abruptly leaving a perplexed face on most everyone in the room.

“Believe it or not,” Luke’s voice got slightly softer, “but I'm going to figure out how to atone for my [-------] if that means reading our adventures, to letting you gut me, either one will do.”

Apollo was now sure that this group of children were not right in the head. Offering to sacrifice themselves is noble but no sacrifice was even required. Was this man really just offering to kill himself to ‘atone?’ Atone for what? Was left unsaid.

“You’re really back?” Thalia asked in surprise.

“Thalia, how can you–” The girl began.

“Annabeth, I know you won’t believe it but I recognize that tone of voice, he’s not lying.”

The girl, Annabeth, huffed but the tears glistening in her eyes was a clear indicator something had happened between the three of them. Something that made Aphrodite’s eyes glisten.

“Also for your information Percy, I didn’t steal this,” Luke began waving the Caduceus around lazily, “I found it in a cave after I ran away from someone.”

A not so subtle glance was sent Ares' way.

Logically, Hermes would never leave his snakes alone and depressed on his volition. So if what he heard from Dionysus was correct then Luke must have found the Caduceus within Hermes cave. If the snakes had led him to Lepus then that was probably where he encountered Dionysus and Pan. 

Father and Pan were seething in rage trying to reach out and clutch Hermes in their arms but the damned forcefield was in their way. The Fates were being quite counter-productive if they had transported Hermes into the throne room so he could be healed by Apollo.

Before Apollo could let unadulterated rage flood through his being his child spoke about him and Apollo would be lying if it didn’t bring a giddyness into his being. He was committing an act that the mortals dubbed ‘eaves-dropping’ but did it count if Apollo wasn’t human in the slightest?

“Why can’t my… this version of my father heal Hermes?” This version?

The green-eyed man, Percy, said, “I don’t know, the Fates mentioned something about a forcefield right?”

Apollo deflated slightly, his child still hadn't looked him in the eye.

“Can you hand me some ambrosia?” Percy asked.

Apollo never remembered his child nor this Percy-man stealing Ambrosia from the banquet hall. The mortals had no way of ever making ambrosia so Apollo was attempting to think of any logical solution to the question but none came.

“Sure, do you think they're listening?” Apollo’s child nudged their head towards Apollo.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

With that the whispered conversation stopped and his child took out a translucent satchel –Apollo wondered if Hephaestus could make something like that– and took all of the contents of ambrosia out. Percy carefully walked towards Hermes, either unaware or simply uncaring of the glares he received with each step.

Hermes didn’t– couldn’t retaliate as he was handed the ambrosia by Percy. Apollo raised a brow in surprise, this Percy-man just walked straight up to a god and handed him something. Apollo couldn't tell whether to be shocked, offended, or both.

After Percy was halfway back to the group of adolescents Luke silently handed Hermes his Caduceus, his steps barely leaving the trace of a vibration. He must have inherited that from Hermes, Apollo smirked.

Apollo wanted so badly to scoop Hermes up and imbue him with every ounce of power he had but he couldn’t bypass a forcefield created by the Lady Fates themselves. Threads were thickly wrapped around each one of the ‘heroes’ along with the Fates themselves being present no one could do anything. And the thought of healthy whole children stopped any conviction Apollo had to try and break through the barrier.

Oh how his next children would love their older brother! Despite his child's apprehension of getting close to him, Apollo would simply have to play the long game to get him to his side.

Apollo’s thoughts of his wondrous children were stopped by the sound of gushing liquid. His head shot up and found Hermes with his mouth pouring out heaps of ichor. The sickly smell of paper, wind, and wool that always accompanied Hermes ichor infected Apollo’s senses.

Hermes tilted his head up at an uncomfortable angle trying to keep the waterfalls of ichor from reaching the smooth floors again. With a closer look Apollo could determine that his injuries were far worse than should have been possible. His tongue was simply a stump of itself, a thick fleshy stump. Hermes must have swallowed it, the thought cut through Apollo’s mind like an arrow of cruelty.

With gold crusted teeth Hermes chewed the ambrosia with difficulty. His dry lips cracked from opening his mouth, square like patterns appeared on the skin. The significance of the injuries were far graver than Apollo thought, Hermes' skin was clammy, blotchy, and pale. Purple eyebags were indented so far into his skin Apollo was worried they wouldn't come out.

When he was finally finished chewing everything, he got up on shaky legs striding all the way to the hearth to sit by Pan and Dionysus. Apollo moved to behind Hermes and gently coaxed some health back into his body.

When everyone settled, Apollo back on his throne, Dionysus and Pan clutching Hermes as if he would disappear, Apollo’s child stepped up, “Since the Fates asked us to introduce ourselves I’ll go first,” Apollo straightened in his seat, eyes gleaming to know his child's wonderful name, “My name is Will Solace and as you know I’m a demigod child of Apollo.”

Will.

Apollo tasted the name in his mind. It was short and sweet, but it felt so right. Apollo approved whoever had named him such. He frowned at the wording, his one and only child would never need to specify he was a demigod, after all what did that matter, he would become immortal anyways.

Apollo noted the way Will’s hand never left that of the older Nico’s. The look in their eyes was one of love and determination and Apollo didn’t need to have a domain of love to figure that out.

Moments later they separated hands and Will stepped back.

“I think you all have seen me just not heard my name, I’m Nico di Aneglo, demigod son of Hades,” Hades lifted his head soaking in the form of Nico. 

Again with unnecessary specification.

The older version of Clarisse stepped up confidently, turning to stare directly at the gods. “You’ve also seen me, I’m Clarisse La Rue, demigod daughter of Ares.”

Clarisse was holding her ribs where she had gotten injured. She winced in discomfort but showed no other visible signs of pain. Her cropped brown hair swished as she spun around and headed to stand next to Will. Apollo was elated that his brother's child was friends with him.

Ares smiled at her but eyed her scars with concern. It didn’t take a god to figure out that those scars were not ones born of mistake but rather hard-fought battles of will and turmoil. Why were such young children subject to battle like that? 

“My name’s Jason Grace, demigod son of Ju– Zeus” Jason pointed to himself then Thalia, “and this is my older sister.”

Their souls were deeply interwoven into the very fabric of their beings, it reminded Apollo of him and Artemis despite the mortals not being twins.

“I’m Thalia Grace, Hunter of Artemis, and daughter of Zeus,” Thalia said the last part sadly, which caused confusion to ripple amongst the gods.

“I’ve never seen you in my hunt?” Artemis said, she tilted her head curiously at the circlet on Thalia’s head.

“Strange,” was all Thalia said.

“I’m Pollux Discouri. Demigod son of Dionysus,” The older one said.

“And I’m Castor Discouri. Demigod son of Dionysus,” Castor pointed between them, “we’re twins.”

Now Apollo knew that Artemis and him could appear at whatever age they desired but that's not how it worked for mortal twins. They couldn’t change their age, nor their appearance by much. So the claim that they were twins was very… confusing to put it lightly.

“Twins?” Dionysus said slowly, “Why does one of you look older?”

Castor winced, “Complications.”

The adolescents were being very tight-lipped on their answers.

Luke stepped up, “Luke Castellan, demigod son of Hermes,”

He said it with the most reluctance Apollo ever heard anyone say anything.

There was something off about Luke and Castor's souls, one part looked healthy and anew while the other looked fragmented and dead. It all depended on how deep one looked.

“Why are you both dead?” Hades asked, looking towards Castor and Luke, his eyes filled with sadness at another demigod child having been lost.

Apollo’s suspicions were proven correct, though he didn’t know if he should feel happy about that or begin to mourn. Hermes' eyes filled with heaps of pain and a sharp cry was heard from Dionysus.

Castor held the bottom right side of his torso, while Luke rubbed his left armpit. Apollo noticed how nervous the two dead-but-alive souls seemed, they were biting their lips or fiddling with their thumbs. He couldn’t help but question if it was because they didn’t remember how they died or because telling someone how you died was awkward.

After continuous silence Luke sighed and dipped his head, “I’m not sure how much I can say, but we died in a war but different things caused our deaths.”

Dionysus was on the verge of tears and Hermes let out a strangled gasp. The gods turned to Ares and Athena but they both had inquisitive expressions on their faces, most likely trying to remember when a demigod child had died in a war, and which one.

“How could we have not known you were there?” Ares asked.

The children all looked at each other with grim expressions. Before they could give another half-hearted answer the Fates, whom everyone forgot about, spoke, “These children are from a very far and distant land, one where your powers don’t stretch.”

What.

“Lady Fates…what are you saying? A land our powers don’t stretch?” Apollo asked.

He sensed no lie in their words but no logic could ever explain a reason why the gods' powers couldn’t stretch far and wide. Their powers stemmed from the very cores of chaos. Apollo couldn’t believe his powers didn’t stretch that far, were the lands his child were from so rustic and crude that no civilization had ever sprung from them? 

But how come he had a child, Apollo was a god with taste he would never go for some uncivilized barbarian, despite how desperate he was for a living child. He would never stoop so low, after all Artemis would never stop teasing him if he did that.

“Despite what you all may think, some lands are too far for you to reach,” The Fates said.

Athena and Apollo shared a look coming to the conclusion that the fates would just continue to give them many questions and not enough answers. 

“Now let the children continue their introductions,” Lady Clotho said.

The last two children hadn’t introduced themselves, despite the gods knowing their names, Annabeth and Percy, and the very obvious relation they shared to Athena and Poseidon, the gods let them introduce themselves anyways.

Annabeth stepped forward, “Annabeth Chase, demigod daughter of Athena.”

“Did I break my vow?” Athena asked.

“No,” Was all Annabeth said, never meeting her mothers eye, her hands were clenched at her side. Athena had a proud smile on her face which faded quickly when she noticed the body language of her only daughter. 

Percy clutched her hand and maneuvered in front of her to introduce himself, “Percy Jackson, demigod son of Poseidon.”

Apollo couldn’t take his eyes off his child. The deep eye bags under his powder blue eyes, how frazzled his hair was, the numerous scars popped on his skin. He was clutching the Son of Hades hand as if it was the only thing keeping him from collapsing. Taking in the state of his body it made sense, fatigue was seeping through his bones like frost, and he looked to be under-eating.

Before Apollo could voice his concern the Fates took a bundle of strings and pulled before they disappeared. Ten tomes fell to the ground in front of Athena.

Warily she picked the top one up looking over the front and back before reading the inscription carved on the cover, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

Chapter Text

Luke groaned so loudly everyone turned to him. 

“What?” Luke said, it’s like they thought Luke was responsible. 

Ok maybe he was responsible for it but still he got better. 

Luke was standing right next to Clarisse. His cheek was definitely bruised after she slapped him. Clarisse’s slap made his neck crack. Luke was still confused on why she slapped him because he ran away rather than because of the whole war he started.

Girls are so confusing.

Luke, are you ok? Luke looked around before remembering Squiggles resting on his neck like a scaly scarf.

Yup just cheery! Luke thought back sarcastically as he ran a hair through his hair.

All the gods were still looking at the demigods with curiosity, hope, and something else . Before Lady Athena could continue reading the book about the start of the Second Titanomancy. A large rainbow appeared in front of Annabeth. Luke felt stupid for not considering Iris messages. 

No one on the Iris message probably wanted to talk to him so Luke started picking at his cuticles even drawing a little blood. At least it’s not blood, not ichor. Luke would rather get ripped apart by his own soul again than have ichor in his veins. He just wanted to die and get reborn. Like Hades he deserved Elysium.

The gods jumped to their seats but were still staying far away. Will had whispered something about a forcefield the fates set up or something or other. That made sense why the gods hadn't kidnapped them into an inescapable scruff. Luke shuddered, he did not want to be scruffed by a god again, gods he just wanted a god free life, but no, he just had to save their immortal asses from a curse. This is why he started a war in the first place because these immortal beings were to lazy to do anything.

“Insert a Drachma to hear your message.” A breathy voice said. Iris kind of sounded like a weird hipster. One that would be obsessed with Chakras and tea. Luke had encountered a fair few before his mother went insane.

The gods looked among themselves, specifically Hera and Zeus, unless they were already forgetting the minor gods they must’ve recognized the voice of Iris.

“Well, are we going to accept the call or not?” Luke said, almost all of the demigods shot him a glare. He pretended it didn’t bother him as he walked forwards and tossed a drachma in. He started walking before a staticky voice said,

“Per- yo- your a-a-alive. Is tha– Lu—.” The voice of Grover sounded from behind him. When Luke spun around he saw Grover and Chiron looking at him. Luke decided the best was just to wave but Grover flinched when he saw him.  

“Wher- are– you—?” Chiron said. He looked awful, like when Luke saw him in the Battle of Manhattan or rather when Kronos was controlling his body, but decided to let him feel all the pain. 

“Grover!!” Everyone but Luke shouted. Luke didn't think Grover would like it if Luke talked to him. Especially since Grover knew he used to not like him. In Luke’s humble opinion being possessed sucks and he already was there and did that, no use to do it again.

-|-

“Grover!!” Grover’s missing friends shouted. Chiron and Grover looked at each other and then at Luke and Castor. Hades might have said there were missing souls just not that they were alive and tangible. 

“Grover, you get one of the gods, preferably Dionysus.”  

Grover stepped out of Chiron's office, his cloven hooves striking against the old wood as he made his way where Mr.D was sure to be. Along with Mr.D was apparently the messenger god himself, Hermes.  

“Mr.D, Lord Hermes, you might want to see this.” Grover pointed them to Chiron’s Office knowing that their reactions were sure to alert the other gods and wake up the kids in the Big House.

As Grover had predicted, a loud growl and hiss sounded from Chiron’s office. 

Great, we have two angry gods and two alive dead people. 

In the Iris message most of the demigods, especially Luke and Castor had shrunk back really far. They were all looking not at the Iris message but rather off to the right where weird unintelligible sounds were being made. Luke definitely looked different to what he did when he died on Olympus, he had feathers attached to his head and a snake wrapped around his neck like an alive necklace. Luke may have been a traitor but Grover thought he had more style than that.

Grover sent a silent look asking:

What the fuck is going on and can you calm them down?

Chiron shook his head but rested a hand on Lord Hermes and Mr.D’s shoulders. It was still weird to imagine Chiron being older than Mr. D and Hermes combined.

“Children, do you know where you are?” Chiron said calmly but he still seemed very surprised at seeing them and see them back up in the face of their parents. Thalia’s, Will’s, and Clarisse’s faces had gone ashen pale and Jason, Nico and, weirdly, Luke were helping them stop hyperventilating.

“Oly—pus.” Was the static reply.

Before anyone could say anything, Travis groggily walked in before freezing up at the sight of Luke. Luke started backing away, and his knuckles were so pale they could’ve fallen off. Before he could get out of the frame some invisible force pushed him back.

Grover thought it was strange seeing him like this, so fearful, it wasn’t like the traitor who decided to poison Thalia’s tree and kill half of the camp.

The Iris message started flickering before disappearing leaving Grover, two angry immortals, Chiron, and Travis, who was still frozen in shock at Luke. 

“Where did they go ?” Mr.D said with very quiet rage while Hermes was shaking.

“I don’t know but they did say they were on Olympus, but what does that mean?” Grover had a strange feeling they weren’t going to be figuring that out anytime for sure.

–|-

“Where did they go?” 

Now Aphrodite may have been a vengeful goddess but she was still a goddess of happiness and love, she could practically hear the children's hearts breaking when the Iris message flickered out. She may have been concerned for the children but she was more concerned for the fact that there was another Dionysus, an uglier one at that, and another Hermes. The children however didn't seem to be concerned and even seemed to be more relieved than they were when they got to the throne room.

“WHO WERE THEY?” Zeus yelled, cracking his armrest. He might’ve seemed angry but he was mainly concerned why there were beings capable of replicating a god's form and essence. That only seemed to put the demigods on higher alert to the fact that they had seen that. At their fearful expression, especially from his own children softened his expression and it turned into a frown when the huntress Thalia started stepping back with her arms up in the air.

Did she think Zeus would hit her? Aphrodite knew her technical nephew and knew he would never yell or hurt his children. When Aphroditie looked closer at Thalia she found she had almost no bonds with her mother or father.

“Nephew, calm down, you're scaring her and she already has less love for you than a rock.” Aphrodite could feel her nephew’s heart break at that knowledge. He loved his children and would always care for them.

“Children, do you know who those were?” Aphrodite asked carefully. None of the children would meet her eyes and by looking at their clothes she realized that they were quite modest so she changed her see through chiton to a more opaque one. 

Despite changing the children wouldn’t speak until, Pollux, the son of Dionysus spoke up,

“We can't answer that I’m sorry Lady Aphrodite but could we continue reading? I'm sure you all would like your curse lifted.” Aphrodite and the rest of her family almost forgot about the promise the Fates gave them.

“Yes, let’s continue reading, Athena could you?” Aphrodite asked.

“Look I didn’t want to be a half-blood.” 

“Why wouldn't you want to be a half-blood, it's a miracle you would have been made immortal.” Zeus said frowning

The demigods decided to not comment. Why wouldn’t they want to be a half-blood? Aphrodite thought.

“If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.” 

“Why wouldn’t your parents know you're a demigod and they birthed one of the only healthiest demigods? It seems very illogical.” Apollo said half seething that a parent would hide that information and half curious as to why the parent wouldn’t know and one of them hadn’t come.

“Some parents have a hard time figuring it out, you all rarely come to our families.” The Daughter of Athena said, gripping the Son of Poseidon's hand tightly.

After everyone was done with the talking Athena continued,

“Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.” 

Castor, Luke, and Thalia snorted at the statement. 

“You got that right Percy!” Castor said, despite the chuckling in his tone Dionysus’ knuckles had turned white while the rest of the gods looked outraged.

“Who could possibly kill a demigod without the retaliation of us?” Ares said he may have sounded calm but Aphrodite knew her partner, he was just a smidge from showing his true form if not for the children in the room.

“Who threatened to kill you son?” Aphrodite’s other nephew Poseidon said. The demigods stayed silent.

“Children please answer.” Hestia the ever calm one said.

“... it’s fine da– father .” Percy said he seemed surprised Poseidon was acting this way.

I wonder why? Aphrodite thought, Was he used to be more independent, were those Hermes and Dionysus copies sewing misaligned thoughts in these children's heads?  

“Children, where were we when these monsters were trying to kill you.” Zeus looked hopefully towards Thalia and Jason that maybe just maybe he had truly helped them.

“You were occupied, we were fine though we learned how to survive.” Thalia replied flatly, glancing at Luke and Annabeth for some strange reason. Looking deeper Aphrodite found that Thalia and Annabeth had a sibling-like bond much like her, Hestia, and Hera. However Luke’s ties to them were stretched and frayed like something came between the two. An argument maybe?

“If you’re a normal kid….. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.” 

“Why would a normal kid read this Prissy?” Ares' daughter Clarisse said. Poseidon frowned but before he could say something the Son of Posiedon laughed.

“I don’t know Clarisse, beats me.” Athena decided to continue reading,

“But if you recognize yourself in these pages… it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they’ll come for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

“But who?” Apollo said, looking to the demigods for an inkling of an answer.

“A lot.” Will replied, that seemed to brighten Apollo up.

Apollo’s boy might’ve thought that reassured the gods but it only served to make them more anxious. Posiedons hair started flowing and lashing harsher before Zeus squeezed his shoulder. The gesture seemed to deeply confuse all the demigods, especially Percy and Thalia, they looked between themselves before frowning and turning back to the book. 

“My name is Percy Jackson. I’m twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.”

“Was this before you got to the place?” Castor asked. Almost everyone frowned before the Son of Poseidon’s eyes lit up and nodded. What is the place? Aphrodite and most likely the other gods thought.

“Why wouldn’t we start when you came to camp though Percy? Unless you forgot to tell me something.” Athena’s daughter said. Poseidon’s Son squeezed her hand and kissed her, that’s why their bonds are so strong.

“Am I a troubled kid?” 

“I don’t know Kelp Head but you can’t be more troubled than Jason,” Jason scoffed at the statement “he tried to eat a stapler when he was two so I don’t think you can beat that.”

“Thanks Pinecone Face.” Despite the strange nickname, anyone could tell the Son of Poseidon appreciated the statement.

“Yeah. You could say that.” 

The rest of the demigods chuckled while most of the gods frowned at that. Why would a miracle child say that they were troubled? Who labeled them as such?

“I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it… twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.”

“You're not a mental case Percy!” Thalia and Annabeth said.

“You really had self-deprecating thoughts didn’t you Percy?” Will said from his tone it worryingly sounded like he had similar experiences.  Apollo shot a concerned glance at Will and Poseidon's frown deepened at the mention of a miserable life. 

Where are we? Shouldn't they be cherished as miracles? Poseidon telepathically said.

I’m not sure Uncle Poseidon, but as far as we know we’re ‘occupied.’ Despite Artemis having no children she deeply cared for her family and especially her brothers.

“What’s a Roman?” Hermes asked.

“It’s… a different name for you all.” Jason answered. Judging by the expressions of Apollo and Hermes it wasn’t the truth.

“I know, it sounds like torture….. which always smelled like coffee.”

“I forgot to mention this before, you mentioned going to school with others, are those tutors?” Apollo asked, looking towards his son. Aphrodite could barely see the fraying threads of familial love between the two.

“Yes, it’s like public tutoring for a large group of people.” Will replied flatly, never even glancing at Apollo. Aphrodite noticed that Apollo’s swan markings had grown even darker the more and more his child wouldn’t look at him, she didn’t have the heart to tell him.

Taking pity on them Athena continued,

“You wouldn’t think he’d be cool… .. he was the only teacher whose class didn’t put me to sleep.”

“You have access to education but you sleep in your tutoring sessions, it doesn't seem like a very wise decision?” Athena asked.

“It’s hard to focus in class for us, Mother.” Annabeth ground out. Her threads also had no ties or bonds to her mother. How many more of these children have no familial ties to us? Aphrodite thought.

“I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“Welp there goes any chance of anything okay happening.” Clarisse snorted.

“Boy, was I wrong.” 

“As expected of you Prissy.” Clarisse said

“I only give the best like that, Clarisse.” Percy replied.

  “See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school…..  And the time before that.. Well, you get the idea.

“You need to tell us more when we get back, Perce.” Jason said, stringing an arm over the Son of Poseidon's shoulder. 

“They act like they're going to leave.” Dionysus telepathically said.

“This trip, I was determined to be good.”

“Well you just jinxed it Percy.” Luke whispered. He looked unsure of himself like he was expecting to be hit by the rest of the children. Will and Thalia were glaring at him but got stopped by Nico and Annabeth.

“All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich”

“Is Grover the satyr we saw in the rainbow?” Pan asked. He was gripping his staff so tight it could crack.

“Yeah that’s him.” Poseidon's Son smiled wistfully before glancing at Pan. The god seemed to inflict Percy, Nico, and Annabeth with a deep sadness.

“Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.” 

“I am SO telling him that when we see him, Perce.” Thalia said while Annabeth slapped Percy's arm but she was chuckling just as the rest of the children.

“He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.”

“Your protector can't even do his job much less protect you. He should be ashamed of himself.” Poseidon yelled. Surprising to everyone but the demigods and Aphrodite Percy yelled back,

“Shut the fuck up! You can’t talk about my friend like that! You have absolutely no right to speak of him like that when you were never there!” The Son of Poseidon had his sword out and was holding it out in his hand like he thought Poseidon was actually going to fight him.

While Annabeth calmed the Son of Poseidon down, Poseidon looked flabbergasted. 

“What does he mean by I was never there, surely I would've been with him and his mother if he was born, right?” Poseidon thought telepathically. Hestia rubbed soothing circles into his back while Athena continued,

“Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair… The headmaster had threatened me with death by–” 

“WHAT?!” Apollo shouted. “No child should be ever threatened by something what kind of educational system is this ‘school?’”

“Just let Lady Athena finish this.” Poseidon’s Son said.

“--in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.”

“Dang so you really can’t do anything huh Percy.” Luke said.

“Yeah…” The Son of Poseidon said, his voice trailing out at the end.

““I’m going to kill her,” I mumbled. 

Grover tried to calm me down. “It’s okay. I like peanut butter.” He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch. 

“That’s it.” I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. 

“You’re already on probation,” he reminded me. 

“You know who’ll get blamed if anything happens.’”

“Why would you be punished? That maiden was in the wrong for that so you shouldn’t be punished.” Artemis said. Everyone looked a little surprised but Pollux sighed, “Us demigods are harder to teach and are labeled as ‘trouble kids’ which makes us more likely for a teacher to just blame us for whatever happened.”  

“Do they not know of your heritage?” Hera to the surprise of the children said.

“No, you all are myths or stories to teach kids about morals.” Luke said “if only those stories about caring parents or whatever actually held up.” Luke mumbled. Hermes frowned about saying something when Aphrodite mentally nudged him.

Hermes I wouldn't your son doesn’t seem very keen on wanting you to talk to him currently, just leave it for later you're still injured too. Hermes sighed and turned back to Hestia and Pan.

“Looking back on it…..  I was about to get myself into it.”

“Though I don’t agree with you possibly hitting her I think she should’ve gotten punished.” Athena said 

“Mr. Brunner led the museum tour…..  stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.”

“Y’know Perce Mr.Brunner starting to sound real familiar?” Jason said, turning towards the Son of Posideon.

“Yeah its—” Percy was abruptly cut off as his voice suddenly stopped. Apollo’s son got up from the loveseat on the left and walked over to Percy while both Poseidon and Apollo were trying to break through the barrier to no avail. 

“Huh, that was really weird my voice just wasn’t working but I’m fine.” Percy’s voice seemed to calm Poseidon down as his large bull horns disappeared from his head and his hair had turned from waves back to hair. Poseidon sat down by Hades and Apollo went back to his twin.

The fates voices sounded from above, 

“We have prevented the speaking of spoilers of your story. We are sorry demigods but it is the only way.”

Aphrodite was never as mad at the fates as she was now; she wanted to take their loom of fate and throw it into Chaos. Athena spared everyone by continuing

“He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age….. every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.”

“Wait is that—” Nico, the son of Hades, said, his eyes going wide.

“Who is that?” Poseidon demanded. Nico shrank back a little causing Hades to glare at Poseidon.

“We can’t tell you that, it’s a spoiler.” Poseidon slumped back running and hand in his hair.

“Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia….. when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.”

“I know someone who would ride a harley into your locker.” Percy snorted. Annabeth chuckled while Clarisse went a shade lighter. What’s a harley? She mentally asked Ares. No clue. He said back.

“From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn….. after-school detention for a month.” 

“One time…… He looked at me, real serious, and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

Aphrodite knew Poseidon was about to go on a whole rant about how the satyr shouldn’t be protecting Percy but Percy’s sharp glare stopped him very quickly. He was already on thin ice with his son.

“Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art….. My face was totally red. I said, ‘No, sir.’”

All the children looked especially saddened at the mention of funerals. Aphrodite did consider the fact that two dead souls were in the room but still who had the children seen die, she hoped it wasn’t someone important to them but judging by their expressions it was.

“Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. “Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?” I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.”

“Let me guess it was the one? ” Luke said quietly. Thalia was about to yell something about Luke before Percy sighed,

“Yeah Luke it was the one. You’ll definitely know about it.” All of the demigods sighed while Aphrodite looked towards Apollo. 

“What’s the ‘ one’? ” He asked.

“It’ll come up.” Luke replied, slumping down next to Clarisse. His snake seemed to talk to him which made him perk up slightly. Hermes was frowning at Luke, why does Luke seem to know more about it than the others? He asked Apollo. No clue honestly. Apollo replied.

“‘That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?’” 

The Kronides froze and groaned.

“Foreshadowing much. Right Luke?” Castor said glaring at Luke. WHAT. Aphrodite was pissed and if her face didn't show it then her large dove wings definitely did.

“What do you mean by foreshadowing children?” She asked, her voice deadly calm.

“Spoilers Lady Aphrodite, sorry.” Athena’s Daughter said. She and all the gods agreed they were going to talk to their kids after this.

““Yes,” Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. “And he did this because…”

 “Well…” I racked my brain to remember. “Kronos was the king god, and —””

“God.” Hades said, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sure he gets corrected, Father.” Nico said. Hades preened at Nico replying to him while Apollo frowned. Aphrodite noticed that Hades’ boy seemed to have more ties to his father than Apollo’s Child had.

““God?” Mr. Brunner asked. “Titan,” I corrected myself. “And…he didn’t trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—” 

“Eeew!” said one of the girls behind me. 

“—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,” I continued, “and the gods won.”

“That’s… not entirely the story. Were they teaching you the right things?” Zeus asked. Everyone but Luke and Clarisse looked confused. Clarisse whispered something in a strange language that seemed to calm the rest of them down.

“Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re going to use this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.’” 

“And why, Mr. Jackson,” Brunner said, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”’

“Busted.” Luke and Hermes said. Luke looked mildly uncomfortable while Hermes smiled. When Aphrodite looked at their bonds she was appalled, Luke practically hated Hermes, why would he hate him? She thought.

““Busted,” Grover muttered.”

Clarisse chuckled and punched Luke in the arm,  Annabeth and Percy smiled slightly while Thalia, Will, Castor and Pollux scowled, strange. 

““Shut up,” Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.”

“More like horse ears!” Percy chuckled. A centaur perhaps? Aphrodite thought.

“I thought about his question, and shrugged. “I don’t know, sir.” 

“I see.” Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. “Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”’

“If only we were fast enough.” Zeus mourned, Hera put a touching hand on her husband's arm. The demigods seemed really weirded out by that.

“The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.”

“Naturally.” Artemis and Thalia said. Artemis smiled at her hunter while earning a slight glare from Apollo and Hermes.

‘“Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, “Mr. Jackson.”

I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. 

“Sir?” Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn’t let you go—intense brown eyes that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything. 

“You must learn the answer to my question,” Mr. Brunner told me. 

“About the Titans?” 

“About real life. And how your studies apply to it.” 

“Oh.” 

“What you learn from me,” he said, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.”’

“Oh that's who it is!” Annabeth said, looking to Percy for confirmation. Percy nodded.

“I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard……  like he’d been at this girl’s funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch”

“Even I couldn't name all those people Perce.” Jason said from the floor in front of Thalia.

“The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing……. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.”

Poseidon and Zeus looked towards their kids in confusion while Hestia and Hera were frowning at the two.

“Nobody else seemed to notice………. the school for loser freaks who couldn’t make it elsewhere.”

“Percy! You're not a loser freak you never will be. And neither is Grover!” Annabeth said. Percy pecked her on the cheek, “I know Wise Girl, I know.” He said. Poseidon frowned probably thinking why his son was thinking this way.

“‘Detention?” Grover asked. 

‘Nah,’ I said. ‘Not from Brunner. I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I mean—I’m not a genius.’”

“Maybe not academically Percy but your streets smarts are on a whole different level.” Pollux said grinning at Percy.

“Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, ‘Can I have your apple?’”

Hera and Aphrodite snorted while Percy was beet red.

“I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.”

“You have to eat more Percy!” Will said off to his left Nico was snickering, “You too Nico!”

“Why weren’t you hungry dear?” Demeter asked.

“I think my mood was being affected by my dad.” Percy replied.

“I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom’s apartment………. I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn’t be able to stand that sad look she’d give me.”

“Ms. Jackson is the best Percy!” Thalia said grinning at Percy.

“Is this Ms. Jackson your mother, son?” Poseidon asked. He seemed curious.

“Yes. She’s the best!” The Son of Poseidon looked very fond.

“Wait Seaweed Brain! We never saw her before this mess.” Annabeth said.

“Shit your right Wise Girl! We’ll see her when we leave.” 

Leave..? Why would the children want to leave? It was safe, they’d be surrounded by family. They wouldn’t be hunted by whatever monsters hunted them. Why would they want to leave? Unbeknownst to Aphrodite and the rest of the gods their forms were rapidly changing and becoming less and less human by the second. Hephastus was the first to notice when he nudged Ares and pointed a chin at the demigods. Their eyes were wide in fear and some like Will, Clarisse, and Luke were trembling. When Athena had fully recovered she continued reading to spare the demigods.

“Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair…….. making it look like a motorized café table.”

Aphrodite’s husband Hephaestus seemed to consider the idea and drew a rough design on a small piece of papyrus.

“I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she’d gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.”

“That little—” Pan was about to let out a string of curse words not meant for the children when Hermes gave him a look.

“Sorry Athena, continue please.” Pan apologized which made Hermes give an approving nod.

““Oops.” She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.”

“I may not know what a Cheeto is but that sounds horrid.” Aphrodite said gagging. 

“It definitely is Lady Aphrodite.” Castor said.

“I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, “Count to ten, get control of your temper.” But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.”

“If you knew your parentage why didn’t you call on us?” Artemis said.

“I didn’t know.” Percy said. Poseidon seemed surprised his son could control so well but it made sense they were half god after all.

“I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, “Percy pushed me!” Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us”

“Definitely a monster.” Luke said. 

Poseidon's hair started to flow rapider, noticing this Percy said,

“This happened ages ago. I'm fine, I'm right here.

Aphrodite sighed when is this force field was going to go away. It's not like we were going to hurt them? She thought.

“To answer your question Aphrodite, the portal will come down when the children want it to come down, we only will pull it down when a certain child is comfortable with you all.” 

“Your not comfortable with us..?” Hades asked turning towards his child.

“...” Silence was all he got from the demigods.

“We’ll talk about this after the chapter, okay brother?” Demeter said, squeezing Hades' shoulder. Out of all the times the demigods seemed surprised they seemed appalled at this interaction. Aphrodite was about to bring it up before Athena continued,

“Some of the kids were whispering:

 “Did you see—” 

“—the water—” 

“—like it grabbed her—” 

I didn’t know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I’d done something she’d been waiting for all semester. 

“Now, honey—” 

“I know,” I grumbled. “A month erasing workbooks.” That wasn’t the right thing to say.

Luke sighed shaking his head, “It never is.” The gods were still somber after realizing their children didn’t want to be around them.

““Come with me,” Mrs. Dodds said. 

“Wait!” Grover yelped. 

“It was me. I pushed her.” I stared at him, stunned. 

I couldn’t believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. 

“I don’t think so, Mr. Underwood,” she said. 

“But—”

 “You—will—stay—here.” Grover looked at me desperately. 

“It’s okay, man,” I told him. “Thanks for trying.”

 “Honey,” Mrs. Dodds barked at me. “Now.”’

“Your protector is useless ! How can you still thank him for that? It wasn't even an attemp t at protecting you!” Poseidon yelled out his hands flailing.

“Perc—” Annabeth attempted to say something before Percy stood up.

“Maybe this is why we don't want you near us! Maybe this is why the forcefield is up! So shut up and stop acting like you care!” He yelled. 

“Exactly Percy!” Thalia agreed.

The gods were stunned. Poseidon especially, he had slumped down in his seat both his and Zeus’s jaws were slacked. Demeter and Hades were comforting Poseidon while Zeus was being comforted by Hestia and Hera.

“Let's continue please Athena.” Hestia said. 

Athena swallowed and continued reading.

“ Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How’d she get there so fast? I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.”

“ADHD?” Apollo asked cautiously of how the demigods would react.

“It’s Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Mental thing.” Clarisse said like she was rehearsed for it.

“I wasn’t so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.”

“Is he really reading or just acting?” Jason asked.

“He was acting.” Percy said.

“I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.”

Luke snorted, “If only, If only…” 

Hermes frowned at that.

“But apparently that wasn’t the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty.”

“Of course it is.” Luke chuckled bitterly. 

“Careful Luke, you sound like you did a year ago.” Thalia said, sending a pointed glare at him. Luke froze and then slumped down his snake coiled around his neck a little tighter.

“Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.”

Hades had grown a shade paler. Did he recognize the monster? Aphrodite thought.

“Even without the noise, I would’ve been nervous. It’s weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…”

“Probably did want to, honestly.” Nico said cryptically. Hephaestus frowned at that.

““You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” she said. 

I did the safe thing. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”’

“First and last time you’ll ever do that.” Will sighed. 

“Hey trouble follows me. I don’t go looking for trouble.” Percy said putting his hands up in a surrender.

“She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. “Did you really think you would get away with it?”

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. 

She’s a teacher, I thought nervously. It’s not like she’s going to hurt me. 

I said, “I’ll—I’ll try harder, ma’am.” 

Thunder shook the building. 

“We are not fools, Percy Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds said. 

“It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”’

Poseidon had brought out his trident and was gripping it so hard if it wasn’t divine it would’ve snapped. He had grown bull horns and his hair had turned into river rapids, lastly he had gotten a vapor horse tail that was swishing nervously on the marble floors.

“I didn’t know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.”

Jason snorted which dissolved the tension in the room slightly.

““Well?” she demanded.

 “Ma’am, I don’t…” 

“Your time is up,” she hissed. 

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn’t human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.”

Poseidon turned to hades so sharply his tail almost hit Demeter.

“You sent a fury, a-a torturer after my O N L Y mortal son?” Before Hades could reply a black sword went flying towards Poseidon. It only grazed him but it would’ve impaled him if it weren't for his quick dodge. When Poseidon and the rest of the gods turned they found Percy standing up. Poseidon looked shocked, hurt and devastated all at once.

“It’s NOT Uncle Hades' fault.” Percy said. The expressions of most of the demigods were furious, especially Thalia, Percy and Nico.

“Could we continue reading Lady Athena?” Will asked, trying to sit Nico back down.

“Thanks Neeks for your sword.” Percy said.

“Any time Percy.” Nico said. Hades shot him and Percy a grateful but appalled look.

“Then things got even stranger.”

“With a Fury in the room how could it get stranger?” Clarisse asked.

“When the Mist is a bitch.” Luke and Percy replied at the same time.

“Mr. Brunner, who’d been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. 

“What ho, Percy!” he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. 

Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn’t a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner’s bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. 

She snarled, “Die, honey!” And she flew straight at me.”’

“Is that the youngest Hesperides sword?” Hera asked Zeus.

“It might be. Seems like a similar construct Mother.” Hephaestus replied

“Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.”

“Naturally?” Jason asked surprised.

“Isn’t it natural for you?” Clarisse and Percy replied.

“No…” Jason said, the rest of the demigods nodded.

“The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss! Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.”

“You defeated a fury in one hit?” Hades asked.

“Um, yes..?” came the reply.

“I was alone. 

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. 

Mr. Brunner wasn’t there. 

Nobody was there but me. 

My hands were still trembling. 

My lunch must’ve been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. Had I imagined the whole thing?”

“I wish this could all be a dream.” Thalia said, sighing.

“I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. 

When she saw me, she said, “I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt.”’

“Who?” Pollux asked.

“I said, “Who?”

 “Our teacher. Duh!” I blinked. 

"Hah you think like Percy!" Castor said.

We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. 

He said, “Who?” But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. 

“Not funny, man,” I told him. “This is serious.” Thunder boomed overhead.

“Seems you agree.” Hera said to Zeus. "What could be so serious?" Hera wondered aloud.

“I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he’d never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted.

 “Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson.” I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it.”

“Why does he want your only defense tool back? At least I dueled you.” Luke said. Percy sent a sidelong glance his way but said nothing more.

““Sir,” I said, “where’s Mrs. Dodds?” 

He stared at me blankly. “Who?” 

“The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.” He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. 

“Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?”’

“Way to gaslight.” Jason said.

“Yeah man, I felt like I was going crazy.” Percy said.

“Is that the end of the chapter sister?” Artemis asked.

“Yes, demigods, why don’t you go find some food? I'm sure there's plenty. We're going to have a discussion. Athena said.

Chapter Text

The demigods left the room walking out and turning a hard left. When they started moving Pan could see that the forcefield came with them too. The forcefield and how it worked was a whole other conversation he and the gods were going to have.

Firstly however was his beat up father clutching his guts like they were about to spill if the god actually had any. Pan and the rest of the gods sat in silence as Hermes was looking down .

“So are we just not going to talk about it Hermes?” Dionysus asked nonchalantly however his leopard tail swishing and crown of vines writhing on his head gave away how nervous he really was.

Everyone seemed to snap out of their daze as Apollo approached Hermes and pressed his hands to Hermes stomach and chest area.

“How did this happen son?” Zeus asked. Storm clouds were forming above and he had grand eagle wings spreading out from his back.

“Honestly, cough , I don’t know Father.” Hermes rasped. Pan was seriously worried for his father, when he had magically appeared because of the Fates his tongue was gone and he had thrown up handfuls of ichor.

“Pan?” Hera asked.

“Yes Grandmother?” He replied.

“I’m sorry Grandson but you’ll have to leave this to the adults.” Pan’s expression was a mix of shock and anger.

“WHAT?” He bleated. They expect me to just leave the room like a little child, Hermes is my godsdamned father! He thought.

“I’m sorry child, it's just you're too young to hear about this.” Too young? And Dio gets to hear about this? How is this FAIR? Pan looked towards Dionysus but Dionysus didn’t meet his eyes.

“You too, Dio?” Pan asked, his voice cracked with betrayal.

“Pan, cough , please just listen to Hera and go.” Pan’s father Hermes rasped out. A crown of reeds and pine needles had started to form around Pan’s head. 

“Well fine, just don’t tell me a thing.” He yelled. Everyone’s heads were bowed in resignation and Hermes just looked sad.

Pan trotted out of the throne room and into the gardens of Olympus. Pan’s anger had started to make the plants go into a frenzy. Some were whipping around while others were growing and spreading quickly. Sighing Pan tamped down his anger remembering the demigods were somewhere in Olympus probably freaking out because of the plants.

With his anger dissipating so did the smell of pine trees and wool. Pan pinched the bridge of his nose exhaling. Pan would go crazy if the rest of his family never told him a thing. Pan hated being the youngest with every fiber of his being, never able to be told things, coddled to oblivion, and if Dionysus wasn’t there he would have probably been severely lonely. Pan decided visiting his temple would be the best way to calm him down. He was about to take a left turn before he spotted the demigods around the border of Olympus looking around. Wanting something interesting to think about Pan transformed into a wild breeze masking his presence behind a pillar.

“You think this is a good spot?” The Son of Poseidon asked. Strangely enough the Son of Poseidon had a small bit of Pan’s essence in his soul. That might’ve been normal or simply a coincidence if the Son of Poseidon hadn’t a single claim from Poseidon. These miracle children were certainly strange.

“It looks good.” Luke the Son of Hermes who had flown away before getting transported to the throne room said.

“Don’t push anyone off.” The Daughter of Athena snarked. Push someone off? Who had Luke pushed off? Pan thought.

Luke cringed back before pinching his nose.

“If you want I can go fly down.” All the demigods looked at Luke incredulously.

Luke sighed before saying, “Think about it this way, if I fall to my death it’ll be pretty justified–” Pan’s nerves shot up. Fall to his death? What was Luke thinking? Worse, why did Luke say it was justified and why did none of the half-godlings look opposed to it? A sharp hiss brought Pan back into focus of their conversation. Luke was unwrapping a little rat eater snake from his neck and putting it on the ground.

“I’ll be fine squiggles.” Luke hissed back. “Anyways if I don’t die then at least none of you would have to risk it. If I do, just take care of squiggles please.” Luke said. 

Could Luke possibly, no– was Pan’s immediate mental response but did he truly know Luke or a demigod for that matter to know if they wanted to kill themself or not?

Luke and the son of Dionysus, Castor had already died once, did they kill themselves is that how they died?

“Maia!” Luke yelled the exact same way he did when he encountered Pan and Dionysus back in Lepis’ layer.

Pan was watching closely to see what on Gaia were these half-bloods doing. After a few minutes of tense silence Luke resurfaced. Pan would’ve cried if his only adult half brother died just like that.

“It seems good if one of you can fly. I could carry you–” All the demigods cringed at that, “yeah I expected that I could grab your belongings actually be useful for once.” By the time Luke was actually at the end of his sentence it was just a whisper.

“So yeah that seems like a good plannnnnn–” Luke was falling in the air. He still hadn’t landed and while he was talking to the demigods and now Pan's only half brother was falling through the air and was going to die.

“Luke you dumb fuck what happened?!” Thalia the daughter of Zeus said. Pan didn’t wait for a reply before he appeared back in the throne room.

“Pan what are you–” Pan interrupted the god of wine with a strangled yell,

“Luke, he fell!”

-|-

When Pan looked at Dionysus he couldn’t meet Pan’s eyes.

“Well fine, just don’t tell me a thing.” Pan yelled storming out of the throne room. Dionysus felt really bad but Hermes had insisted to not let Pan hear what happened to him. 

Hermes sighed into his seat by Hestia’s hearth. Hestia was hugging him while Hermes hunched over.

“So now that Pan is gone, I guess, can we now talk about what happened to you?” Dionysus asked once Hermes calmed down. 

“Long story or short?” Hermes said, wincing as he grabbed his ribs.

Apollo handed Hermes some ambrosia and Hermes gratefully swallowed them.

“Long story please son.” Dionysus' father, Zeus requested.

“So last summer after Brightest Star day, I went to my cave to just rest and think about everything before I got knocked out by some creepy hollowed out man.” Hermes began. 

“Yesssssss, and when he got taken Marthà and I were left in his cave until Luke found us.

“We admittedly tried to eat him at first,” Martà said, “but when his snake told him he was a demigod we stopped and he picked up the cadaedus and we headed out to Lepis.”

Dionysus cringed, he forgot about Lepis and how hard Luke could hit.

“Why did you cringe brother?” Athena asked.

Dionysus sighed, “When Pan and I got to Lepis’ cave the snakes told Pan that their was young child holding a Cadaedus, I thought it was Hermes and I transformed into a leopard to get him however it was Luke and he hit me in the jaw with the Cadaedus.” Dionysus hung his head rubbing at his slightly aching jaw.

“It hurt that much Dio?” Apollo asked both surprised and concerned. 

“Yeah.” 

“Wait, how come my son only got summoned when the fates bought the demigods?” Hermes asked, confused and angry.

“Well Pan and I almost caught him before he said something about a ‘pee-an-oh’ and we were both curious and turned around and he got away.” Dionysus continued having remembered something, “More concerned was the amount of anxiety, mental scars, and trauma he had.” When I looked into his mental space it was like I had to wade through the water so I didn’t sink into all of his mental scars.

“WHA-” Before Hermes could continue Pan appeared in a flutter of a spring breeze and was panting.

“Pan what are you–” Dionsysu began before getting cut off.

“Luke, he fell!” Pan yelled.

“Pan dear what do you mean fell?” Aphrodite asked she seemed really concerned and was looking off somewhere left.

“He- I was watching the demigods and they were checking the border of the Olympus and Luke flew under and when he went back up he began to talk before his winged sandals froze and he’s– plummeting to the ground right now!” Despite how disordered Pan’s thoughts were, Dionysus and the rest of the gods teleported to the small essences of their children.

“Where’s Luke?!” Hermes was panicking looking everywhere.

“Where’s Jason?!” Zeus asked.

When the demigods turned around they held their weapons but realizing it was the gods they relaxed their shoulders. They were looking over Olympus to something under it in the sky.

When the gods looked down they saw Jason diving down to help a falling Luke.

Zeus was about to jump down before Thalia’s arm stopped him.

“Just wait, Jason's got this.” Hermes just didn’t get the message and flew down as a giant hawk. He knocked Jason over slightly but Jason flew up once he saw what was happening.

-|-

Luke could be called suicidal. He did technically kill himself but that was more of a sacrifice to prevent Kronos from rising fully. But as he was falling his mind was spiraling almost as fast as he was falling. Luke did however come to one thought, if he did die then he deserved it.

Luke could almost hear Kronos yelling at him for being beaten by Thalia on Atlas mountain. Kronos yelling for Luke to drag his broken body to Princess Andromeda despite being almost dead. He could hear Kronos' voice like his own mind and he couldn’t even tell if it was real or not. Was Luke just back at Kronos’ troops about to battle Manhattan and this was some kind of side effect of being possessed by the Lord of Time?

He could vaguely see some purple and yellow streak following him, maybe someone had saved him? That was a ridiculous thought. Who would want to save the traitor of camp half-blood? Who got half of Camp Half-Blood killed? Who got Castor killed? Who never deserved Elysium? Who would want to save that piece of trash?

He could hear the vague sound of yelling, or maybe it was the wind whispering in his ear false hope. At least if he died now he would get Asphodel, not a hero, not a villain. That was the only thing Luke asked for. Is this what Ethan felt like plunged through Olympus to fall into the silent city of Manhattan? Ethan was the son of the goddess of balance and revenge. Maybe this was his revenge, going through the exact same thing he had gone through. Maybe now Luke would finally feel like he deserved something even if it was death twice.

Luke heard a loud screech but thought nothing of it. It could've been Hermes' screech but if the rest of the demigods had explained to him why they let him fall then they wouldn’t want to save the kid who brought back the deity who cursed them. He heard another screech which weirdly sounded like the word “child.” Luke’s eyes were still closed; he maybe had another minute or 45 seconds if he was lucky. At least this time around he wouldn’t have to feel his soul getting ripped apart and burned up like an all consuming fire.

30 seconds.

The screech was getting closer. It was probably some bird he would hit on the way down. Surprisingly dropping from Mount Olympus wasn’t on his big list of regrets. If he had to choose he’d commit suicide by jumping off then having his soul torn to shreds.

20 seconds.

He remembered his old snake named Squiggles, I wonder where that went?  

15 seconds.

Maybe if he landed on a higher bit of the mountain his death could be quicker. Most people would’ve felt their stomach rise into their heart but Luke wasn’t most people or maybe he just didn’t care

10 seconds.

A godless life hopefully. That’s all he wished for some sort of universe where the gods didn’t exist and he could just be an ignorant mortal.

5 seconds.

Luke was going to thank his lucky stars when all of this ended. Well… that’s what he would’ve said. Something grabbed both his shoulders and he felt his stomach drop and climb into his throat at the same time. Maybe he was upside down but he felt the air going up?

4 seconds?

Luke couldn’t keep counting as he lolled into sleep. Whatever had grabbed probably wanted to either eat him or make him do that drop again.

When Luke woke up..? He surprisingly wasn’t in the underworld, he would know. He also wasn’t falling.

He was in an infirmary of sorts but small and with only a few cabinets and three beds. There was a nymph in the room when she saw Luke she rushed out of the room. Luke sighed thinking, man even the nymphs who don’t know me hate me.  

Luke pushed himself off the bed and unsteadily walked over to the window. When he looked outside that’s when everything clicked.

Someone had saved him, the traitor, from his second death and brought him to Olympus. Something moved off to his right and he saw the kid named Jason who was also Thalia’s brother, news to him honestly.

Luke started to unlock the window when it finally clicked open; he had one leg through it before something screeched behind him and grabbed his shoulder. If whatever it was ever met a demigod it would know not to grab them after making a weird ass noise.  Luke elbowed the thing but it moved away just before he could punch it. While all the other campers had been brought with their weapon, his ‘weapon’ if you could even call it that wasn't brought. Backbiter was more like a metal war crime than a weapon.

When Luke had fully turned around he was face to face with Hermes, he still didn’t fully consider Hermes even in another universe his father, he was just bitter like that. Luke just stared at Hermes awkwardly while Hermes was cooing. Luke was never as grateful for a forcefield than he was now. Hermes’ pupils were the size of globes. Luke finally realized that Hermes probably was the one who saved Luke judging by the four huge brown wings that were out. If that wasn’t awkward after Luke spent all of his life resenting Hermes for everything then Luke didn’t know what was.

“Thank you, Lord Hermes.” Luke said. He turned back around to continue getting himself out of the window before Hermes said,

“Why do you call me Lord, child?” Luke almost felt bad for him, almost.

Luke gave no response and continued extracting himself from the confines of the infirmary when Apollo came into the room.

“Why isn’t he responding to me brother?” Hermes asked. Luke continued to ignore whatever was going on there before Apollo magicked Luke on the bed.

“What the fuck.” Luke said, sending a slight glare towards the two gods.

“I’m sorry Child but you can’t leave the infirmary.” Apollo said. Even if he sounded apologetic Luke wasn’t going to trust it. They couldn’t just magic him onto a fucking bed expect them to trust him.

“I’m fine.” Luke tried to sound as respectful as possible but judging by the frown on their faces it wasn’t good enough. Luke stood up from the bed before both gods stood in front of him.

“Please son, Apollo just wants to do a check up on you after that incident.” Hermes said.

“I’m fine I’m not a child, Lord Hermes.” Luke replied. 

“Just answer a few questions and you're free to go.” Apollo said placatingly.

Luke was trying to be different from his old self so he sighed and sat back down.

“Firstly, why didn’t you call for our help?”

Luke bit down his reply of: because you never came and said, “I didn’t want to bother you.”

Hermes sighed and said, “You know we can tell you're not fully telling the truth.” Luke forgot about that.

“Just– it’s not important to you.” 

“Fine only answer these two, first, why did you say it was justified if you died, and second, what were you even trying to do?”

Luke stood abruptly, “Why do you even want answers to these questions? Just do your godly shit and figure it out, you don’t need to pretend to care.” Maybe Luke was a bit harsh and these versions of the gods hadn’t really done anything but he couldn’t have an emotional talk with a fake father and a self-appointed godly therapist.

Luke walked until he found himself sitting under a strawberry tree. He was sitting under the tree thinking maybe if he jumped now he would make it to the bottom and be dead again. Loud footsteps stopped his thoughts as he looked and met Thalia’s electric blue eyes. Luke was preparing for all the nasty things Thalia would say to him and sat up. Thalia plopped down next to him and looked up at the darkening sky.

“That was stupid, even for you.” Thalia said. Luke was surprised, out of everyone he was pretty sure she hated him the most.

“I’m glad you're not a pancake Luke.” Was Thalia suddenly replaced with someone who was speaking to Luke?

“Why? Why are you talking to me?” Luke asked.

“Because you're trying.” Thalia still wasn’t looking at Luke but it’s always easier to talk about things with someone looking.

“My father… tried asking me some things.” Luke said it made his stomach slightly sick to consider Hermes his father.

“Did you answer?” Thalia asked.

“No, I'm not ready yet.” Luke replied.

“Are we ever?” Thalia snorted.

“No, we really aren't,” Luke replied, “should we head back?”

“Yeah let’s go Luke.” Luke smiled slightly while he and Thalia walked back in casual silence, it felt good to have someone to talk to.

Chapter Text

Jason woke up to depressed cooing and a door slam. Judging by those two things Luke had probably slammed the door and Hermes was probably being depressed. Jason kept his eyes closed until he heard two sets of footsteps go down the hall. 

He jumped out of the infirmary bed and was checking the cupboards until he heard a deep chirp sound from the right of him. He turned around and took a moment to wipe his glasses to really check if Zeus, the actual Lord of the Sky, was chirping at him.

“Do you need something?” Jason asked, Percy must’ve been rubbing off on him if that was his reply.

“I wanted to check on you son,” Zeus sighed, sitting down on the bed closest to Jason.

“You really don’t need to, I just over-extended myself,” Jason said. Despite being trained in etiquette and discipline back in Camp Jupiter, he couldn’t talk to his ‘father’ like a normal person.

“You passed out right as you landed!” Zeus protested.

 Jason sighed and started walking out of the door, apparently his message of wanting to be left alone was not received as Zeus stood up and started to walk with Jason. Zeus was weirdly close like he wanted to just grab him but couldn't for some reason.

Jason was entirely zoned out on his walk to what he assumed was the throne room, there was a faint star trail that wafted around his legs like the San Francisco fog. San Francisco made a pang in his heart at the thought of his home.

“Why did your mother never pray to me?” Zeus asked.

“She died,” Jason replied. He hadn’t forgotten about what happened in Ithaca, the poisoned blade, his mothers Mania, everything.

When Jason spotted Thalia he practically ran over to her. He looked over her head and saw Luke staring at him inquisitively. 

“Jason what’s wrong?” Thalia questioned. 

Instead of replying Jason just jutted his chin in the direction of Zeus. Thalia’s expression darkened before Luke steered her towards the Throne room.

The rest of the gods and demigods were waiting for them and Luke went over to sit by Clarisse while Thalia and Jason sat on the floor by Annabeth and Percy.

“Hey Sparks, hey Superman, did your dad try to interrogate you too?” Percy asked, his lighthearted tone was overshadowed by the bags under his eyes. 

He was zoned until Artemis said, "I'll read the next one sister."

Athena obliged and handed Artemis the book.

“THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH."

“What?!” Poseidon yelled.

“I’m right here," Percy reminded Poseidon which seemed to comfort him a little. 

“I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I’d never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas." 

“Dang Percy, the mist really did a number on you didn’t it?” Jason joked.

“You have no clue dude,” Percy sighed. That apparently didn’t please any of the gods. The big six were looking between themselves, if Jason didn’t see their facial expressions change rapidly then Jason would’ve thought they were about to go into the longest stare off ever.

“Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. 

It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed. Almost.”

“Let me guess, Grover?” Thalia chuckled fondly. Jason could tell Thalia missed Grover, with her always going on hunts she hadn’t been to camp since the Battle of Manhattan.

 Lady Artemis chuckled fondly before continuing, “But Grover couldn’t fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn’t exist. But I knew he was lying. Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.”

Poseidon frowned but said nothing. 

“I wish the fa– satyrs back at my place actually helped us,” Jason said quietly.

“You weren’t given a protector..?” Zeus asked. The sky above had started darkening with Zeus’ growing rage.

“I was fine, I’m right here either way,” Jason said placatingly. That seemed to comfort Zeus slightly as the feathers around Zeus’ ears and jaw receded.

“I didn’t have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.”

As that line was read Percy had fainted in his seat and was sweating.

“What’s happening?!” Annabeth asked, trying to shake Percy awake.

“We are sorry Daughter of Athena but we have made this experience replicate the emotions and pain of your journey,” The Fates reply made everyone of the demigods froze and Luke and Castor were hyperventilating in their seats.

“All of it..?” Annabeth asked. Tears were pricking her eyes as Nico had started gripping the arm rest tightly.

“Yes Daughter of Athena we are sorry but it must be done.”

“Does that mean… does that mean we’ll die again?” Castor asked. Jason hadn’t known the Dionysus twins as Pollux was already in college but if his faint encounter with Death in the Wolf House was anything to go by then that would be terrible.

Dionysus had froze up the smell of wine, disinfectant and pinecones permeated the air as leopard spots had started shifting uncontrollably on his skin.

“No Son of Dionysus you won’t die. Regrettably, you shall feel the pain of your death.”

Lady Artemis decided to spare the demigods and other gods and continued reading, “The freak weather continued, which didn’t help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.”

“What made you two so angry?” Demeter asked, slapping Poseidon and Zeus on the wrists. 

The gods turned to the demigods but they couldn’t say anything

“I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.”

“That will just make the student learn less that doesn’t even make sense!” Lord Apollo shouted, waving his arms around to enhance his point. His voice seemed to dip between Ancient Greek that the fates grateful allowed Jason to understand and the chitter of a dolphin which Jason definitely did not understand.

“Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn’t even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.”

Hermes snorted which caused him to hold his side slightly, “That means old drunk, or in other words Dio,” 

Dionysus seemed mildly offended but still chuckled. Jason still thought the dichotomy of this Dionysus and Mr.D was extraordinarily weird.

“The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.”

“That’s not even your fault! It was my mood that was affecting you, don't the tutors know that?!” Poseidon shouted. 

The room started smelling like the ‘navy’ New Rome used to have. Percy just sighed and said nothing. Jason could tell Percy was tired by just his sigh and Jason couldn't agree more. He was tired of his father stalking him to question him about shit he didn’t even know. 

“Fine, I told myself. Just fine. 

I was homesick. 

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.”

“Paul doesn’t play poker, does he?” Nico asked, frowning. Jason didn’t know who on earth Paul was and he didn’t feel like this would be an appropriate time to ask.

“No… he doesn’t,” Percy sighed, slumping inwards on himself.

Quietly Clarisse said, “I get it Percy.” 

Jason in fact did not get it. The rest of the gods shared Jason’s thoughts as they turned towards each other in confusion. The only ones who seemed to have inklings on what was going on were Artemis and Apollo. They were staring inquisitively at Percy like they were trying to piece together a puzzle without the edge pieces. 

“And yet…there were things I’d miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees.” 

“Wow Perce didn’t know you thought about me this early,” Thalia teased. 

Now Jason was confused, what did Thalia mean by that, and should he be concerned or laugh like it was some inside joke.

“What do you mean Thalia?” Jason asked.

“Shit, I forgot you didn’t know about that,” Thalia winced along with Annabeth and for some reason Luke?

“I– can’t tell you because of the spoilers rule,” Thalia said, “I'll be fine though!” Thalia shot Jason the least comforting thumbs up and smile since Jason caught Leo fixing the Argo II engine at 3:00 for a consecutive five days.

“Define fine, like Percy fine or fine fine,” Percy scoffed at that while Thalia shot him a sad glance.

“Both honestly,” Thalia replied. Luke dipped his head and Jason noticed his palms started bleeding where his nails were digging into his hands.

“Let’s just continue,” Jason sighed.

“I’d miss Grover, who’d been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he’d survive next year without me.”

Pan who Jason thought was dead shot Percy a grateful glance which Percy gave a small smile back.

“I’d miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner’s crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well. 

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn’t forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn’t sure why, but I’d started to believe him.”

The gods still seemed to be adjusting to the fact that demigods were being hunted by monsters. Jason thought they should get with the program, just based on his adventures at Camp Jupiter and the Argo II it was practically normal for demigods to be hunted for sport.

“The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room.”

“We’ve been reduced to myths?” Hephaestus asked. Hephaestus reminded Jason of Leo in the ways his hands were always tinkering, his tan skin, and dark hair. 

“Yeah, things have certainly changed,” Luke said he sounded bitter and Jason could entirely relate, with all the little quests, wars, and errands the gods had him and the demigods run he was about as bitter as a lemon.

“Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.”

“Oh Chiron! He looks so different in this world,” Nico said, though the second part was just a whisper.

“Well Percy, I think you learned the difference between Chiron and Charon right?” Annabeth chuckled. 

Percy was reminiscent of a ripe strawberry with how red he was.

“Did you really have to remind me about that Wise Girl?” Percy asked, shoving a pillow into Annabeth's lap.

“When did you meet Charon, nephew? I would’ve remembered if I saw you in my realm,” Hades asked.

“It’ll, uh, come up,” Percy replied tensely. Hades didn’t seem to be satisfied but Lady Artemis continued reading,

“I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.”

“That was a metaphor!” Percy shouted. He was shivering. Jason forgot they had even relived the feeling they had in the moments, not just the pain. That would suck.

Apollo seemed really concerned but Lady Artemis plowed ahead,

“I remembered Mr. Brunner’s serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.”

“Really perceptive there Jackson,” Clarisse said. Jason was lost in the relationship Clarisse and Percy had, sometimes it felt like they were best buds and the next at their throats like back in Kansas Jason’s brain unhelpfully supplied. Jason still woke up shivering feeling like his limbs were just puppets on a string. He didn’t want to tell Piper but sometimes her charmspeak freaked him out and reminded him of the Eidolons. He knew that she would never do that to him but it still terrified him.

Before the shivering feeling could come back Thalia zapped him. It didn’t do anything but it got him out of the hole his mind dumped him into.

“Thanks,” He whispered.

“No problem Jace,” She replied.

When Jason looked up he met the eyes of a concerned Zeus. He mentally groaned knowing that he was going to be followed after the reading finally finished.

“I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I’d never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn’t want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn’t tried.”

“He wouldn’t think you hadn’t tried Percy,” Jason said.

“Thanks bro,” Percy smiled grateful at Jason.

“I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner’s door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. 

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover’s said “…worried about Percy, sir.” 

I froze. I’m not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.”

“True that Percy,” Pollux finger-gunned Percy. 

Jason saw the gods trying to replicate the motion but seemed to get more and more confused.

“I inched closer. 

“…alone this summer,” Grover was saying. “I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him,” Mr. Brunner said. 

“We need the boy to mature more.””

“What was— you know who, thinking?!” Nico waved his hands in the air, it vaguely reminded Jason of an airplane lander control.

“Who are you talking about children?” Hera asked. 

Jason could see Annabeth and Thalia trying to hold in their glares when they faced Hera.

“Spoilers,” Will said.

Hera sighed before letting Artemis continue, “‘But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—’”

Hermes' eyes sparkled, eager to learn more about the situation.

““Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can.” 

“Sir, he saw her.…” 

“His imagination,” Mr. Brunner insisted. “The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that.”

“What is the Mist?” Aphrodite asked. Jason forgot Hecate didn’t exist in this timeline, he wondered who else didn’t exist.

“It’s a magic barrier that prevents regular humans from seeing the monsters, gods and demigod weapons,” Luke replied.

 Aphrodite hummed in response.

““Sir, I…I can’t fail in my duties again.” Grover’s voice was choked with emotion. “You know what that would mean.””

“Who did he fail on?” Zeus might smite someone with the dirty glare he was giving the walls.

“He didn’t fail! It was m– their choice,” Thalia glared at Zeus which made Zeus’ ‘smite everyone’ demeanor stop.

““You haven’t failed, Grover,” Mr. Brunner said kindly. “I should have seen her for what she was. Now let’s just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—””

“A L I V E ? !” Poseidon thundered. The smell of the ocean was drowning him. It reminded Jason of the time he, Percy, and Piper almost drowned in the black water. Jason had started to hyperventilate. He needed air. Where was the air? Was he still drowning in the water? Was Gaea even dead?

The smell abruptly stopped and Jason could finally feel the oppressing wait leave his chest. 

“I need a minute,” Jason said shakily.

Jason rushed out of the throne room and sat down next to one of the many columns.

Jason hated crying. He always felt like he didn’t deserve to be a Praetor when he cried. He always had to lead. He was always being looked up to for decisions, he shouldn’t cry. Why was that little incident affecting him? It's not like he went to Tartarus like Nico, Percy, and Annabeth.

“You okay?” Nico asked. 

Jason didn’t even realize he was there. He really needed to sharpen his sense if some measly crying made Nico able to sneak up on him.

“No,” He replied, “but are we ever?”

“Honestly I don’t know.”

 Nico and Jason sat there in comfortable silence until Jason was ready enough to walk back to the throne room. Before he entered Nico said, “Whatever that was, you can tell us about it, don’t be like me.” 

Jason shot a grateful smile to Nico when they walked in. Thalia wrapped an arm around Jason pulling him into her side. It was still weird that his older sister was shorter than him but maybe it was the fact she was technically 15.

“Are we ready?” Artemis asked, sending a concerned glance towards Jason.

“Yes, we’re ready,” Jason said.

“The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.”

“Chi- He’s definitely going to have heard that,” Luke mumbled.

“Mr. Brunner went silent. 

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner’s office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer’s bow.”

“He’s an archer?” Apollo asked clearly, thinking about something.

Before Artemis could continue a bright flash erupted off to Hades’ left.

A black and white star-speckled centaur stepped out holding a bow. 

“Chiron! Fancy joining us brother!” Zeus shouted excitedly.

Jason and the rest of the demigods glanced at each other.

“Yeah that’s what I meant by different,” Nico said in English gesturing towards Chiron.

Chiron turned towards the noise and his face went wide with shock. “Are those demigods?” He asked.

“Yes brother, we were as surprised as you when they appeared here,” Demeter said.

“Can we, uh– continue?” Will asked. Will was eyeing Chiron like he had grown ten eyes.

“Yes. Chiron take a seat by me,” Hades said, gesturing to the space next to him.

“I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. 

A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.”

“Is one of my brood at your school?” Chiron asked.

“Yeah, let’s say that,” Percy replied.

“A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

 Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. “Nothing,” he murmured. 

“My nerves haven’t been right since the winter solstice.” 

“Mine neither,” Grover said.  “But I could have sworn…” 

“Go back to the dorm,” Mr. Brunner told him. “You’ve got a long day of exams tomorrow.” 

“Don’t remind me.” 

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner’s office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.”

“What happened at the winter solstice?” Chiron asked, looking towards the gods.

“We don’t know,” Dionysus said. “And they can’t tell us either.”

“Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he’d been there all night.

 “Hey,” he said, bleary-eyed. “You going to be ready for this test?”

 I didn’t answer. 

“You look awful.” He frowned. “Is everything okay?” “Just…tired.’”

“He can’t lie but he can act?” Castor snorted.

“He’s working on lying,” Annabeth chuckled.

“I turned so he couldn’t read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.”

“That won’t work,” Pan commented. “Satyrs can sense emotions.”

“I didn’t understand what I’d heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I’d imagined the whole thing. 

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.”

“More like all kinds of danger,” Nico joked. That made Poseidon frown but after a quick look at Jason he didn’t say anything.

“Danger finds me not the other way around,” Percy said raising his hands in a mock surrender

“The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I’d misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. 

For a moment, I was worried he’d found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn’t seem to be the problem.”

“Three hours?!” Clarisse shouted.

“Yup, it sucked,” Percy replied.

“‘Percy,” he said. “Don’t be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It’s…it’s for the best.” 

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. 

I mumbled, “Okay, sir.” 

“I mean…” Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn’t sure what to say. “This isn’t the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.’”

“That sounds like your pep talks, Chiron,” Hera chuckled.

“My eyes stung. Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn’t handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.”

Percy touched his fingers to his eyes and he was tearing up. “Just great!” He mumbled. 

Annabeth patted his head with her left hand while she held his right hand. “It’ll be ok Percy,” She said.

Aphrodite smiled at the two which Annabeth returned.

““Right,” I said, trembling. 

“No, no,” Mr. Brunner said. “Oh, confound it all. What I’m trying to say…you’re not normal, Percy. That’s nothing to be—” 

“Thanks,” I blurted. “Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.” “Percy—” But I was already gone.

Percy had started trembling slightly and was just sighing.

“On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.”

“You're not a nobody son,” Poseidon said. 

“Thanks,” Percy replied, smiling slightly.

“They asked me what I’d be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. 

What I didn’t tell them was that I’d have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I’d go to school in the fall.”’

“Aren’t you only a child here? Why would you need a job, even spartans don’t start truly working until eighteen summers?” Ares asked.

“It’s for another reason,” Percy mumbled. 

Luke seemed to understand and gave Percy a sad glance.

““Oh,” one of the guys said. “That’s cool.” 

They went back to their conversation as if I’d never existed.”

“Rude,” Aphrodite said.

“The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to. He’d booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.”

Pan gave Percy an approving nod. Jason wondered how the gods would react to Pan’s fading. Or even the fauns in Camp Jupiter.

“During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he’d always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.”

“We really should’ve checked the passengers on our first bus ride together,” Annabeth commented.

“Would’ve saved our supplies,” Percy sighed. “What’s done is done.”

“Before, I’d always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. 

Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore. 

I said, “Looking for Kindly Ones?”’

Hermes frowned, “That’ll scare him to death, poor guy.”

“Yeah,” Percy winced, "Probably shouldn’t have led with that.

“Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. “Wha—what do you mean?” 

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam. 

Grover’s eye twitched. “How much did you hear?” “Oh…not much. What’s the summer solstice deadline?”’

“That’s what we're wondering,” Athena commented.

“He winced. “Look, Percy…I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…” 

“Grover—” 

“And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…” 

“Grover, you’re a really, really bad liar.”

His ears turned pink.”

“The Stolls should give him lessons,” Clarisse chuckled.

Luke snorted slightly. Hermes was mildly intrigued at the mention of the Stolls but didn’t say anything.

“From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. “Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.”

 The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like: 

   Grover Underwood 

   Keeper Half-Blood 

   Hill Long Island, New York 

   (800) 009-0009”

“There’s more of you..?” Dionysus’ pupils had almost entirely covered his purple iris’.

“Where are they?” Aphrodite asked hopefully.

“I don’t know,” Luke shrugged.

“That’s the truth?” Apollo sounded shocked. 

Jason expected it. When you ask a guy who’s been dead for two years then he probably doesn’t know where the demigods are anymore. The gods still seemed hopeful but let Artemis continue.

““What’s Half—” 

“Don’t say it aloud!” he yelped. “That’s my, um…summer address.” 

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I’d never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy. “Okay,” I said glumly. “So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion.”’

“Percy versus rich people who will win?” Will chuckled.

“Don’t tell Rachel!” Nico shouted. 

Percy threw a pillow in his direction before sticking his tongue.

“He nodded. “Or…or if you need me.” 

“Why would I need you?”’

“Percy!” Annabeth shouted, shoving a pillow onto Percy's chest.

“That came out wrong!”

Artemis continued, “It came out harsher than I meant it to.”

“See,” Percy waved towards the book.

“Grover blushed right down to his Adam’s apple. “Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you.” 

I stared at him. 

All year long, I’d gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I’d lost sleep worrying that he’d get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.”

“Thank you for being kind to him,” Pan smiled.

“Of course, he’s my best friend,” Percy said, “I can’t wait to see him again.”

““Grover,” I said, “what exactly are you protecting me from?”’

“Too much,” Will sighed. 

“Can you tell us what?” Zeus asked.

“I can’t speak for everything Prissy’s experienced but something similar to what I encountered before Luke ran off,” Clarisse said offhandedly.

Ares who was just sitting around seemed to flare up. It started smelling like ginger, turmeric and copper.

“You’ve encountered those… things before?” Ares asked. His voice reminded Jason of the anticipation of battle and the charge into a fight.

“Sometimes,” Clarisse grunted. She held her ribs and Jason just noticed the bandages covering her stomach and shoulder.

“Let’s continue and get this finished with,” Luke sighed. Ares settle back down slightly.

“There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.”

Percy started coughing and covering his nose.

“What's going on!” Castor shouted.

Annabeth cursed and replied, “I think it’s part of the Fates curse, it makes us experience everything.”

“The only way to stop it will be to continue reading,” Pollux said.

“After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we’d all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else. 

We were on a stretch of country road—no place you’d notice if you didn’t break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.”

“Oh no…” Percy whispered.

“The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I’d ever seen.”

“That can’t be…” Apollo said. He seemed to be looking far away like he was about to be assaulted by prophecy.

“I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.”

Luke’s eyes went wide while his pupils thinned like a snake. “Is that..?” He asked. Jason didn’t know what on earth that meant. Luke’s knuckles started turning white with how hard he was squeezing them.

“All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.”

“NO!” Poseidon yelled. Demeter was clutching him and carding her hands through his hair. They were surprisingly familial unlike the gods that had locked down Olympus.

Artemis continued reading, “The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.”

“Percy you didn’t tell me about this…” Annabeth whispered.

“I'm sorry Wise Girl, it never came up,” Percy replied.

“I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. 

“Grover?” I said. “Hey, man—” 

“Tell me they’re not looking at you. They are, aren’t they?” 

“Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?”’

“That is not funny Percy,” Nico sent a half-hearted glare towards Percy.

““Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all.”’

“See Percy even Grover agrees,” Nico gestured toward the book.

“The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.”

Artemis stopped reading to shoot Percy a sad glance. Hades looked confused and stared deeper at Percy.

““We’re getting on the bus,” he told me. “Come on.” 

“What?” I said. “It’s a thousand degrees in there.” 

“Come on!” He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.”

“Percy– your such a dumb fuck,” Thalia smacked her head so hard Jason almost thought her neck snapped. 

“Please no…” Jason thought he heard Poseidon mumble.

“Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.”

“How– How are you not dead?” Apollo asked dumbfounded.

Before Percy could answer Luke said, “It wasn’t his.”

“How do you know?” Pollux leveled a harsh glare at Luke.

“Because it was mine!” Luke yelled.

The throne room was silent. Hermes was like a tightly wound spring, he seemed to want to just jump out at Luke, Artemis seemed to notice this and started to continue to the benefit of the demigods.

“Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla. 

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.”

“What a coincidence,” Jason mumbled.

“The passengers cheered. 

“Darn right!” yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. 

“Everybody back on board!” Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I’d caught the flu.

“Eugh,” Percy said.

“Grover didn’t look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

 “Grover?”

 “Yeah?” 

“What are you not telling me?”

 He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?” 

“You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They’re not like…Mrs. Dodds, are they?”’

“Much worse,” Nico said.

“His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds.”

“Definitely,” Will nodded.

“He said, “Just tell me what you saw.” 

“The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn.”

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might’ve been crossing himself, but it wasn’t. It was something else, something almost— older.”

“Nature magic.” Dionysus commented.

“He said, “You saw her snip the cord.” 

“Yeah. So?” But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal. 

“This is not happening,” Grover mumbled. 

He started chewing at his thumb. “I don’t want this to be like the last time.” 

“What last time?” 

“Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth.”’

“It’s not his fault!” Thalia stomped her foot.

“Grover,” I said, because he was really starting to scare me. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me.” 

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could. 

“Is this like a superstition or something?” I asked.

 No answer. 

“Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?”’

Luke laughed but it had no humor to it.

“It was really meant to happen.” He seemed to be crying and laughing.

“He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I’d like best on my coffin.”

“Daffodils and peonies preferably,” Percy shrugged.

“That’s the end of the chapter,” Right as Artemis said that Luke walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Will hated this.

Will just wanted to be back in the infirmary. The strong smell of antiseptic and the plaster white walls were as comforting to Will as a warm cup of milk. Being on Olympus was like reliving Manhattan all over again and Will couldn’t stand it. Micheal’s buried body, his siblings burning shrouds, and the smell of blood that coated the air were all too forefront in his mind.

He walked out of the throne room quicker than a heart attack. He didn’t know why this version of his father was trying to bond so much. Sure they didn’t have children and maybe Will could understand wanting to be around your children but it didn’t mean he wanted to be around Apollo. It wasn’t even that Will hated him, he just couldn’t handle a weirdly overprotective version of his father. 

That village that was ravaged from the plague, the entrails that were hanging out of some random lady didn’t make Will more inclined to be near his father either. 

Will had lost Nico when he got pulled over by Hades and he didn’t know where Clarisse was so he was just left to wander Olympus by himself. He decided between a forest and the infirmary, which according to Jason they had at Olympus. A weird smokey star trail winded around columns as Will decided to follow it because how could this situation ever get worse.

Wrong thing to hope for apparently. 

Maybe it was the drug that Nikalos had given him or maybe the ADHD but he hadn’t been paying attention as he practically crashed into someone…

“Sorry, I was just heading the other way,” Will mumbled, dusting his jorts. He was about to spin around and dash the other way before a hand grabbed his wrist.

“You don’t need to go, I was just looking for you,” Apollo said. His pupils were too wide to be human.

“No really, I don’t want to bother you,” Will tried tugging but his father’s grip wasn’t escapable, damn godly strength.

“You could never bother me,” Apollo cooed.

Will was freaked out. He didn’t want to be stuck with his Father. He’d rather be with Mr.D than Apollo.

Apollo looked him up and down frowning at Will’s dirty flannel and scars, “Where were you going?” Apollo asked.

Will silently debated the worth of telling his father where he was going before he sighed and said, “The infirmary.”

Apollo’s wings seemed translucent in the sunlight as they flared, “Are you hurt?” He asked. He seemed weirdly  concerned, maybe it was the fact that Luke oh so ceremoniously threw himself off Olympus. Will couldn't blame the guy for that he wanted to throw himself off Olympus the moment they arrived.

“No just…” Will didn’t exactly know how to explain feeling the comfort surrounded by antiseptic. Nor the crushing regret of all those he let die.

“Why don’t we walk there? Together?” Apollo looked hopeful, like he swallowed Elpis whole.

“Sure…” Will conceded.

While Will was looking down at the star path he and Apollo seemed to be following, Apollo seemed giddy.

“So where were you before you got transported?” Apollo asked, tilting his head curiously.

“In the village you plagued,” Will may not have hated his father but seeing the horror in his eyes when Will spoke those words was a little satisfactory.

“So you saw that…” Apollo said, hanging his head.

“Mhm,” Will said noncommittally.

When they reached the infirmary the star path stopped. Will stopped short when he saw Athena rummaging the shelves for something.

“What do you need, 'Thena?” Apollo asked. He stepped around Will to look over Athena’s shoulder.

“Something to help my daughter, she keeps coughing and–” Before Athena could finish Will pulled a Percy and interrupted the goddess, “Is she with Percy?” 

“No, but why would that matter?” Athena asked.

“Oh, umm, she and Percy were sick before coming here,” Will said keeping the message vague enough so that Apollo wouldn’t be able to sense it wasn’t the truth, apparently his father’s powers decided to spite him as Apollo spoke, “Son, that was the worst lie I’ve ever heard and I live with Hermes,” Apollo gave him a flat look and Will was getting nervous.

“Oh hey Will!” Nico interrupted. Nico really lived up to his surname of angel because he was Will’s angel.

“Hi Nico! Do you remember why Annabeth and Percy were sick?” Will asked, stressing the fact that they were sick not on a death-defying mission to escape Tartarus like Nico had barely done.

Nico’s expression darkened; he seemed to be holding his ring tighter than usual as he replied, “Something they caught when they went into this weird cave last summer.” 

Will looked at Nico with gratitude before he walked off. Will zoned out until he was only in the infirmary with his father.

“Would you like to come to my temple?” STRANGER DANGER. Will’s mind screamed.

“Heh, no thank you,” He said, taking a small step back.

Apollo dimmed literally and figuratively but brightened at the thought of something.

“That’s alright do you want to get lunch?” Apollo chittered like a dolphin which Will scarily understood.

“I can go by myself, you gods don't need to eat right? Will was praying to any Pantheon but Greek that they didn’t need to eat. 

Apollo snorted before saying, “You say ‘you gods’ like you won’t be ascended soon.”

If Will ascended he was going to be the first god to piss off the Fates enough to make him mortal. Or maybe piss off his father. Either one works as long as he will eventually be able to die.

“Either way we can go to lunch together so I can get to know you!” Apollo chirped. Will was internally groaning. If getting to know Will was going to be watch him eat and ask questions about his mom, Will just might break down.

Will and his father made it to a large dining hall with four separate tables. Will made a beeline for a spot right next to Nico. The demigods had spaced themselves out so that their godly parents couldn’t sit next to them to Will’s relief and to the gods' disappointment.

“Castor you might have been dead but if you don’t eat I’m going to shove food down your throat,” Will said, slapping his hands on the table. 

The gods looked like they were all having heart attacks and strokes in the same second, and Will knew what that looked like.

“Psshh you wouldn’t,” Castor chuckled.

“Well either eat the damn strawberry or I’m going to try,” Will said while he was standing up. 

“Ughh fine you're so nit-picky,” Castor said, chewing on his strawberry.

“Do you think if we sacrifice food to the gods of our [----] ugh, you know what I mean right?” The demigods nodded, “Will it actually go to them?” Nico asked, unfolding a napkin and crude version of a pencil.

“We can try,” Pollux said as the napkin was handed to Percy who had the best handwriting out of all of them.

The demigods all walked up to the brazier which seemed to confuse the gods but they didn’t do anything just all eyed them. 

“To my dad,” Pollux whispered.

To say Dionysus didn’t expect a napkin to fall into his hand as he was crying in his cabin was an understatement.

He was still burning with rage but for the benefit of the little brats he reined his madness in.

Seeing Castor and Pollux alive and well was surreal and Dionysus was the definition of surreal. When he saw that Iris message that Hermes had suggested he could almost feel the whir of his children’s scents but it all disappeared too quickly. 

When he had calmed down enough to read a napkin that someone had written on, seriously who sends a napkin as an offering? He unfolded it and the first sentence gave him whiplash, and Dionysus didn’t even have a spine. ‘We’re hoping this reached you Mr.D– Dionysus teleported to Olympus quicker than a heartbeat. 

“Dio? What’s wrong? What happened?” Hermes asked, he was still shaking slightly. Probably from seeing his also dead kid Lawrence or something.

“Messages, from our children, the missing ones,” Dionysus said. Hermes' essence split apart like a nuclear bomb and within a second all the Olympians other than Dionysus’ father Zeus were in the throne room. He still didn’t know why he saw his father take off as a giant eagle and fly down from Olympus but that was a whole other thing to unpack.

“This better be good, I was just with my children and I don’t feel like having them missing,” Hephaestus grunted. His bronze tail swished impatient on the floor as the gold and copper scales glinted from the Hearth’s fire.

“It’s a message from our children,” Dionysus said shakily. Spots were still appearing and disappearing from his skin but they seemed to slow down enough to see easily.

“What does it say!” Athena yelled. Despite sending her daughter on a suicide mission, into Tartarus, and practically disowning her, she still seemed to care for Annabelle.

“It says, ‘We’re hoping this reached you Mr.D, everyone’s alive and well… mostly ok. We’re stuck on this weird O- - - - - -s with weird versions of you all. They're like y- - - - -r and P-- alive. L—e going to try an Iris message to you all. It’s weird but the Fates said we can’t leave until we read our ‘adventures.’’

Moments after the message was read a Iris message faded into existence in front of Hermes. He had his Caduceus out and his four hawk wings were flared out behind him.

When the Iris message had fully taken form right in front of Hermes was Luke’s face.

“Luke! Luke! My son! Are you ok? How are you alive? What happened?” Hermes yelled. His pupils had widened and his irises started to glow light blue. 

Luke just looked on in confusion and stepped back to reveal the rest of the kidnapped brats and Dionysus two twins. 

Castor and Pollux were standing right next to each other, Dionysus’s precious little babies who had been taken and stripped of their claims, their marks, Dionysus' claim on them. All the demigods had, even the others who weren't Dionysus' own kids had small claims from him warning anyone who tried to hurt them that he had a claim on them.

“Why aren’t they saying anything?” Artemis asked. 

Right as Artemis said that Winchester or whatever Apollo’s brat was called opened his mouth and was mouthing some words. It looked like ‘what are you saying’ but that didn’t make any sense. It’s an iris message, Wicker Basket should be able to hear Dionysus and the rest of the gods.

“Why can’t we hear Will?” Apollo asked moving closer to the Iris message to see Winston. 

The demigods turned their heads to look at each other and kept shrugging and mouthing words even Dionysus couldn’t decode.

“Do any of them know sign language?” Athena questioned looking towards Amelia and tilting her head. 

Wyatt was squinting at Athena and nodded his head before asking the rest of the demigods something. They started shaking their heads and Pollux formed a no with his arms.

Dionysus' kids were never meant to be heroes. He knew, even if it was millennia ago what being a hero was like. When Castor had asked if he would be a hero Dionysus had frozen up and smiled tightly saying that being a hero would never come to anything good. And it hadn’t. Castor had been taken away even before adulthood, and Dionysus in his grief and turmoil had pushed Pollux away out of grief. And now they are both gone. In some false place all grown up right next to each other without Dionysus there to be with them.

“Is that..?” Hephaestus looked stunned.

“What is it? Do you recognize something?” Demeter asked, squinting at the foliage surrounding the demigods.

“That looks like Olympus when I first remodeled it,” Hephaestus' eyes were wide, which was a shared sentiment among the other gods.

“But that can’t be! How are they in the past! That defies all logic!” Apollo trumpeted the swan marks around his eyes darkening.

“Well some weird tentacle thing had taken Jason so it makes sense…” Hera mumbled her peacock tail showing.

Dionysus and Hera never got along being a bastard child and all but even he felt bad. Hera’s first mortal champion, practically a demigod son of hers, had been taken right when the attack had happened at the Big House and no one could do anything about it.

Before any of the gods could ask anything else Clara looked behind her and fear flashed in her eyes. Ares seemed to catch onto that as he rose from his chair so fast it knocked over. Clamshell or whatever her name was, threw a dagger straight through the Iris message breaking the connection.

“WHY DID SHE DO THAT? SHE’S SO STUPID!” Hermes screeched.

“DON’T YOU DARE CALL MY DAUGHTER STUPID. ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU LET YOUR SON GET CORRUPTED BY—”

“That’s enough, you two. You can start bickering after we figure out how to get them back,” Hera shouted, making Hermes and Ares freeze in their tracks. 

“Sister, do you know where our good-for-nothing brother is?” Hades asked, rolling his eyes.

That made everyone in the throne room look around, seemingly waiting for Zeus to arrive in a shower of sparks. Hera slumped down next to Hestia, the feathers on her neck drooping.

“He… decided to talk to Mother,” Hera replied.

Dionysus' aunt's and uncle's eyes widened before they could ask more questions. Hera spoke up, “He asked not to be bothered, he wants to do it alone.”

“What did you do that for, Clarisse?” Will asked.

Instead of replying Clarisse tilted her head back pointing at something behind them. When the demigods turned they saw the second generation Olympians staring at them.

“Do we run or?” Castor whispered.

“Better than unsolicited therapy,” Will grumbled. He dashed as a loud squawk was heard.

Clarisse in all her wisdom picked up the dagger on the tree and ran.

Weirdly, running from gods and titans, and monsters, gave Clarisse some piece of mind. It was better than being protected on the weird confines of Olympus with some Dollar Store versions of her father.

Though... she couldn’t say she missed the verbal berating from her father.

Clarisse silently cursed herself for not taking Maimer with her but she really didn’t expect all the second generation Olympians to be there.

Mentally counting, she devised that, Athena would be after Prissy and Annabeth since they usually stay together, Dionysus and Pan would be after Castor and Pollux, Artemis and Apollo would be after Will, Hermes would be after Luke, Luke might be fine if he can figure out his weird time control powers, though does he want to show his time control on gods cursed by the time titan?

Probably not.

And Ares would be after Clarisse, not bad, better than Hermes after him. Jason and Thalia might be safe unless Hepaestus decided to come after them.

Sadly, Clarisse’s experience from running from Phobos, Deimos, and Kronos did not come in handy when being chased by her Father. With a weird raspy hiss something collided with her knocking her off balance and Clarisse fell onto the ground. 

Thankfully she was in a grass field and didn’t fall on the limestone. She rolled over spitting out some grass and saw her father towering above her with weird black wings sprouting from his back.

She dusted herself off and tried to grab the dagger out of her boot but her father swooped in and grabbed it.

“Someone as young as you shouldn’t be handling weapons,” He said as he squatted next to her.

Now that made her mad, a dagger was barely a weapon compared to Maimer or her sword. 

“Why’d you tackle me?” She mumbled dusting off her cargo pants.

“Why’d you run?” Ares replied checking over her for more injuries.

“You all looked like you wanted to lock us up, that's why,” Clarisse mumbled, shoving Ares' arm out from her shoulder.

Ares simply hummed and continued looking over her injuries, Clarisse felt creeped out by this version of her father.

“Can you give me my dagger?” Clarisse asked. 

Clarisse might even fight her father for it; it was a gift from the previous Ares head counselor before they died in the Battle of the Labyrinth.

“No. You’re too young to handle weapons.”

“Too young? I’m an adult! I’m literally your daughter!" Clarisse never yelled at her dad; she realized this as she flinched and mumbled, “Sorry, that was out of line.”

Clarisse stood up and was prepared for her father to blow up at her before he just gave her the dagger and put a black wing around her.

Clarisse was confused but she couldn’t ask about it before Apollo came into the clearing with Will scruffed in his hand. 

“The reading is going to start come on,” Will looked like he was going into the five stages of grief without the acceptance at once.

Clarisse didn’t like walking anywhere with her father. Logically Clarisse knew that this version of her father wouldn't eat her, or berate her. Emotionally though she couldn’t just stare into the uncanny face of her father and be all warm and cherry.

When they arrived Will had been unscruffed and with a lot of weird squawking sounds Apollo let him go to his seat next to Nico. Ares was easier and let Clarisse sit next to Luke without much hassle.

“I’ll read,” said Apollo. He got handed the book and after one quick look over to Will he started, “Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.”

“Percy…” Annabeth groaned, slapping her head with the palm of her hand.

“Hey if I was in that situation I would’ve have up and left too,” Jason said, raising his hands up.

Zeus looked mildly concerned but not enough to stop Apollo from reading, “I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering “Why does this always happen?” and “Why does it always have to be sixth grade?”’

“Does Grover still think it’s his fault?” Thalia whispered to Prissy.

“I don’t think so, he’s a lot more confident with his title,” Prissy replied.

“Whenever he got upset, Grover’s bladder acted up, so I wasn’t surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown. “East One-hundred-and-fourth and First,” I told the driver.”

“That’s not your address though,” Nico commented.

“We moved after the events of this book,” Prissy answered.

“A word about my mother, before you meet her.”

“Amazing.”

“Wonderful.”

“Really nice.”

“Best cook ever.”

“Best Aunt.” The last one was Nico who smiled wistfully.

“You and Percy are related on the mortal side?” Hades asked.

“No but Aunt Sally is like an Aunt to me,” Nico said, smiling.

“Her name is Sally Jackson and she’s the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn’t care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.”

“She sired my child. Why didn't I give her money or residence?” Poseidon asked, tilting his head. Clarisse could see the small differences between Prissy and Poseidon, like his freckles, slightly bluer eyes, and face shape. Clarisse had never met Sally Jackson but she assumed those were from her side of the family. 

“She didn’t want it,” Prissy replied evenly.

“The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.”

Poseidon smiled at that.

“I don’t have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn’t like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.”

“At least I visited you,” Poseidon said though his brows were still scrunched together and his face looked thoughtful.

“See, they weren’t married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.”

“I don’t recognize the ‘Atlantic’ as part of my domain?” Poseidon asked, looking towards the demigods.

“It’s [-----], we can’t say,” Luke said.

“Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.”

“She’s a good liar,” Luke offhandedly commented. Annabeth looked like she was about to yell at him before Prissy patted her shoulder.

“She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn’t an easy kid. 

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk.”

As he was reading Apollo's voice seemed to get angrier and angrier. He took a deep breath and continued reading.

Clarisse had a feeling she knew what was going to be discussed and shot Prissy a supportive glance.

“ When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.”

Prissy gagged and covered his nose like that would help the curse go away.

“Between the two of us, we made my mom’s life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along…well, when I came home is a good example.”

“What does that mean?” Aphrodite asked. She seemed to understand what was going on but she still looked concerned.

“I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.”

Thalia cringed in her seat as did Prissy and Luke.

“That stuff smells gross honestly,” Thalia mumbled, making Zeus and Hera look at her concerned.

“Can I continue?” Apollo asked softly.

“Yeah,” Clarisse replied, patting Luke’s shoulder.

“Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, “So, you’re home.” “Where’s my mom?”

 “Working,” he said. “You got any cash?”’

“He wanted money? From you just as a kid?” Apollo asked gripping the book so tightly if it wasn’t blessed by the fates it would’ve been crushed.

“Can we just get through this part and not talk about it?” Prissy replied, his breathing had become shallow and he was shaking slightly.

Definitely understand you Jackson. Clarisse said mentally which caused Ares to look at her in shock. Well fuck, she didn’t want more unsolicited advice or therapy from her deadbeat dad anymore than when she ran from him.

“We’re talking about this later son,” Poseidon said firmly.

“We really shouldn’t,” Prissy said with false cheeriness.

“But we ARE,” Poseidon said.

“If you can catch me,” Prissy’s almost inaudible whisper was only heard by the demigods.

“That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months? Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.”

“If that’s what someone handsome is supposed to look like then I’d rather be the ugliest man on earth,” Apollo deadpanned which caused the demigods to chuckle.

“That’s definitely not what handsome is, trust me,” Will said, wiping a tear from his eye. Apollo beamed before continuing to read.

“He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don’t know why he hadn’t been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our “guy secret.”

“Fuck not this part,” Prissy said not-so-quietly which caused Apollo to read ahead. Whatever Apollo read made him squawk in alarm and two large swan wings to burst from his back.

“What? What’s wrong?!” Poseidon snapped before a comforting hand was placed on his shoulder by Hades.

“Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.”

Before Poseidon could blow a gasket Thalia piped up, “I understand that so hard dude.”

That did not please Poseidon and Zeus as a large storm the size of Typhon was brewing above the throne room.

“You should not have said that dude,” Prissy whispered, eyeing the sky.

“Yeah probably,” Thalia replied.

“THAT MAN HURT YOU?” Poseidon yelled, he had grown a scaly mermaid tail, bull horns, and tentacles for hair, he was also blue which was probably the weirdest part.

“No, just threatened to,” Prissy said. 

“And you, my daughter? Were you hurt too?” Zeus asked. He had four massive wings sprouting from his back and bull horns like Poseidon.

Thalia elected not to answer and gestured for Apollo to continue.

“Even if you don’t answer, best believe we are going to talk about this, for all of you,” Zeus said, gesturing at the demigods.

Clarisse and her friends all looked at each other and the collective ‘were fucking screwed’ was shared amongst all of them.

““I don’t have any cash,” I told him. 

He raised a greasy eyebrow. Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should’ve covered up everything else.”

“OH! That’s why!” Nico said he seemed to have a mental light bulb which Clarisse did not share.

““You took a taxi from the bus station,” he said. “Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?” 

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. “Come on, Gabe,” he said. “The kid just got here.” 

“Am I right?” Gabe repeated. Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.”

Prissy was covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

““Fine,” I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. “I hope you lose.” 

“Your report card came, brain boy!” he shouted after me. “I wouldn’t act so snooty!””

“Percy?” Annabeth whispered, “Does me calling you seaweed brain make you uncomfortable because seaweed brain and brain boy are really close and I just–”

Prissy cut her off in the middle of her rambling, “No Wise Girl, I didn’t even correlate the two! It’s ok, seriously.”

“Ok I just want to make sure,” Annabeth said, snuggling into Prissy’s shoulder.

Clarisse missed Chris. She wondered if Chris knew Clarisse was missing or if no one had told him yet. For his sake she hoped she came back before Chris realized she was gone. Clarisse didn’t want another Annabeth incident to occur.

“I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn’t my room. During school months, it was Gabe’s “study.” He didn’t study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.”

“This curse sucks, worse than [-----] than the you know what’s, Annabeth," Prissy said. The gods looked concerned but Apollo continued,

“I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. Gabe’s smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady’s shears snipping the yarn.”

“Know what you mean,” Clarisse commented which drew Ares attention to her, she faked not paying attention and Apollo continued reading,

“But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover’s look of panic—how he’d made me promise I wouldn’t go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.”

“That was a metaphor,” Prissy yelled to no one.

“Then I heard my mom’s voice. “Percy?” She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.”

Hera smiled and Prissy’s body relaxed and he stopped sweating.

“My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She’s got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it’s like she’s seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I’ve never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.”

“She can make anyone feel good when she walks by,” Thalia said smiling.

““Oh, Percy.” She hugged me tight. “I can’t believe it. You’ve grown since Christmas!” 

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She’d brought me a huge bag of “free samples,” the way she always did when I came home.

 We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn’t put in my letters. She didn’t mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn’t seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?”

“I haven’t had those since I was twelve,” Prissy sighed, nostalgic.

“What is it with you and the blue food?” Clarisse asked. She was curious, Prissy had always had blue cherry coke and blue candy whenever it was desert time at Camp Half-Blood.

“I think it’ll be explained really soon, if not I’ll tell you Clarisse,” Prissy replied.

“I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her. 

From the other room, Gabe yelled, “Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?”’

The cheerful mood in the room stopped as Prissy gritted his teeth. Outside of the throne room rain was pelting the ground. The rain reminded Clarisse of the day right after the Battle of Manhattan when they burned all the campers' shrouds, Silena's shroud…

“I’m fine, this was years ago,” Prissy said, slumping in his seat.

“That doesn’t–” Before Poseidon could finish Prissy interrupted, “Seriously I’m fine can we please continue.”

Hades put a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder to stop him from arguing again.

“I gritted my teeth. My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should’ve been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.”

“I’m sure Amphitrite would be fine marrying her too,” Poseidon said.

Prissy looked horrified, shocked, scared, and disgusted all at once. Aphrodite chuckled at most of the demigods' faces and gestured for Apollo to continue.

“For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn’t too down about the expulsion. I’d lasted almost the whole year this time. I’d made some new friends. I’d done pretty well in Latin.”

“Is that why you could speak latin pretty well back on the Argo?” Jason asked.

Prissy nodded.

“And honestly, the fights hadn’t been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn’t seem so bad. 

Until that trip to the museum… 

“What?” my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. “Did something scare you?”

 “No, Mom.” 

I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.

“Based on the short appearance she had in the books I doubt she would think you were stupid,” Artemis said kindly.

“Thanks Lady Artemis.”

Clarisse was surprised Prissy had a single respectful bone in his body. Though, when she considered the encounter Clarisse had with Artemis, she shuddered, it was probably best to be respectful.

“She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn’t push me. 

“I have a surprise for you,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.” 

My eyes widened. “Montauk?” 

“Three nights—same cabin.”

 “When?” She smiled. 

“As soon as I get changed.”’

“Do you like the beach, son?”Poseidon asked.

“Yes, I love visiting Montauk.” Percy replied, “well at least I like beaches when no evil sorceress is trying to turn me into a pig. Or anyone’s trying to kill me.”

The last part was whispered but Clarisse snorted. From the fake hurt expression from Percy she continued to snicker. Luke however slumped down next to Clarisse and drew his knees in together which was hard since he was tall. 

“I couldn’t believe it. My mom and I hadn’t been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn’t enough money. Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, “Bean dip, Sally? Didn’t you hear me?”’

“Can I perform an autopsy on him while he’s alive?” Will said, smiling sweetly.

Most of the other demigods looked flabbergasted that Will said that but Clarisse was dying of laughter. Clarisse remembered all the creative threats she and Will came up with while she was working a shift in the infirmary.

“Clarisse, did you encourage this?” Pollux asked, pointing at the grinning Will.

“Believe me even without my encouragement Will can come up with some crazy threats,” Clarisse replied in between wheezes.

Apollo looked concerned before reading, “I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom’s eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here. 

“I was on my way, honey,” she told Gabe. “We were just talking about the trip.” 

Gabe’s eyes got small. “The trip? You mean you were serious about that?” 

“I knew it,” I muttered. “He won’t let us go.” 

“Of course he will,” my mom said evenly. “Your stepfather is just worried about money. That’s all. Besides,” she added, “Gabriel won’t have to settle for bean dip. I’ll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works.”’

“Bribery works best when the opponent is stupid,” Hermes commented.

“Gabe softened a bit. “So this money for your trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?”’

“Why should she have to fund the entire trip, especially if it’s at the price of her decency!” Aphrodite shouted, waving her hands in the air.

“It’s fine, she doesn’t have a clothes budget anymore,” Prissy said.

Aphrodite huffed but let Apollo continue.

““Yes, honey,” my mother said. 

“And you won’t take my car anywhere but there and back.” 

“We’ll be very careful.” 

Gabe scratched his double chin. “Maybe if you hurry with that seven layer dip…And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game.””

“You're funding the game!” Jason yelled, throwing his arms out.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter,” Instead of Prissy who Clarisse expected to respond it was Thalia who did.

Jason leaned closer into Thalia where they were on the floor together.

“Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.”

“Do you think I could rhyme-curse him?” Will asked, his voice was sickly sweet.

“He’s already in another predicament,” Percy snorted.

“I hope that predicament is awful,” Annabeth said.

“It is trust me,” Percy grinned.

“But my mom’s eyes warned me not to make him mad. Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought? 

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I’m really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now.”’

“I really missed your sassy side Prissy,” Clarisse chuckled.

“Gabe’s eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.”

“What brain?” Athena snorted.

““Yeah, whatever,” he decided. He went back to his game. 

“Thank you, Percy,” my mom said. “Once we get to Montauk, we’ll talk more about…whatever you’ve forgotten to tell me, okay?” 

For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I’d seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. 

She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip. An hour later we were ready to leave. Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom’s bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his ’78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.”

“Cares more about a Cuh-Mare-Oh than a child,” Artemis said darkly.

“Sadly some people are just like that,” Thalia sighed, scooching closer to Jason.

““Not a scratch on this car, brain boy,” he warned me as I loaded the last bag. “Not one little scratch.””

“And you definitely be the one driving,” Castor mumbled. His eyes flashed violet which seemed to surprise himself and Pollux.

“Like I’d be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn’t matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he’d find a way to blame me.”

“I will curse this ‘Gabe’s’ bloodline forever,” Poseidon growled.

Poseidon’s chiton had turned into river rapids and was churning rapidly.

“He’s gone, it's fine,” Percy mumbled slouching in his seat.

“Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can’t explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I’d seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he’d been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out.”

“You were really in tune with your powers then,” Demeter commented.

“I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.”

Clarisse grinned and said, “Best way to drive Jackson.”

“Right on it La Rue.”

“Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.”

“Let me guess, you loved it?” Nico deadpanned.

“Probably considering Percy,” Will said.

“I loved the place.”

“Called it!” Nico shouted.

“We’d been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she’d met my dad. 

As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.”

“Is she perhaps blessed by a nereid?” Poseidon asked.

Percy looked considerate before replying, “Dunno.”

“We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin’s windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.”

“Mmm Taffy…” Luke whispered. 

A small canvas bundle of taffy dropped into Luke’s lap. The wings on his head which Clarisse had no idea where he got fluttered in surprise. Luke opened the bag and Clarisse and him shared it, rarely Clarisse shared food with a Hermes kid but because the taffy bag was from the fates she trusted it more. 

“I guess I should explain the blue food.”

“Puh-lease Perce, I was so confused on the Argo II but I didn’t want to ask,” Jason begged.

“See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn’t totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.”

“You don’t have a rebellious streak,” Prissy smiled seemingly pleased with himself, “you have an obedience streak.”

“Hey!” Prissy shouted.

“It’s true Percy, way too true,” Will sighed.

“When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.”

Apollo seemed thoughtful and Clarisse didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom’s eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.”

“No one does Prissy,” Clarisse said.

“We never visited any of you?” Ares asked.

“No, unless you needed something,” Annabeth said. 

Clarisse didn’t exactly know what Annabeth and her mom argued about but she did know that Athena disowned her. Clarisse felt the same, she felt bitter towards her father for never giving a shit about her unless she made one mistake or unless he needed to threaten her to do well.

The gods looked upset at that but Clarisse simply thought they should look at themselves, they were always vengeful, bitter, and angry, and their kids took that to heart. When Clarisse thought that she silently looked over to Luke who was touching his scar lost in thought or misery.

““He was kind, Percy,” she said. “Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes.””

“You do Perce,” Jason commented.

“You do look like your mother though,” Nico said looking over Will’s shoulder to see Prissy on the other couch.

“Thank you! Everyone says ‘oh you look like your father’ like I look like my mom too!” Prissy shouted.

Poseidon who was previously beaming with happiness looked sad that Prissy didn’t want to be compared to him.

“Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. “I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.”’

“Even if I haven’t known you long I am proud of you,” Poseidon said while smiling.

“Thanks, that means a lot,” Clarisse could tell it didn’t mean a lot to Prissy. It made sense, she stopped caring about her father’s opinion of her after the Battle of Manhattan and Prissy was probably the same.

“I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.”

“What do half of those mean?” Apollo whispered to Athena. Athena shook her head and Apollo went back to reading.

““How old was I?” I asked. “I mean…when he left?” 

She watched the flames. “He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin.” 

“But…he knew me as a baby.” 

“No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born.”

“I never visited!” Poseidon looked shocked pleading with his eyes that it was false.

“I’m not too sure but I think you visited, once.” Prissy said. His bitterness seeped in slightly when he said once but Clarisse could relate. All the times her dad had come it was never out of the goodness of his heart.

Poseidon was sobbing slightly into Hades shoulder which caused weird looks from the demigods.

“I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember…something about my father. A warm glow. A smile. I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I’d felt it must be true. 

Now, to be told that he’d never even seen me… 

I felt angry at my father.”

Prissy was clenching his fist and seemed to be forcing his emotions down as Poseidon emitted a loud chitter from Hades shoulder.

“Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He’d left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.”

At the mention of Smelly Gabe a strong smell of Ozone, dirt, and vanilla was wafting around the throne room. Unlike what Clarisse expected the scent was actually coming from Thalia, Nico, and Will. Though Clarisse suspected that the smell of vanilla was actually from Will’s cologne that he swore wasn’t perfume used to impress Nico.

““Are you going to send me away again?” I asked her. “To another boarding school?” 

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire. “I don’t know, honey.” Her voice was heavy. “I think…I think we’ll have to do something.” 

“Because you don’t want me around?” I regretted the words as soon as they were out.”

Prissy slumped in his seat and he rested his head in his hands. Annabeth patted his back in support while her chin rested on his shoulder.

“My mom’s eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. “Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away.” 

Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy. 

“Because I’m not normal,” I said. 

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing, Percy. But you don’t realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you’d finally be safe.” 

“Safe from what?”’

“Too much,” Luke whispered.

“Too much,” Castor said, feeling his right ribs.

The gods had their eyes trained on their kids, seeming like they were counting each and every scar they had. Clarisse was looking directly at her feet. First to avoid her father’s gaze and second to stop the memories of Chris’ broken mind. His malnourished body and his crazy statements while in the infirmary. A couple tears slipped down her cheek but she wiped them away quickly. When everyone calmed down Apollo continued.

“She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I’d tried to forget.”

“Fuck…” Prissy whispered.

“During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broadbrimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.”

“One of the Elder Cyclops stalked you?” Zeus said, raising his head in surprise. He looked like an eagle surveying its surroundings.

When Prissy didn’t answer Apollo kept on reading.

“Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I’d somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.”

“Like Hercules, ew,” Jason said.

“Who’s Herc-u-lees?” Hera asked.

“Someone we met on our journey,” Jason replied, he didn’t meet Hera’s gaze and Clarisse couldn’t blame him.

“In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move. 

I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn’t make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn’t want that.”

“What’s your school per year expulsion rate?” Pollux asked.

“One every year until Goode,” Prissy replied.

““I’ve tried to keep you as close to me as I could,” my mom said. “They told me that was a mistake. But there’s only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just…I just can’t stand to do it.””

“Why didn’t she send you to whatever place I wanted you to be sent to? It will keep you safe!”

Before Prissy could reply Aphrodite shouted, “A mother and child’s bond is something that can’t be broken! I may not have any children but I know love when I see it and they share a huge one that you don’t share with him!”

Poseidon looked shocked and sat back down quickly.

“Now could you please continue reading Dear?” Aphrodite asked.

““My father wanted me to go to a special school?” “Not a school,” she said softly. “A summer camp.” 

My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn’t even stayed around long enough to see me born—talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn’t she ever mentioned it before?”

“I'm glad she didn’t mention it.” Prissy commented.

““I’m sorry, Percy,” she said, seeing the look in my eyes. “But I can’t talk about it. I—I couldn’t send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good.” 

“For good? But if it’s only a summer camp…” 

She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.”

“Wait, she didn’t know it wasn’t year-round?” Castor asked.

“Yeah a certain person didn't mention it to her,” Percy said, sending a sly glance toward where Chiron was sitting.

“Who was this certain person?” Chiron asked. He was being so silent Clarisse forgot he was even there.

“Someone you all know very well.” Prissy replied. Clarisse thought he must be taking lessons on cryptic foreshadowing because that was on point.

“That night I had a vivid dream. It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle”

“Oh it’s us brother!” Zeus smiled.

“were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.”

“WHAT!” Zeus yelled.

Zeus looked towards the demigods but they just sighed and looked down. Luke especially seemed to disappear into the couch cushion when he curled up.

“ The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse’s muzzle with its huge talons.”

“Ahck–” Poseidon shouted, just like how it was described in the dream: four ginormous talon marks appeared across his nose.

Ichor kept streaming down his face despite what Zeus and Apollo were trying to do.

“Keep reading!” Will shouted. The gods looked bewildered, “The effects will stop when we get past this part!” He explained.

“The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle’s wings”

A loud squawk was heard as Zeus doubled down holding his brown wings.

“As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.”

Luke froze. He looked like the Athena Parthenos but terrified and male. He started trembling rapidly and his pupils constricted into barely existent slits. Even Castor looked slightly concerned for Luke as he hugged himself.

Hermes walked over and tried to touch Luke and it surprisingly worked. Shooting a look at Clarisse asking: can I sit here? Clarisse nodded and scooted over.

Hermes just sat holding Luke as the snakes around his Caduceus uncoiled and slithered onto Luke’s arms in comfort.

Apollo looked towards them and when he saw Luke shakily nod even if Luke was covering his ears he continued reading.

“I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion.”

The Kronides sat up in a bolt all looking towards each other in fear. The consensus between them from what Clarisse saw of their expressions was; oh fucking hell.

Which Clarisse firmly agreed on.

“I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse’s wide eyes, and I screamed, "No!”

A sharp hiss came from Poseidon as he was covering his eye. Ichor was streaming from his hands and out turned his green-blue chiton to a gold streaking cloth. 

“I’m sorry,” Clarisse could barely hear Zeus whisper but he kept whispering over and over again.

“I woke with a start.”

In the blink of an eye Poseidon was back to normal, no Ichor streaming down his face, no talon marks on his face. The gold streaked chiton was the only remnant that it had ever happened.

“Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.”

“What are you two fighting about!” Hera exclaimed, even though she sounded somewhat angry she looked concerned at her brother’s situation more than anything.

“With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, “Hurricane.” 

I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.”

Prissy jumped up with a jolt pushing Annabeth off of him by accident.

“Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice— someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door. My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock. 

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn’t…he wasn’t exactly Grover.”

“What do you mean? Hasn’t he always been a satyr?" Pan asked.

“Yeah but I was just surprised,” Prissy replied.

““Searching all night,” he gasped. “What were you thinking?” My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he’d come. 

“Percy,” she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. “What happened at school? What didn’t you tell me?”

 I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. “O Zeu kai alloi theoi!” he yelled. “It’s right behind me! Didn’t you tell her?”

“Is this..?”  Luke whispered.

Prissy sent a side glance at Luke’s shaking body and nodded.

The gods were silent and watching the demigods and book intently.

“I was too shocked to register that he’d just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I’d understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn’t have his pants on—and where his legs should be…where his legs should be…”

“Shouldn’t he have regular goat legs? Why are you so surprised?” Pan asked.

“Satyrs, let's just say don’t normally walk around with goat legs out in public.” Prissy replied. 

Pan still looked confused but allowed Apollo to read on.

“My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she’d never used before: “Percy. Tell me now!” 

I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning. 

She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, “Get to the car. Both of you. Go!” 

Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn’t running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me.”

“Muscle disorder?” Athena whispered to Apollo.

Apollo shrugged and continued to read.

“I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked. Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.”

“End of chapter.” Apollo announced.

Luke snapped up out of his seat Clarisse thought he was possessed again. Luke rushed out of the throne room with Hermes hot on his heels.

Chapter Text

Hermes wasn’t one to ever speed up to catch someone.

Really why would he have to? He was the swiftest of the gods and respected among the mortals. 

But as he rushed out of the throne room he felt as though he was going slower than usual.

He could always match a mortal in stride, even Pan, his first son wasn’t faster than him. But when Luke walked faster and faster it felt like his limbs couldn't keep up. It felt wrong.

“Child please! Where are you going?” He cawed.

Luke finally froze but it seemed Hermes did too. His false limbs felt slower and his wings flapped like a dying heart beat… and believe him he heard all too many of them.

Luke’s pupils were constricting violently; it looked like he didn’t even have any. Hermes tried to move closer but his humanoid arms took multiple seconds to move. It was like time had completely slowed. 

The fountain that was usually gurgling loudly had ceased making noise, and the rustling of the trees was almost imperceptible. When Luke looked around at the silent fountain and forests he looked shocked, terrified, and something else…

“Son please, what’s wrong, please tell me,” If someone told Hermes he was going to plead to a child he would’ve called them mad or just incinerated them, but here he was.

Luke was trembling and the snake around his neck had taken to comforting him with kind hisses. Hermes should be the one comforting Luke, not some raggedy rat-eater snake.

Luke steadily began to unclench his fist and coincidentally the water and trees began to produce noise again. With exhaustion Luke crumpled to the floor. His body never hit the limestone as Hermes caught him and put Luke’s body in his lap.

“Shhhh son it’s okay, Father’s here, you're safe, nothing will ever touch you again.” Hermes crooned.  

Hermes grinned when his little song did the trick and caused Luke to slumber. 

Like his own snakes, Hermes’ claim wrapped around Luke’s precious soul, a mark of godly blessings.

Hermes’ father Zeus found him there clutching his precious babe. Zeus smiled fondly and sat down next to him.

“Is your child well, son?” Zeus asked while ruffling Hermes curly locks.

“I’m not sure father, he seems rather distressed, he wouldn’t sleep until I sang him to sleep,” Hermes replied. He looked down, concerned at Luke and ran a talon hand through Luke’s hair, undoing all the knots and mats.

“Where’s our newest siblings, father?”

Zeus sighed and looked downcast at the floor, “I’m not sure, they escaped me while I was talking to my brothers and sisters about that voice in young Percy’s dream.”

Hermes' eyes flashed white before turning back to normal, “that voice… It made my son shake and tremble like one of Uncle Poseidon's earthquakes.”

“Do you know why Luke might shake at the voice, Father?”

Zeus’ brown wings extended to pull Hermes closer as Zeus’ hair turned to clouds.

“I’m not sure, but I hope neither you nor the miracle children encounter that bastard,”

Hermes frowned, what could a god like him not handle? Hermes thought back to that cave, without Georgios or Marthà, with his tongue cut off, those cramped and dank walls. Hermes unintentionally shuddered at the thought.

Luke started moving jerkily in his sleep while sweat slicked Hermes silver chiton. 

“Is he ok Father? What’s happening!” Hermes asked.

Another set of eyes unfurled from his face as his skin became slicked with scales. Before Zeus could reply Hades appeared in front of them, melding out of the shadows.

“Brother, and intruder is in the throne room.” He said, "I'm going to alert the others.”

In a clap of thunder and the scent of fresh strawberries Hermes and his father disappeared.

In Leo’s humble opinion no one should kidnap the McShizzle himself.

But apparently the gods thought otherwise. Even after he kills himself he just can’t get a break huh? Leo was just riding on Festus’s bronze back with Calypso when a sudden bright light covered his vision and he plopped down into a huge limestone room. Leo may not be an architecture nerd like Annabeth, but he was pretty sure no one needs a room this tall. 

With the expertise of someone who saw his mother die at the ripe age of eight, Leo grabbed a hammer from his tool belt and held it up. It probably would’ve been better to get out some greek fire but you never know if it’s a mortal or a monster you're against. Or both in Leo's experience.

“Whoever kidnapped the McShizzle is going to get it,” He whispered.

Turns out they weren’t going to get it. 

He probably looked crazy to someone because he was whispering to absolutely no one. There was nothing in the room besides six couches and a pile of books. And Leo wasn’t planning to suffer through his dyslexia to read a book.

“Yo, whoever deigned this room must’ve been fucking gigantic,” Leo exclaimed looking up. Annabeth would love this, he thought.

Leo was in a Jason-Percy situation wasn’t he? 

He killed his mother, he killed monsters, and he killed himself. Well he (for the better or worse) had his memories so maybe it wasn't in a Jason-Percy situation.

Tyche must’ve been on his side as he spotted an exit almost immediately.

Apparently not.

The moment Leo heard a growl he knew he was more screwed than an automaton. 

Leo spun around, prepared to attack when he saw Jason, Will, and Nico behind a weird glowy star and a really large cerberus. 

Leo thought that dying to a hippie decked out in LED’s and a triple headed dog was not how he was going to die a second time. 

Maybe he could find Ogyia a third time?

“Uhm, hi?” Leo waved.

Jason looked like he wanted to say something before Mr. I-ate-three-LED’S-for-breakfast stopped him.

Leo thought that the vague shape in the Mr. LED looked a lot like a prettier version of Apollo. Last time Leo saw the guy he looked like he just lost a fist fight to two guys in some New York alleyway, which was really depressing since Apollo was a god.

Glowing, Apollo-shaped, Will…

SHIT

Leo swiveled his head and saw 14 large thrones and a hearth. Leo was at least right that godly meddling had got him kidnapped, but why were said gods looking like they wanted to kill him.

“Sorry I don’t know how I got here, I'll just be leaving,” Leo said.

Maybe if he was friendly the two gods would back off? 

Like that would ever happen.

“You won’t be leaving, mortal. How. Are. You. Here?” Apollo growled.

It started glowing a lot more and getting a lot hotter in the room, not really a problem for Leo but for the rest of the demigods they were sweating buckets.

“I just got here, uhm, sir, I don’t really know how,” Leo raised his hands in a surrender gesture trying not to die for a second time.

Leo sent his best I'm-not-here-to-harm-you smile that works on all the ladies. Sadly Apollo and Mr.Shadow-Dog were in fact not ladies. Now Apollo had his bow out and it was pointed straight at Leo. Not exactly different from the last time they met but you'd think that Apollo would be happy enough with one Valdezinator for one lifetime.

Apollo whispered something to Mr. Shadow-Dog and Mr. Shadow-Dog teleported away.

Before Leo could be relieved the rest of the gods and one really tall Satyr appeared, along with Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Clarisse, and two twins from the looks of it.

“Leo?” Annabeth asked.

“Oh hey Annabeth! you’re here too?” Leo asked.

Athena let out a sharp hiss and pulled Annabeth under her wing. Last Leo checked Athena disowned Annabeth but maybe that changed? Who knows? Maybe gods were just bipolar like that?

“How do you know my daughter?” Athena shrieked. 

The gods could at least remember the Prophecy of the Seven before trying to kill Leo, that would at least be nice.

“Mmph– He’s from our quest!” Percy shouted, “He’s from camp!”

Camp seemed to trigger the gods to put down their weapons which was a huge plus in Leo’s opinion.

“Your camp? With our children?” Zeus asked.

From the stories Leo heard of Zeus he thought he was this super paranoid guy that was an incinerate-first-talk-later type of guy.

“Yeah I’m from camp, Counselor of Cabin 9? Bunker 9?” 

“Who’s your parent, child?” Dead is what Leo would’ve said to his father but his amazing self control and wisdom stopped him.

Instead Leo lit his palms of fire doing jazz hands to sell the effect that he was Hephaestus' child.

The sharp sound of gears clicking came from Hephaestus as he stared in shock at Leo. He definitely looked different when Leo last saw him… six months ago.

For one, he was a lot younger, secondly, he had a neater beard, and thirdly, he had a massive bronze tail and glowing gear marks all around his legs and arms.

“You have a son!” Hera smiled brightly. She didn’t look like Tia Callida which was nice but Leo thought Hera hated his father. With the whole, I'm-going-to-throw-you-off-Olympus-because-you're-ugly shtick they had.

“Son, what's your name?” Hephaestus asked.

Leo blinked. Was this a dream? Or was his father that forgetful of his own children?

“Leo? Leo Valdez? Son of Esperanza Valdez? The McShizzle himself?” Leo was genuinely confused how his father forgot about him and his mother. It wasn't like a fire triggered from his own powers that ended up killing the one thing he loved more than the world was forgettable. Right?

When the gods put their guard down the demigods made their way over to Leo.

“So is this another Juno situation?” Leo whispered.

He was rubbing a gear back and forth. Leo might’ve been smiling but he was disheartened that his dad forgot him that quickly. Six months... six months was all that the gods needed to forget their own children, Leo thought. This was why Leo left camp.

“So did everyone get kidnapped or..?” Leo asked.

Percy looked surprised when he asked, “You weren’t at camp?”

“Nope!”

Hephaestus stepped closer to Leo but he took a step back, “Whoa man, we're not that close.”

“Why don’t we start reading?” Hestia asked signaling for the gods to sit on the couches.

“Aren’t we like, not able to read?” Leo whispered to Jason.

“The gods are going to read for us?” Leo looked at Jason like he was telling Leo that his mother was alive.

“Are you high?” 

Jason side-eyed Leo, “No I'm not. I’m being serious.” 

“Sure man… just stay up in that euphoria, yourself I don’t want what you're selling.”

Percy clapped his hands-and in the fakest cheeriness that could even rival Leo’s own-he said, “Yeah why don’t we start reading this great story.”

Everyone sat down and Leo sat next to Jason on the floor.

A younger version of what Leo assumed was Hermes put a tall blonde kid on the spot next to Clarisse. 

Within an instant the guy woke up and was rubbing his eyes. 

“Can we start?” One of the twins asked.

“Yes, I’ll read.” Aphrodite said.

It was awkward having to look at her when she was reading, she looked like a mix of Calypso, Echo, Khione, and someone with pale blonde hair. Wonder who that is? Leo thought.

Chapter Text

“We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn’t know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.”

It was like a switch was flipped, in a millisecond he knew about Percy’s stepfather Gabe, his encounter with the fury, the cut string. Leo held his head but nothing hurt, it felt like someone had just plugged a flash-drive into his head and uploaded all the data into his brain.

“Are you okay Leo?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, just remembered something,” Not Leo’s best lie but it got Aphrodite to keep reading.

“Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I’d gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo—lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.”

“Better than the sewers…” Leo mumbled. Jason and the people on the couch above Leo looked concerned but Leo brushed it off.

“All I could think to say was, “So, you and my mom…know each other?””

Leo snickered, and Clarisse shook her head, “Smooth Percy, I can see why it took you and Annabeth so long.”

Percy and Annabeth blushed. Aphrodite chuckled and continued to read.

“Grover’s eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. “Not exactly,” he said. “I mean, we’ve never met in person. But she knew I was watching you.””

“You and Grover need a communications lesson,” Nico sighed.

““Watching me?” 

“Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn’t faking being your friend,” he added hastily. “I am your friend.” 

“Um…what are you, exactly?” 

“That doesn’t matter right now.” 

“It doesn’t matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—”’

Pan chuckled, “You should not say that to the Satyrs.”

“Yeah, Coach Hedge would not take that lightly,” Leo commented.

“Lesson was definitely learned,” Percy sighed.

“Grover let out a sharp, throaty “Blaa-ha-ha!”

 I’d heard him make that sound before, but I’d always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat. 

“Goat!” he cried. 

“What?” 

“I’m a goat from the waist down.” 

“You just said it didn’t matter.”’

Aphrodite made a scarily realistic bleat which scared the bejeebes out of Leo.

““Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!”

 “Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like…Mr. Brunner’s myths?”’

The gods sighed reluctantly, they seemed to be coming to terms that they were myths. Leo theorized that he and the rest of the demigods could’ve been in the past.

Leo pulled some gears and wires from his tool belt and started fidgeting.

“Whatchu making?” Jason asked, peering over Leo’s shoulder.

“I dunno, maybe a mini Budford?”

Aphrodite smiled at them and continued to read.

““Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?”

“So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!” 

“Of course.” 

“Then why—” 

“The less you knew, the fewer monsters you’d attract,” Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. “We put Mist over the humans’ eyes. We hoped you’d think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are.”’

“To be honest Mrs. Dodds was probably one of the easier monsters eye faced, other than like a hellhound.”

Poseidon and the rest of the gods' eyes were wide and they seemed to be in the world's longest staring contest before Aphrodite cleared her throat.

““Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?” 

The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail. 

“Percy,” my mom said, “there’s too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety.” 

“Safety from what? Who’s after me?”’

“Too much,” Leo said. 

He touched his left shoulder, the spot where the Physicians cure had been injected into him. Hades observed him closer and his eyes widened. 

Noticing this Leo made a shushing motion with his hands begging that Hades understood he didn’t want his recent death to be spilled. Hades sat back reluctantly and let Aphrodite continue.

““Oh, nobody much,” Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. “Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions.”’

“That comes later,” Nico said. Leo didn’t think Nico thought about his reply as confused stares were thrown at Hades.

“Nico!” Leo hissed sharply, “you can’t be saying things like that.”

Nico shot Leo a confused look before looking at the gods faces, Nico paled slightly and sat back.

““Grover!” 

“Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?”

 I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn’t do it. I knew this wasn’t a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.”

“No imagination my ass Jackson,” Clarisse said. “Your insults aren't the greatest but just these four chapters have proven that your imagination is beyond creative!”

Percy seemed shocked to reply but Annabeth sent a grateful nod at Clarisse which she returned.

“My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences. 

“Where are we going?” I asked. 

“The summer camp I told you about.” My mother’s voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. “The place your father wanted to send you.” 

“The place you didn’t want me to go.”

“Please, dear,” my mother begged. “This is hard enough. Try to understand. You’re in danger.”’

“Honestly, it wasn’t that bad,” Percy said, Leo noticed how tight his hands were and decided not to mention it. 

“You are being chased by some monster, how is it not bad?” Artemis asked.

“Well… the— the monster was pretty easy all in all,” Percy shrugged.

““Because some old ladies cut yarn.”

“Those weren’t old ladies,” Grover said. “Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you’re about to…when someone’s about to die.””

“Well it was someone, just not him,” The tall blonde guy said.

“Who’s that guy?” Leo whispered.

“I’m not too sure but his name’s Luke,” Jason replied. Leo elected to call him Winghead.

““Whoa. You said ‘you.’” 

“No I didn’t. I said ‘someone.’” 

“You meant ‘you.’ As in me.” 

“I meant you, like ‘someone.’ Not you, you.” 

“Boys!” my mom said. 

She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she’d swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.”

“Of course you’d focus on that Percy,” Nico chuckled.

“Heh, yeah not my best moment,” Percy snorted.

““What was that?” I asked. 

“We’re almost there,” my mother said, ignoring my question. “Another mile. Please. Please. Please.” 

I didn’t know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.”

Percy must’ve been leaning forward subconsciously because Leo certainly wasn’t anticipating anything. It was always a cycle, almost arrive at camp, near death experience, camp, near death experiences, repeat.

“Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she’d changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn’t been human. She’d meant to kill me.”

Besides Poseidon making a noise that sounded like a dying fish no one interrupted.

“Then I thought about Mr. Brunner…and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.”

Percy had frozen up and Aphrodite paused and said, “Is he ok?”

“Yeah, just continue reading… please,” Annabeth replied.

“I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.”

“That was a metaphor,” Percy groaned.

Leo could relate, he knew what it was like to be exploded and that was pretty close to a lightning strike right?

“I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver’s seat and said, “Ow.””

“Ow.”

““Percy!” my mom shouted. 

“I’m okay.…” 

I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn’t dead. The car hadn’t really exploded. We’d swerved into a ditch. Our driver’s-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.”

“Let me guess, it was lightning?” Thalia chuckled humorlessly.

“Lightning?” Zeus asked.

“Mhm,” Percy nodded.

“Lightning”

Aphrodite sighed and pinched her nosebridge.

Zeus’ wings dimmed like a match. Zeus for once is acting like a good guy? Once in a lifetime miracle I should photograph this. Leo thought.

“Do you have a camera?” He whispered to Jason.

“Why would I have a camera?” Jason replied, sending a side-glance to Leo.

Unbeknownst to them everyone was staring at them, when Leo finally looked up he flushed with embarrassment.

“What can’t a guy want a camera?” He asked.

Leo saw his dad mouth the word camera to himself before Aphrodite continued to read.

“That was the only explanation. We’d been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. “Grover!””

Pan’s eyebrows creased.

“Then he groaned “Food,” and I knew there was hope.”

“We are SO telling Grover this later!” Thalia chuckled.

Leo’s stomach grumbled.

“Have you not been eating?” Jason asked.

“About that…”

“What about we take a small break after this chapter? So Leo can eat?” Hestia suggested.

Leo blushed with embarrassment he didn’t like being called out like that.

““Percy,” my mother said, “we have to…” Her voice faltered. I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.”

In his head, Leo debated whether he would face the minotaur or that ventus if he was a beginner demigod.

“I swallowed hard. “Who is—” “Percy,” my mother said, deadly serious. “Get out of the car.” My mother threw herself against the driver’s-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might’ve been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.”

Leo started to fidget faster. The only sound in the throne room was the crackling of the hearth as everyone was waiting for Aphrodite to continue.

““Climb out the passenger’s side!” my mother told me. “Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?””

“Wow Ms. Jackson knew me already?” Thalia said, batting her eyelashes.

“What?” Zeus and Jason asked.

“I’ll explain later Jason,” Thalia said.

““What?” Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree–sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.”

Leo thought he might’ve heard Thalia whisper, “I was that big?” But he must’ve been hearing something, after the explosion his hearing hadn’t been right since.

““That’s the property line,” my mom said. “Get over that hill and you’ll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door.” 

“Mom, you’re coming too.” 

Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.

“No!” I shouted. “You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover.”

“You are very loyal,” Artemis smiled.

“It’s probably for the best if he was,” Winghead mumbled. Leo looked over to the blonde man in surprise.

Just what does he mean by that? 

““Food!” Grover moaned, a little louder. 

The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn’t be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head…was his head. And the points that looked like horns…”

Poseidon gasped in shock. 

“What? What is it?” Hades asked, frantically.

Leo raised an eyebrow. Why would Poseidon be surprised if the monster that Percy was facing was–

Leo’s thoughts were cut off when Poseidon shakily said, “You… encountered one of my deceased children.”

What. The. Fuck.

It was like all of the demigods were hydras looking at their yummy demigods' food because their heads snapped in unison towards Poseidon.

Leo dropped his gear. Pollux, Will, Nico were staring with wide eyes at Poseidon. Percy, Clarisse, and Thalia were all choking on their spit. And Annabeth, Winghead, and Jason looked to be constipated.

“... You're telling me that the [-----], by gods let me say it! Mi-no-taur,” Percy said slowly, pronouncing the word minotaur as he went, “is your kid..?”

Poseidon made a disheartened coo, or chitter–Leo didn’t really know the words various animals made–and nodded.

“Well that’s different,” Annabeth commented. She didn’t seem to realize that she was speaking aloud and not at all in a whisper.

“What is different?” Athena questioned.

“Nothing,” Annabeth mumbled.

Athena seemed like she was about to grill her daughter when Aphrodite rested a hand on her forearm shaking her head slightly. Athena slumped down, which wasn’t very godly of her in Leo's opinion.

““He doesn’t want us,” my mother told me. “He wants you. Besides, I can’t cross the property line.”

“But…” 

“We don’t have time, Percy. Go. Please.”

I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.”

Consciously or maybe unconsciously, Poseidon's large bull horns receded into his head.

“I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. “We’re going together. Come on, Mom.” 

“I told you—” 

“Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover.” 

I didn’t wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn’t have carried him very far if my mom hadn’t come to my aid.”

Percy grunted and his breath came out in short huffs.

“Together, we draped Grover’s arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.”

“Why is it that high? Certainly it wouldn’t help with running if it was that high?” Chiron asked.

When he received no answer he pinched his nose.

“Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other ’ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin.”

Clarisse and Jason snorted but other than that no one talked.

Even in a room full of people, Leo kept looking at Jason. He never glanced back but Leo couldn’t help but think if Juno hadn’t fucked up the Romans and Greeks if he would’ve ever met Jason in one of his runaway missions from the foster camp. If Jason had lost his memory again would he run back to the Romans or look for Leo? 

When he focused back on Aphrodite and the book he couldn’t help but notice that her features had changed… again. She went from having Calypso blonde hair to more similar to Jason's, not that it meant anything, Jason was just an attractive guy nothing more. She locked eyes with him and winked but continued.

“He wore no clothes except underwear —I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—which would’ve looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.”

Leo wrinkled his nose at the image he had in his head.

“His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn’t get from an electric sharpener.”

“Ugh, electric pencil sharpeners suck worse than the ones you have to spin yourself,” Pollux lamented.

“I know right!” Percy exclaimed.

“I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn’t be real. I blinked the rain out of my eyes. 

“That’s—” 

“Pasiphae’s son,” my mother said. “I wish I’d known how badly they want to kill you.””

“That was not her name…” Poseidon said, shock evident in his voice.

“Probably just myth differences y’know?” Percy chuckled. Leo knew he was lying, if the frown on Winghead’s, Hermes’, and Apollo’s face was anything to go by.

““But he’s the Min—” 

“Don’t say his name,” she warned. “Names have power.””

“As if you’d ever follow that rule,” Will complained.

Aphrodite chuckled but continued on, “The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least. I glanced behind me again. The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn’t sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away. 

“Food?” Grover moaned. 

“Shhh,” I told him. 

“Mom, what’s he doing? Doesn’t he see us?”

“His sight and hearing are terrible,” she said. “He goes by smell. But he’ll figure out where we are soon enough.” 

As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe’s Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded. 

Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.”

“Oops!” Leo snickered.

“Oops.”

“Hah! Great minds think alike aquaman!” Leo laughed.

““Percy,” my mom said. “When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way—directly sideways. He can’t change directions very well once he’s charging. Do you understand?””

“I do not remember telling anyone this,” Poseidon's eyes narrowed–to Leo he looked like an old man trying to see the directions while driving.

“Well, we are part of a different time,” Percy suggested.

“Maybe…” Poseidon murmured.

““How do you know all this?””

“That’s what I’m wondering,”

““I’ve been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.””

“It really was,” Hades commented.

Percy’s eye was twitching, his hands were tightly scrunched. Once he didn’t look like he was about to explode a volcano, he curtly replied, “Let’s move on.”

““Keeping me near you? But—”

Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. 

He’d smelled us. 

The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn’t getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he’d be on top of us. 

My mother must’ve been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. “Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said.”

I didn’t want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.”

Leo felt seriously bad for the divine floors.

“He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.”

Percy snapped straight up like a spring. He looked like he was fighting the urge to bolt, Leo could relate.

“The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn’t work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side. 

The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass. 

We’d reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. 

We’d never make it. 

The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover. 

“Run, Percy!” she told me. “I can’t go any farther. Run!””

“Why can she not go farther?!” Poseidon yelled. 

Leo had to be hallucinating he had to be, or Poseidon in all his divine shit had grown two other eyes.

“Ew,” Jason mumbled.

Leo wheezed. Jason looking at a god and saying ew, was not on Leo’s divine shitshow bingo list.

“May I continue?” Aphrodite smirked.

“Mhm!” Leo wheezed.

“But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she’d told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air. 

“Mom!” She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: “Go!” 

Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother’s neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply…gone.”

“Thank you…” Poseidon choked.

Percy looked more surprised than Jason when he had accidentally walked in on him reading a dictionary. Why was he reading a dictionary? He forgot.

“No problem Brother,” Hades smiled. It was a lot less creepy and more uncanny seeing Hades smile.

““No!” 

Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I’d gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.”

“Wow Prissy, that’s some damn good adrenaline you have there,” Clarisse smirked.

“The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too. I couldn’t allow that. I stripped off my red rain jacket. 

“Hey!” I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. “Hey, stupid! Ground beef!””

“Are your insults normally that bad Kelphead?” Thalia asked.

Before Percy could reply, Clarisse beat him to it, “It’s worse.”

“Have some hope in me,” Percy groaned.

“Nope!” They said cheerily.

““Raaaarrrrr!” 

The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists. I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I’d jump out of the way at the last moment. But it didn’t happen like that. The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge. 

Time slowed down.”

Winghead started choking. When he stopped, he coughed out blood, and Clarisse turned her head surprised.

Grimacing Winghead said, “I’m fine just continue reading,”

“You are unwell,” Apollo retorted.

Winghead waved him off, “It’s normal.”

“It’s only a page and a half left, I’m sure we can go into more detail about Luke’s condition when this is finished,” Aphrodite suggested.

Apollo and Hermes nodded, though reluctant.

 “My legs tensed. I couldn’t jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature’s head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck. How did I do that? I didn’t have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster’s head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.”

No had time to think before Thalia doubled over in pain. Jason had caught her before she rolled off the couch they were sitting on but the gears in his head were turning.

“You’re the tree…” He whispered.

Thalia gave a shaky nod and Jason brought her down to sit on the right of him.

Thalia coughed and she spat blood onto the sleeve of her jacket. Her hand was clutched to her stomach and she looked like she was about to pass out.

“We should read!” Annabeth shouted.

“My daughter needs help. Why would we read the book?” Zeus asked the wings and feathers around his collar puffing up.

“Because all the other times someone has gotten injured when we finished the chapter they went back to normal.” Annabeth shouted again but this time a lot more timid.

Zeus motioned for Aphrodite to continue.

“The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.”

Leo sent prayers for the floor.

“The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward. Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I’d bite my own tongue off.”

Percy’s eyes were cross-eyed and he was periodically tensing.

““Food!” Grover moaned. 

The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!”

Percy got flung back into the cushions of the couch.

“The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.”

Percy had a large scrape on the back of his head, it was unceremoniously dripping blood onto the couch and Annabeth’s arm.

“The monster charged.”

Poseidon looked like he couldn’t decide between passing out and staring straight at Percy.

“Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.”

A sharp cry came from Poseidon but every was too stress-bent to talk.

“The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. The monster was gone.”

A collective sigh came from the demigods.

“The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open.”

Percy’s head was more than just feeling like it was splitting open. Because on the back of his head was a large gash that split his head slightly. Will sighed heavily before slapping himself–much to the concern of Apollo–and began to walk over to the back of the Percy-Thalia-Annabeth couch.

"I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I’d just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn’t going to let him go.”

Pan smiled, it weirdly reminded Leo of his mother’s smile, the kindness but slight it always held.

“The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess’s.”

“Already swooning,” Clarisse laughed.

“They both looked down at me, and the girl said, “He’s the one. He must be.””

“Oh he’s definitely the one Annabeth,” Nico joked. 

Annabeth flushed but couldn’t reply because she knew it was true.

““Silence, Annabeth,” the man said. “He’s still conscious. Bring him inside.””

Chapter Text

Luke doesn’t remember being tortured the night Percy came into Camp Half-Blood, but he sure knows now. As he always does and always will do, he runs. He booked it out of the throne room, though if the gods wanted to come for him they would. They always would.

As any demigod knows: don’t follow the random star trail on the ground. It was a simple rule that Luke disregarded maybe ten times? Despite how useless his father was he was grateful for it because if Hermes told Lord Thunder-thighs about his little time stunt… Luke would count his days. But he can unpack that later as the star trail abruptly took a turn into the infirmary.

It was loads smaller than the Camp Half-blood infirmary. Probably because the gods didn’t get hunted down by monsters or sent on death-defying quests every year. Tyche was finally on his side as no one was in the infirmary, no god trying to kidnap him into a temple, no demigods to interrogate him, he was finally alone. Luke bit his lip, what could he do? What could he do?

Ugh, Kronos was such a little bitch.

With one arm Luke held his mouth closed and with the other he was searching the cabinets for… something. He never really brushed up on ‘What medicine was made in Ancient Greece’ didn't seem like a thing to do when you're being possessed by the Titan of Time. Dejectedly, he stopped snooping around the cabinets and dragged his feet over to the sink instead. It was less of a sink and more of  a marble basin with a hole in it, but who’s thinking about logistics?

The hand that covered his mouth was slacked with bloodied spit. He didn’t remember the punishments that Kronos made him endure but he could’ve sworn he never woke up actually bloody. Luke touched his adams apple as he fought to control the cough that would inevitably be forced up his throat.

But that’s not when he suspected Percy and the Mini-Apollo-looking-kid to arrive. His head whipped around fast enough for his neck to crack. Luke blinked at them and the wings on his head froze in place like he was a kid who got caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Luke held up a finger. When he was finished with his titan-induced blood coughing he turned to fully face the two. Percy had a nasty cut on the back of his head–which for once Luke didn’t inflict on him–and a concussed look.

“I’ll just leave you–” Luke turned to step out when he almost caught the eye of Hermes, who was roaming the hall presumably looking for him.

Well shit

Luke creeped back into the infirmary, holding his hand to his lips to muffle the sound of choking. He was almost to the window before he got pushed down onto one of the beds.

“What the–” Luke’s explicit words were sadly stopped by another one of his bloody coughing fits.

“Shut it,” Mini Apollo whispered harshly as he opened a first-aid kit he got from gods knows where, “I don’t like you, but you’re coughing blood and I’m not letting you leave.”

Luke’s nose scrunched in pain as Mini-Apollo poked and prodded at his neck.

Mini-Apollo took one sharp peek at the door and trudged over to where Luke was sitting. With just a hum from Mini Apollo, the rawness of Luke's throat dulled and his coughing subsided. 

“Now you can leave, and you better not start another fucking war Castellan.”

At least he straight forward with it

With a quick nod Luke shimmied out of bed and unlocked the window, which had two extra locks from the last time he jumped out. The locks didn’t prove to be the problem, what proved to be the problem was after rolling off the landing Mr.D–no Dionysus– appeared.

And this time Luke didn’t have a Caduceus to hit Dionysus over the head with. Though… if he managed to get the celestial bronze dagger that was in his cargo he could… no. Even if he was tired, Luke couldn’t do shit against Mr.D much less against this world's Dionysus that wasn’t dying due to the fact his first domain was cut off.

Luke scrambled away.

“I am not going to hit you,” Dionysus said. The uneven jingle Luke heard whenever someone lied didn't go off.

“Then what are you going to do?” Luke questioned. He could feel the wings on his ears fluttering nervously betraying his mood for the god to see.

“Just to take you back to the dining hall,” Dionysus' hand was held out and like Hades, Luke was going to take it.

“I’ll walk,” Luke took a few steps back, keeping a wary eye on Dionysus in case he tried to forcefully teleport him.

“Thalia mentioned that you would not want to be teleported,” Dionysus sighed. 

He started to walk side by side with Luke which unnerved him more than ever. But then his brain focused on what Dionysus said, he got told by Thalia, which meant that he either forced Thalia to talk or Dionysus was an eavesdropper. Luke could respect it honestly.

“And what were you doing with Thalia?”

“Can I not talk to my sister?” Luke raised an eyebrow at that.

“Does she want to talk to you?” 

That shut Dionysus up as they continued to walk.

“What happened to you?”

Luke's hands shook slightly, “What do you mean?”

“Your mental-scape,” Dionysus said as this gave Luke a clue what he meant. “When I told Hermes and Apollo about it they practically cried”.

A beat passed, then two, then three. When Luke didn’t say anything Dionysus paused and asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

Saying something wrong was a godsdamned understatement. Of course it had to be a fucking god that looks into his twice-lived mind and pulls out all the little secrets that Luke tried to forcefully put down. And it also just had to be a god to share it to all their little friends like that isn’t private fucking info that no one shares.

You’re better than this. You’re better than this. Luke inhaled deeply and clenched his jaw, “You know? I’m not really hungry so I’m just going to go.” 

Thankfully Dionysus didn't follow him as he stormed off to gods-knows-where.

Even the satyrs and nymphs on Olympus avoided him as he walked towards somewhere. He didn’t exactly know where he was going but the only reliable thing in his life was the mysterious star trail floating by his knees so he followed. Luke just needed a room or bed to sleep on and hopefully pass away. His wish was granted but in the least convenient way. The star trail abruptly ended and when Luke peered up he saw Hermes’ temple.

Luke would strangle the Fates.

A nymph saw him and walked over, “Hello Young Lord, would you like to try these ambrosia samples your father left for you?”

“I’d rather kill myself.”

Luke felt a little bad for the Nymph, she was just trying to be kind after all but Luke was having a shit day. He made a mental note that he would apologize to her if he didn’t already bury himself in a hole by the end of the day.

When he walked far enough away from Hermes temple Luke found a small forest. Dense enough so that the sun wouldn’t hit him, but not dark enough for him to not be able to see. He sat under a shady tree about to fall asleep, when the sun was dropped. Light flooded from underneath his eyelids and he started to sweat, all signs of godly interference.

He cracked an eye open and was met with the symmetrical face of Apollo. Luke stood straight up and on impulse sent a stay kick in front of him. It didn’t land but it surprised Apollo enough for him to jump out of the way.

“Why the fu– freak are you here?” Luke deserved a medal for not cursing out a god the second they appear.

“I am here while your father collects some food for you,” Apollo replied.

Luke played dumb, “Why would I do that?”

Apollo was sorely unimpressed, “Alexia, the nymph you spoke to informed me and Hermes when we went out to look for you that you would rather kill yourself than have ambrosia.”

What a snitch.

“Ugh, it’s not literal,” Luke fought the urge to roll his eyes, “it’s just an expression, ask any of the demigods.”

“Why would you joke about such a thing?”

Luke’s vein popped, “Well I’m just trying to get a peaceful time to myself.”

“So you will eat the ambrosia your father gives you?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Your physical and mental state proves otherwise.”

Luke was about ready to throw himself off Olympus now. Gods and all their meddling. Luke’s day got terribly worse when Hermes appeared with a wooden board loaded with ambrosia. Hermes leaned closer to him about to caress his cheek when Luke shoved his hand down. The situation was bad, could be worse, but it was bad. Luke had no chance of running away, no one was there to ‘save him.’ And he couldn’t get these two over pushy gods that for some reason make it their life's mission to make Luke’s life hell.

Before Hermes could speak Luke swore he heard a string get yanked. Within a second Hermes was doubled over, eyes glassy. Apollo took his eyes off Luke long enough that Luke put some distance between them. Hermes opened his mouth to speak when buckets of ichor split out, it was like Niagara Falls but gold.

Luke felt it. The presence that was once housed in his own body the one he spent his entire existence cursing out. It wasn’t physical… yet… but it was there, and it had used whatever semblance of power it had left to reverse Hermes' body to that of when he was without Georgios and Martha.

Luke’s head was pounding. He swore he could hear the ear scratching laugh and he felt his hands clench his head. Luke’s breathing got shallower and shallower. But Luke wouldn’t–couldn’t—sit by again and let Kronos wreak havoc. That shitty Great Prohpecy had called him the hero but he sure as fuck wasn’t. The scariest part was that neither Apollo nor Hermes realized Kronos was there.

Tick Tock, your not enough Luke~

Luke dug through his cargos. He wouldn’t be able to defeat Kronos by stabbing himself in the armpit but maybe, just maybe, a well aimed throw could take his ghostly presence away. Or take his attention off the two defenseless gods.

Tick Tock, your running out of time Luke~

The faint trace of shimmering gold in the wind was all he needed. Kronos despite being an ‘all-powerful titan’ was stupid. He was like a classical villain, always monologuing before someone died and having evil speeches like they were on a set.

Tick Tock, you’ll never be a good person again Luke~

He threw his dagger. It sailed straight though the gold outline until it hit a tree. The ticking ceased and the chill that resonated deep as Luke’s bones grew warmer until it wasn’t there. The feeling of dread that was coiled around his body loosened.

Though he couldn’t start running away before he had to close his eyes. A sudden burst of heat and light told Luke that Apollo had teleported away, probably for the better.

Luke grabbed his dagger, shoved it into its sheath and slid it back in his cargo. Kronos’ presence had sped up the minutes till sundown as the sky was already draped in purples, pinks, and oranges. It was oddly serene after what had just transpired moments ago. He was too tired from the ordeal with Kronos to even try to get to the dining hall. He made it half way before he slumped down and stone met his face.

Hera felt it. She felt it too strongly. She was just chatting with Athena about the demigods, how peculiar they were and how they had a complete disregard for their own lives, when the simple tell of Kronos’ power set her brain into complete disarray.

“Mother? Are you alright?” Athena asked, noticing the shift in her demeanor.

“Please get your aunts and uncles. This is serious.” She replied. Her eyes strayed to the forest where Apollo and Hermes went to search for Hermes’ child.

“You felt it too?” Came to the gruff voice of Hades. He was more of a shadow than a physical being.

“Yes,” Hera replied.

“Do you really think it is him?” Zeus asked, after centuries of being his wife Hera could see the worry lines and the slight tremble in her husband's eyes and hands.

“I am not sure, it could be like when we discovered Jason, but something is off,” Demeter replied.

There was a flare of power and the Kronides were rendered immobile. They couldn’t speak, move their eyes, or even form a mental connection.

Tantalizing minutes passed, for the six strongest gods to be rendered useless it had to be Kronos. Thoughts waged war in Hera’s mind. What happened to the other gods? The demigods? Were they alive? Have we really been reduced to frozen ice?  Something happened, with Hera’s perceptive hearing she heard a thunk, like that of a dagger hitting wood, all the gods had been moments away from teleporting to protect their children when a flash of sunlight appeared. 

Apollo.

He was carrying Hermes, whose body was hunched inwards with unseeing eyes he glanced at Zeus' way. Prayers in that of hundreds or thousands flooded Hera’s mind. But the ones that stood out were the ones that weren’t even there, Hera for a fact knew that the storms were ravaging Olympus too but not a single whisper of a prayer from the demigods lips came to her or any of the gods. And that was concerning.

Zeus was just a writhing mass of clouds at this point.

'You need to calm down.' Hera spoke telepathically.

'CALM DOWN?! MY SON IS–'

'What of the demigods? Not a single prayer from their lips you need to stop before you destroy them along with Olympus.'

Zeus’ form condensed until he was somewhat wrapped in flesh and skin.

“Nephew what happened?” Poseidon asked.

Instead of replying Apollo was forcing his healing into Hermes like a dead man in need of water.

“Apollo,” Apollo didn’t stop.

“Apollo!” Hera gently lifted Apollo’s hands off of Hermes. They were face to face and Hera was holding Apollo’s cheeks.

“Apollo, listen to me. Hermes will be fine. You need to stop before you reduce yourself to nothing. Think of what Artemis would say.”

Steadily Apollo’s hands stopped glowing and he curled into himself, despite what he would always say Apollo would always be a child to Hera.

“Now son, what happened?”

“It… we went to find Luke after he told a nymph he would kill himself…” Despite not being able to see well, Hermes let out a sharp wail. Ichor spilled like rain from his mouth. 

“And we found him but before we could ask him about it Hermes– Hermes suddenly doubled over with ichor spilling from his mouth like now.”

“Like when he first got teleported here?” Hades growled.

“...yes…”

“Fuck,” Demeter and Poseidon cursed.

“What happened after that?” Hera asked calmly despite her mind being like the tides of war.

“Well Luke froze up all of a sudden and was clutching his head…” A sharp inhale caused the Kronides to look at Hestia. There was a steaming tear running down her face as she was being held onto by Demter and Hades.

“What else, Sunny?”

“And he threw his dagger at a tree and I could finally move again.”

Luke, a demigod, barely twenty-three summers old, made Kronos’ presence disappear. Hera couldn’t believe it, even the bodiless presence of Kronos had frozen the six strongest gods in place yet a demigod had been able to disrupt his spiritual body. 

Zeus and Hera swapped places, with Hera examining Hermes and Zeus holding Apollo. What Hera saw was disastrous.

Glassy eyes peered up at her and dried ichor matted Hermes curly hair to his head. His eyes were rimmed red like he was crying and cuts and bruises were all over Hermes forearms and legs. His ankles, wrist, and neck were raw like that of a prisoner but the worst part was when he opened his mouth. The insides were ravaged and torn up tinted gold from all the ichor. His teeth still had the liquid dripping off of them. Where his tongue should’ve been was just an ugly flesh stub where the ichor was pooling from and Hermes throat looked like someone had forced him to swallow rocks.

“Am-bro-he-uh,” Hermes' words came out disjointed but Hera could piece out the fact he asked for Ambrosia.

Hera gave some to him and he munched on it, albeit difficult but he managed to swallow it well enough. It was slow but it worked, the tan of his skin came back, the cuts and bruises on his appendages began to slowly mend themselves. The shackle scars turned from bright red to a muted pink. His tongue would take longer though but they had time.

Well shit. Nico knew something was wrong when the afternoon sky turned pink and purple in minutes. 

Nico was just doing some exploring and trying his best to avoid the incessant satyrs and nymphs that wanted to take him to his fathers temple. His talk with his father was jarring to say the least.

“You are not from here.” Hades stated simply.

“What do you mean?” Nico plastered a fake smile to his face.

“You are not from this world.” Nico’s dad and his uncanny ability to know when Nico was faking something.

“Am I right son?”

“Yes… but don’t tell anyone! It'd be bad if they found out!” Nico insisted. Hades sighed but agreed.

Nico almost tripped over a body when he was caught up in his mind.

“Jesus!” Nico screeched.

The body or Luke made no move to get up. His face was smashed into the stone pathway and he was bleeding from his forehead. Nico cursed his scrawniness as he hauled Luke’s body across the ground. Nico didn’t usually curse, unlike Hazel, but when he did it always caught people off guard. Grunting and sweaty, that's when the hair raised on Nico’s neck. He knew the feeling, it was all too common as a child of the Big Three, especially in Tartarus.

Nico turned around gripping the hilt of his sword.

“What happened here?” Mr.D-Dionysus said as he lightly kicked the body of Luke.

“Don’t ask me,” Nico replied.

“Here, you look tired, cousin.” Dionysus with strength Nico forgot he had, hoisted Luke’s body onto his right shoulder.

“Thanks.”

“Well we need to get going, the readings are going to start soon and I would rather not have you haul Mr. Jumpy around,” Gods Nico missed the nicknames Mr.D gave him and the others.

Arriving fashionably late Dionysus lumped Luke onto the couch with Clarisse and Nico sat down on the right of Will. Will looked sluggish to say the least. His skin was a few shades paler and his usual bright mood he always wore had completely disappeared along with his cheery smile. His eyebags were more pronounced and even his freckles looked depressed.

“Were the injuries harder to heal than normal?” Nico inquired. 

Nico touched Will’s shoulder to ground him and the long-suffering look he held melted away until he replied, “That’s to say the least,”

Demeter signaled for Aphrodite to give her the book and she began to read.

“I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.”

“Classic demigod dreams there Percy,” Castor smirked.

“Your dreams are that bad?” Dionysus frowned.

“Worse!” Pollux said cheerily. 

“I must’ve woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.”

“You still drool,” Annabeth said fondly.

“How did it take you all four years to get together, especially when you pull stunts like that first time meeting,” Will ranted.

Percy and Annabeth blushed causing Aphrodite to laugh.

“When she saw my eyes open, she asked, “What will happen at the summer solstice?”

The gods leaned forward in their seats.

“I managed to croak, “What?” 

She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. “What’s going on? What was stolen? We’ve only got a few weeks!’”

“Annabeth next time no interrogating the infirmary patients!” Despite Will being two years younger than Annabeth she still looked down guiltily. 

Nico thought he heard the gods mumble amongst themselves something about: “stolen?” “a few weeks?”

““I’m sorry,” I mumbled, “I don’t . . .” 

Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.”

Percy choked slightly and Annabeth apologized.

“The next time I woke up, the girl was gone. A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes— at least a dozen of them—on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.”

Nico saw some silent tears prick Hera’s eyes at the mention of Argus. He knew Argus was created by Hera in the demigods world but in this one–guessing by the fact that the minotaur was an unborn child of Poseidon–perhaps Argus was an unborn child of Hera or Zeus?

“When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.”

“Crazy foreshadowing,” Percy commented.

Luke hunched into himself farther and received a small glare from Annabeth. Nico turned to Will and was moving his head between Percy and Luke. Will shrugged and refocused on the book.

“ My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.”

“Ugh, don’t miss the feeling,” Percy commented, sticking his tongue out.

“On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.”

“Maraschino cherries mmmmmmm~” Maraschino cherries reminded Nico of Bianca and the faint memories he had of his mother. One summer night Bianca had managed to find the cherries in a market and he, Bianca, and his mother, maybe even Hades too, sat at their little dining table to eat them. Nico stopped reminiscing when Demeter started to read again.

“My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it. 

“Careful,” a familiar voice said. 

Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn’t slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy.”

“What is with the bright colors anyways?” Apollo asked.

“More importantly, how did you dye your tunics such a bright and vibrant color? Oh you must show me!” Aphrodite asked, clapping her hands cheerily.

“So maybe I’d had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation, and we’d stopped here at this big house for some reason. And . . . 

“You saved my life,” Grover said. “I . . . well, the least I could do . . . I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this.”

Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap. Inside was a black-and-white bull’s horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn’t been a nightmare. 

“The Minotaur,” I said. 

“Um, Percy, it isn’t a good idea—” 

“That’s what they call him in the Greek myths, isn’t it?” I demanded. “The Minotaur. Half man, half bull.””

“We were going to call him Evangelos,” Poseidon sighed.

“Grover shifted uncomfortably. “You’ve been out for two days. How much do you remember?” 

“My mom. Is she really . . .”’

“She’s not dead,” Hades stated.

“I know,” Percy replied.

That caused Nico’s father to raise an eyebrow but he said nothing of it.

“He looked down. 

I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight. My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.”

“I am glad you care for your mother,” Hera said.

“Of course, she’s been there all my life.” Percy replied. That made Poseidon frown.

““I’m sorry,” Grover sniffled. “I’m a failure. I’m—I’m the worst satyr in the world.””

“He better not fucking think that anymore or I’m going to chortle him,” Thalia shouted.

“He doesn’t anymore, he got a lot more confident with his… promotion.” Percy sent a discreet glance Pan’s way.

Pan’s death hadn’t really affected Nico as much as it did Grover, to him it was just another person who died, but to Grover it was like his whole world crumbled into oblivion.

“He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole. 

“Oh, Styx!” he mumbled.”

“He shouldn’t say that lightly,” Zeus warned.

“Thunder rolled across the clear sky. 

As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it. Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I’d find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs.”

“We are not giving Grover a buzz!” Leo exclaimed, touching his own curly hair.

“We won’t, we won’t,” Percy laughed.

“All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.”

“Better than dying,” Castor mumbled.

Percy winced and said, “Yeah, I’d rather my mom get captured than die, um, no offense to you though.” 

Nico risked a glance at Leo who had stopped fidgeting. Leo met his eyes and shook his head.

“I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with . . . Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I’d do something.”

“You at twelve, pretending you were seventeen? Fat chance. You were scrawnier than Will when he first came,” Clarisse barked out a laugh.

Will chuckled while Percy scoffed.

“Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid—poor goat, satyr, whatever—looked as if he expected to be hit.”

Pan’s eyes glowed three shades brighter as he asked in the most dead calm voice Nico heard, “What?”

Hermes rested a hand on Pan’s shoulder and Pan breathed out enough for Demeter to continue.

“I said, “It wasn’t your fault.” 

“Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you.” 

“Did my mother ask you to protect me?” 

“No. But that’s my job. I’m a keeper. At least . . . I was.” 

“But why . . .” I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming. 

“Don’t strain yourself,” Grover said. “Here.” 

He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips. I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn’t that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies—my mom’s homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy.”

“That is what nectar taste like to you all?” Hephaestus grunted out a question.

“Well it varies by person but–” Annabeth’s three hour long college lecture was cut short by Thalia’s hand going to cover her mouth.

“Sorry Annabeth but we don’t need a ted talk on nectar,” Thalia said apologetically.

““Chocolate-chip cookies,” I said. “My mom’s. Homemade.” 

He sighed. “And how do you feel?” 

“Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards.””

“Good,” Clarisse commented.

““That’s good,” he said. “That’s good. I don’t think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff.” 

“What do you mean?” He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. 

“Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting.””

“Me?” Chiron asked.

“Wait, is Mr.D me?” Dionysus exclaimed.

Hades was looking at Nico, head tilted, wordlessly asking if he could explain. Nico slowly nodded and braced himself for the torrents of questions that would come.

“I think the children are not from here.” 

Way to go dad, don’t give a damn clue what you mean and say one sentence that is supposed to solve everything. 

Nico sighed heavily while the demigods turned to him with furrowed eyebrows.

“The Fates mentioned that these children are from different timelines and judging by how impossible it must be for us to have demigods–especially ones we don't know about–I assume they are from a different world where we can have children. Am I correct, children?” Hades explained.

After a few tense seconds Will sighed, “Yes, you're right.”

Before the gods could start flooding the demigods with a dam full of questions Hestia held up her hand.

“I think that the children won’t be able to say how they got here, and we should finish this chapter so the demigods can go rest.”

“This does not relate to the whole other world thing you all have going on but am I the one the satyr calls ‘Mr.D?’” Dionysus looked on a whole different level of offended at being called Mr.D.

“Yes dad, you’re called Mr. D by everyone except me and Castor.” Pollux laughed at Dionysus' sour expression.

“Well, Mr. D,” Apollo snickered, “let’s get back to reading.”

“The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse. My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I’d paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn’t going to let it go.”

“Good decision,” Ares remarked.

“As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath. We must’ve been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn’t process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena—except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school–age kids and satyrs played volleyball.”

The gods let out hopeful gasps as stars shone in their eyes. If only the kids were actually alive… best not to dwell on the past.

“Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover’s were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.”

“Horses with wings?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… like pegasus…” Percy said slowly, waiting for a flicker of recognition in Poseidon's eye but none came.

“Seems like that is a difference between this world and yours,” Artemis pointed out.

“Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who’d spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.”

“Is that going to be Chiron and I?” Dionysus murmured.

“As a pre-ah-warning, you might be a whole lot different than what you know as you, so please don't get offended?” Percy pleaded.

“It cannot be that bad,” The demigods shared a look.

“Just, get on with it Aunt Demeter,” Dionysus stammered.

Demeter was skimming through the sentences when she started laughing loudly, “Oh nephew dear, you are not ready for this.” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“The man facing me was small, but porky.” 

Dionysus sputtered.

“He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels— what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That’s it. He looked like a cherub who’d turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would’ve fit right in at one of Gabe’s poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could’ve out-gambled even my stepfather.”

Dionysus huffed, “Of course I could out gamble that monster.”

“What got you looking like… that…” Ares cackled.

“Do not ask me!” Dionysus cried.

““That’s Mr. D,” Grover murmured to me. “He’s the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that’s Annabeth Chase. She’s just a camper, but she’s been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron. . . .” 

He pointed at the guy whose back was to me. First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard. 

“Mr. Brunner!” I cried.

“I don’t look like that,” Chiron's eyebrows were knit with confusion.

“At least I’m not the only one who changed,” Dionysus crossed his arms.

Nico blinked a few times, it was jarring to realize that in godly proportions Dionysus was maybe seventeen compared to everyone else, rather than the grumpy forty-year-old personality he had at camp.

“The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.”

“Oh that’s devious,” Jason grinned.

““Ah, good, Percy,” he said. “Now we have four for pinochle.””

“Pee-nuh-kl?” Pan sounded, “Is that similar to a pee-an-o?”

Pollux raised an eyebrow, “How do you know what a piano is?”

“Well someone,” Pan took a pointed glance at Luke, “distracted me and Dionysus with the mention of ‘a weird place to put a piano.’”

The demigods' heads shifted to look at Luke, Luke’s face was flushed red and he had a guilty expression on his face.

“Is that when you lost his Dio?” Dionysus' face scrunched at being called Dio but nodded.

“He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. “Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don’t expect me to be glad to see you.””

“What a jerk,” Dionysus scowled.

“It’s fine, it would honestly be worse if you were all lovey-dovey,” Percy offhandedly commented.

Dionysus' eyebrows shot up and turned to face the elder gods. 

Oh Percy and your obliviousness. 

Nico internally sighed. When Dionysus turned back to face the Hearth Demeter continued.

““Uh, thanks.” 

I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.”

The room got hotter by the second as Apollo let out a low growl. Sweat rolled down Nico’s temple, the salty stickiness slapping his hair onto his head and forehead. Nico was used to the cold depths of the Underworld and Tartarus, Hades he had swallowed fire but the blistering heat radiating from Apollo was not making Nico a happy camper. Artemis laid a hand on Apollo’s shoulder and tilted her head the demigods way, when Apollo saw the state he left the demigods– especially Will– the room returned to its normal temperature.

“Do you have a handkerchief?” Nico asked, slicking sweat off his forehead.

“Um, I have a gauze?” Will said, handing Nico a square.

Wordlessly Nico wiped his forehead and hands before shoving it into his pocket.

“Since you all are better could I continue please?” Demeter asked.

“Go ahead,” Annabeth nodded.

““Annabeth?” Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl. She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. 

“This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don’t you go check on Percy’s bunk? We’ll be putting him in cabin eleven for now.””

“Why Cabin eleven? Shouldn’t Percy have been claimed now?” Leo asked.

Luke’s eyes widened until his pupils were the size of globes. 

“You actually did it?” Luke laughed a little hysterically and gazed at Percy with a grin splitting his face.

Percy was definitely uncomfortable with the attention from Luke but gave a firm nod.

Luke murmured something but Nico was too far away to hear.

“Am I missing something?” Leo asked, eyeing the weird display that Luke had.

“We’ll tell you later,” Will sighed.

“Annabeth said, “Sure, Chiron.” 

She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.”

Nico knew Annabeth well enough that Percy’s thoughts had made her insecure. Percy knew this too as he kissed her on the cheek and whispered encouraging words to her.

“They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.”

Annabeth snorted, “I probably was.”

“She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a minotaur! or Wow, you’re so awesome! or something like that. 

Instead she said, “You drool when you sleep.” 

Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.”

“Maybe I know why it took y’all so long,” Will pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, we had some rough patches,” Percy snickered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

““So,” I said, anxious to change the subject. “You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?” 

“Not Mr. Brunner,” the ex–Mr. Brunner said. “I’m afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron.” 

“Okay.” Totally confused, I looked at the director. “And Mr. D. . . does that stand for something?””

Dionysus let out a long-suffering sigh as Castor and Pollux winced.

“Demigods, I know you call the other me Mr.D but please, if you would be so kind, not call me that?”

“Alright dad,” Pollux said.

“Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I’d just belched loudly. “Young man, names are powerful things. You don’t just go around using them for no reason.””

“That lasted about ten minutes, at most,” Annabeth sighed.

““Oh. Right. Sorry.” 

“I must say, Percy,” Chiron-Brunner broke in, “I’m glad to see you alive. It’s been a long time since I’ve made a house call to a potential camper. I’d hate to think I’ve wasted my time.”’

“What the–” Apollo started angrily before Artemis smacked the back of his head.

“Not in front of the children!” She reprimanded.

Nico was fighting the urge to yell that they weren’t children but decided to stay silent so the demigods and him could be out of the throne faster.

““House call?” ……………. “Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that’s always the first test.”

“Fucking first test,” Ares eyes twitched and his nose flared.

Nico missed the way Clarisse's whole body tensed and how her head ducked to focus on the ground. Luke was taking deep breaths in trying to calm himself as the wings on his temples twitched at random.

“What in the fuck were we doing up on Olympus for there to be a first test!” Apollo shouted. He was clutching his head in his hands.

“Arguing,” Thalia replied sharply.

“Arguing? Like little toddlers fighting for a stick?!” Apollo looked ready to explode and Artemis didn’t seem any better.

“Accurate analogy to be honest,” Nico commented, “do you think they got better when we disappeared?”

“Honestly? Probably not. Though they did seem worried in the… messages…” Clarisse was tilting her head in consideration.

When Luke had IM’d the gods they did seem like they were frantic to come and find the demigods but it’s not like the demigods could hear them.

“Why were you talking to… them?” Zeus asked, disdain dripped from his mouth.

“Why shouldn’t we?” Thalia countered.

“Because they are fucking useless, like little artless pussy’s who can’t even care for their own fucking kids!” Apollo shouted, flinging his arms outwards.

Calling the gods artless pussy’s was not on Nico’s ‘if we got kidnapped bingo list,’ he couldn’t help but snicker.

“Language, but yes Apollo is correct,” Hera agreed.

“Well it’s not like we’ll be staying here after the stories are finished, though how long that would take?” Annabeth tapped her finger to chin.

“You would rather go back to those, those, bastards then stay here?” Poseidon asked, he was shaking in rage and his form flickered from human to something entirely other.

“It’s not like we have a choice. We’ll probably get sent back either way,” Percy grumbled. 

“We can focus on that later, we should probably finish so the children can sleep,” Thank Rhea for Hestia, she was such a pillar of reason for the gods, in both worlds. Though one generally listneed more than the other.

““Grover,” Mr. D said impatiently, “are you playing or not?” 

“Yes, sir!” Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn’t know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.”

Pan’s eyes glinted, “If you hit one of my satyrs D, I will make you fade.”

Dionysus’ eyes were wide with disbelief and possibly fear, “Pan you know this! I would never dare to!”

“That is what I thought,” Pan smiled and turned back to the book.

““You do know how to play pinochle?” Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.

“I’m afraid not,” I said. 

“I’m afraid not, sir,” he said.”

“Why is that version of me such a dick?” Dionysus moaned.

“Withdrawal probably,” Percy shrugged.

“With– what?”

“It’ll be explained.”

““Sir,” I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.

“Well,” he told me, “it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules.” 

“I’m sure the boy can learn,” Chiron said. 

“Please,” I said, “what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun—Chiron—why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?” 

Mr. D snorted. “I asked the same question.” 

The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.”

Pan was glaring holes into the side of Dionysus head.

“Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.

 “Percy,” he said. “Did your mother tell you nothing?” 

“She said . . .” I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. “She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn’t leave. She wanted to keep me close to her.”’

Hera smiled sympathetically.

““Typical,” Mr. D said. “That’s how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?” 

“What?” I asked. 

He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did. 

“I’m afraid there’s too much to tell,” Chiron said. “I’m afraid our usual orientation film won’t be sufficient.”’

“What?” Annabeth asked, her eyes wide, “You- you didn’t see it?”

“No…” Percy replied, his eyebrows scrunched.

“Oh, I was such an ass,” Annabeth groaned, “I thought you were playing dumb with me, I didn’t know you didn’t see it. Sorry Percy.”

“Oh! I was so confused, it’s okay though Annabeth, water under the bridge.”

““Orientation film?” I asked.”

The vague memory of hippie Apollo dancing and instructing kids on how not to die came back in Nico’s mind and he chuckled.

“We have to show it to you Percy, maybe consult a certain someone on how to make it better.”

“I’m scared now but okay.”

““No,” Chiron decided. “Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know”—he pointed to the horn in the shoe box—“that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods—the forces you call the Greek gods—are very much alive.”’

“We never died?” Hades said, though it was more phrased as a question.

“Well, to the rest of the world you did, new religion, new beliefs." Luke shrugged.

“I stared at the others around the table. I waited for somebody to yell, Not! " 

But all I got was Mr. D yelling, “Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!” He cackled as he tallied up his points. 

“Mr. D,” Grover asked timidly, “if you’re not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?” 

“Eh? Oh, all right.” 

Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.”

“Maybe I should try whatever this aluminum is?” Pan considered.

““Wait,” I told Chiron. 

“You’re telling me there’s such a thing as God.” 

“Well, now,” Chiron said. “God—capital G, God. That’s a different matter altogether. We shan’t deal with the metaphysical.” 

“Metaphysical? But you were just talking about—” 

“Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That’s a smaller matter.”’

“Smaller?” Chiron reiterated.

““Smaller?” 

“Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class.” 

“Zeus,” I said. “Hera. Apollo. You mean them.”’

“Hah brother!” Zeus said in triumph. Poseidon grumbled while the rest of the kronides sighed.

“And there it was again—distant thunder on a cloudless day. 

“Young man,” said Mr. D, “I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you.”’

“Puh-lease, as if that’d ever happen,” Jason scoffed.

“Hey!”

““But they’re stories,” I said. “They’re—myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They’re what people believed before there was science.” 

“Science!” Mr. D scoffed. “And tell me, Perseus Jackson”—I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody—“what will people think of your ‘science’ two thousand years from now?” Mr. D continued. 

“Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That’s what. Oh, I love mortals—they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they’ve come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me.” 

I wasn’t liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if . . . he wasn’t. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut. 

“Percy,” Chiron said, “you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?”’

“I’d rather die to be honest,” Percy said, and the demigods nodded their heads.

The gods frowned and then started to have the world's longest stare off. After they finished Demeter cleared her throat and begun.

“I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron’s voice made me hesitate. 

“You mean, whether people believed in you or not,” I said. 

“Exactly,” Chiron agreed. “If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?”’

“That is terribly rude of me to say,” Chiron frowned at the book.

“My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn’t going to let him. 

I said, “I wouldn’t like it. But I don’t believe in gods.” 

“Oh, you’d better,” Mr. D murmured. “Before one of them incinerates you.” 

Grover said, “P-please, sir. He’s just lost his mother. He’s in shock.” 

“A lucky thing, too,” Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. “Bad enough I’m confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don’t even believe!” 

He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.”

“I prefer vodka honestly,” Pollux commented.

“Aren’t you too young for that? How did you even get it?” Luke asked.

Pollux tensed slightly before saying, “a little fake I.D does all the trick, especially made by Connor.”

Luke blinked and shrugged.

“Vod-ka?” Dionysus mouthed, “is it also wine?”

Pollux took a moment to consider before replying “Not really, it’s a form of alcohol but not wine.”

“My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up. 

“Mr. D,” he warned, “your restrictions.”’

Dionysus growled, “What.”

Once his restrictions were mentioned Dionysus suddenly slumped down looking pale and sickly.

“Do the effects even work for his restrictions?” Castor gasped.

Dionysus groaned before sitting up, his hair was thinner and his eyes had begun to droop and gain eyebags, besides his younger appearance he looked a lot more like Mr.D.

He clutched his head, “What the fuck am I feeling?”

“Withdrawal, from your domain, and wine.” Annabeth stated.

“Shitty fucking jewels, I can see why your ‘Mr.D’ seems so miserable.”

“Let’s continue and maybe the effects will wear off when we finish?” Pollux suggested.

“Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise. 

“Dear me.” He looked at the sky and yelled, “Old habits! Sorry!” 

More thunder. 

Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.”

Dionysus turned in shock towards Zeus, “Did you ban me from wine?” He asked, shaking slightly.

“I don’t know what other me was thinking, heartless bastard,” Zeus growled, clutching Dionysus protectively.

Nico turned away from the sight, it was freaky how different the Zeus’ were and seeing Zeus being affectionate and protective? Nico shuddered.

“Chiron winked at me. “Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits.””

“Why would I do that? I have a wife!” Zeus shouted.

That’s what were saying.

“You’re… very different in our world.” Thalia ground out. Her knuckles were white and she scooted closer to Jason.

““A wood nymph,” I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space. 

“Yes,” Mr. D confessed. “Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time—well, she really was pretty, and I couldn’t stay away—the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. ‘Be a better influence,’ he told me. ‘Work with youths rather than tearing them down.’ Ha! Absolutely unfair.” 

Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.”

“This is just so different, we must act like little kids in your universe,” Hermes said, it sounded flatter and slightly pained as he said that.

Wonder why?

““And . . .” I stammered, “your father is . . .” 

“Di immortales, Chiron,” Mr. D said. “I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course.” 

I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master. 

“You’re Dionysus,” I said. “The god of wine.”

 Mr. D rolled his eyes. “What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, ‘Well, duh!’?” 

“Y-yes, Mr. D.” 

“Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?””

“No offense to you Dionysus, but if the you of that world was me,” Aphrodite shuddered, “horrid, I couldn’t imagine it.”

Dionysus gave a weak nod.

““You’re a god.” 

“Yes, child.” 

“A god. You.” 

He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a straitjacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life. 

“Would you like to test me, child?” he said quietly. 

“No. No, sir.” The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. 

“I believe I win.”’

“Wow, you really pissed him off huh?” Clarisse snorted, “that’s a record Prissy.”

“It’s just my–” Percy brushed the hair off his shoulder, “talent.”

Poseidon snorted at the sight as Aphrodite cooed.

““Not quite, Mr. D,” Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, “The game goes to me.” 

I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.

“I’m tired,” Mr. D said. “I believe I’ll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment.” 

Grover’s face beaded with sweat. “Y-yes, sir.” 

Mr. D turned to me. “Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners.” 

He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably. 

“Will Grover be okay?” I asked Chiron. 

Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. “Old Dionysus isn’t really mad. He just hates his job. He’s been . . . ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can’t stand waiting another century before he’s allowed to go back to Olympus.”’

“Banned from Olympus! Oh that’s rich!” Nico couldn’t tell if Dionysus was crying or laughing.

“Just what sort of terrible creature would I have to be to do that to my own child.” Zeus gasped. 

Hera kissed him on the cheek to calm him down, Nico’s eyes widened, Hera kissing Zeus? Impossible.

““Mount Olympus,” I said. “You’re telling me there really is a palace there?” 

“Well now, there’s Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there’s the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It’s still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do.” 

The gods' eyes widened at the fact they moved out of Greece.

“You mean the Greek gods are here? Like . . . in America?” 

“Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West.” 

“The what?” 

“Come now, Percy. What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s just an abstract concept? No, it’s a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn’t possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know—or as I hope you know, since you passed my course—the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps— Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on—but the same forces, the same gods.”

“There’s the mention of Rome again.” Athena said.

Subtly, Nico glanced at Jason as he moved his right arm out of view of the gods.

Aphrodite eyed them and sighed “The children are definitely hiding something,” All the demigods froze, “but they do seem quite tight-lipped, so it’s best to revisit this.”

Shit how did Aphrodite know that? Oh right she’s a Titaness.

““And then they died.” 

“Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England………………….It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here.” 

It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron’s we, as if I were part of some club.”

“Ah yes the ‘don’t die before sixteen’ club!” Castor grinned.

The gods didn’t say anything but Nico’s father was eyeing Leo. 

““Who are you, Chiron? Who . . . who am I?” 

Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralyzed from the waist down. 

“Who are you?” he mused. “Well, that’s the question we all want answered, isn’t it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s’mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate.””

“I could go for some chocolate honestly,” Nico whispered to Will.

“You better eat something more than that m’kay?” Will said.

“Sure ‘doctors orders!’” Nico mocked in a high-pitched voice.

Will scoffed but didn’t say anything.

 “And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn’t move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn’t underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur.”

“But I have a black coat?” Chiron frowned.

“Well… different world, different coat?” Percy suggested.

“Maybe,” Chiron mused.

“And the wheelchair wasn’t a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must’ve been magic, because there’s no way it could’ve held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached. 

I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse’s trunk. “What a relief,” the centaur said. “I’d been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let’s meet the other campers.”

Chapter Text

Athena admired the demigod's cunning. They had managed to lose a few of the gods in the marble corridors but they soon teleported to wherever the biggest godly energy signature emerged. The demigods were all sat in a lopsided circle in a closed off room. Athena couldn’t see them but their shadows through the door gave enough away.

“Firstly,” Athena’s precious little baby, Annabeth– whose eyes held a certain emptiness that Athena didn’t like one bit– began, “we need to figure out the best way to avoid the gods.”

Athena stepped back. She did not doubt her daughter's wisdom or intelligence but what good purpose would putting distance between the demigods and gods serve? She glanced at Dionysus, he wasn’t as miserable looking as when his ‘restrictions’ got mentioned but his power was significantly dimmed.

“Why would they want to avoid us?” The mind link connected everyone of the gods.

Everyone except Aphrodite pitched possible conclusions, Athena’s eyes narrowed, “Aphrodite, if you have something, anything, could you please tell us?”

Aphrodite seemed to stare straight through the door that concealed the eaves-dropping gods, "There is just…” Aphrodite sighed mentally, “so much hate… so, so much hate.”

“Hate?” Apollo uttered.

“It’s overwhelming honestly, and I do not know if you can feel it Hera, but they harbor so little connection to us or just gods in general.”

“Yes, I noticed that, they reject any attempt to get close to us, and their minds are impossible to navigate, so many bars and walls,” Dionysus took a deep breath despite not needing to breathe. Father was still clutching Dionysus protectively.

“They are talking again,” Artemis pointed to the door.

“If I could say something, Di– Mr.D,” Dionysus’ face scrunched at the name. “He can look into our minds with ease, I know he looked into mine.”

Luke sounded so bitter it could’ve drowned someone. 

“Is there a way to know? Or to block it?” Will asked, “I’d like to keep my mind to myself thank you.”

Strange? Can they not just block the mind link? Athena wondered.

“I’m not sure, I think he needs a bit of time to get into your mind, and he has to be looking straight at your head, at least that’s what he did for me.”

“Not exactly incorrect,” Ares muttered. 

Dionysus didn’t need to look at the demigods to see their minds but their minds were so rough and jagged he needed to to keep the connection solid enough for him to get a firm grasp on it.

“So that’s a problem we can’t fix, but what about avoiding them?” Annabeth proposed.

“Ugh yeah,” Athena could imagine the child of Apollo shuddering, “I ain’t taking one damn step near my father if I can help it.” 

Despite not being Will’s parent Athena was surprised at the amount of disdain he said it with. Apollo cringed back, his white raven and swan wings spread wide. Artemis patted his shoulder in support. Grief was palpable throughout the hallway and Athena had no doubt that the demigods could’ve felt it too.

“What,” Apollo uttered, he sounded so devastated it hurt to see.

“That is what I mean, the hatred, the disdain, it’s all there, just what in Chaos did the other versions of us do to them,” Aphrodite gritted her teeth.

“We can’t let them go back,” Poseidon growled. His water-rapid hair trying to grasp for anything, as his rows of shark teeth appeared.

“I agree. If we must, it would be better if we kept them locked up then let them return to that horrid place.” Athena nodded.

The gods all nodded their agreement forming a silent pact that none of the demigods would escape.

“Also, was anyone else weirded out that the Minotaur was Po– Mr. Moisture’s kid?” Leo asked.

Within the mental link Hermes, Athena, Artemis and Apollo were cackling. 

“Mr. Moisture! Oh that’s great!” Dionysus wiped a tear from his eye.

Poseidon grumbled but cracked a small grin.

“Oh yeah!” Nico snapped his fingers, “I remember falling into some sort of graveyard, there were a bunch of names like Hypnos, Tyche, and Pershephone.”

At the mention of the graveyard the mood of the gods turned somber. Demeter let out a silent cry at the mention of Pershphone.

“Really? But how does a god die?” Percy asked.

‘Too easily,’ Hades sighed. 

Pollux had a bad feeling about this. Something was tingling on the back of his neck, like he was being scrutinized by someone. Grief was palpable from the hallway and it didn’t take being a Son of Dionysus to figure it out.

“Do you feel that?” Pollux whispered to Castor.

“No? What do you mean?” Castor’s eyes darted to him.

“Just have a bad feeling,” He answered, sneaking a subtle glance at the door.

Clarisse clapped her hands, jerking Pollux out of whatever turmoil he was in, “Does anyone know how damn far this curse goes?”

Luke’s arms were crossed and he looked like he swallowed a raw sardine with how hard he was concentrating. His eyes rolled back a few times, probably the after effects of whatever thing caused him to cough blood at the end of the last few chapters.

“Well,” He began, “his eyes were darting from each demigod's face gauging their reaction, “I’m pretty sure that the blood I was coughing was from whatever shit, that little bitch did to me in my sleep.”

Percy snorted at the mention of Kronos being a little bitch.

“Oh and–” Luke paused, his head snapping towards the door in horror.

“Um? You okay L–” Thalia started. Luke shushed her and made a silent motion with his fingers.

Pollux was tempted to disregard him out of spite and keep talking. But the frantic look in his unnatural eyes and the weird twitch of his wings made Pollux stop. Along with the traces of panic he kept getting when he looked too closely at Luke.

Luke’s eyes widened with an unspoken curse. Luke crept to the window keeping his footsteps silent, almost too silent. Pollux knew that the children of Hermes were silent-footed, Luke being the quietest of them all until Kronos took over his body. But even he wasn’t that silent, Pollux was convinced he wasn’t even stepping on the ground and those little wings of his were keeping him afloat. He undid the clasps with practiced ease and opened the windows. He beckoned the demigods over and stepped out of the window.

The demigods followed out the window turning to look at Luke in confusion. Though Pollux didn’t trust him within a thirty foot pole he knew panic when he saw it.

“Did none of you feel it?” Luke asked.

“You mean that prickle? Like on your neck or something,” Pollux questioned.

“Exactly, someone must have been–,”

“Listening in?” Pollux finished.

Luke nodded.

Will froze, he hunched over before saying, “So they… you think they heard all that?”

“Maybe?” Pollux responded, it was supposed to be a statement but it came out as more of a question.

“Shit sticks,” Will swore.

“Language Will,” Nico sighed, elbowing his boyfriend. Will rolled his eyes.

“Next thing, we need to find where we're going to sleep,” Thalia pitched.

“Forest?” Clarisse suggested. It was depressingly funny how Pollux and the rest of the demigods would rather sleep in the forest than within the confines of their false-parents temples.

“I’m good with that, but who’s to say that the falsies won’t just nab us?” Percy said.

“What if, this might be a horrendous idea,” The demigods waited in anticipation for Leo to finish, “we consulted He– the hearth girl for a place to stay.”

Pollux tilted his head from side to side. One one hand Hestia being all for home could just lodge them all in her temple without their false-parents if they vented their anxieties about it, on the other, she could just call all the gods to watch their children sleep. Like creepy dolls.

“But how do we know she won’t sell us out,” Luke, ever the pessimist, muttered.

“She’s the best shot so far,” Percy said, standing up and cracking his knuckles.

“Where would we even find her?” Jason– Pollux heard about him when he had come back to Camp Halfblood briefly to fight against the Romans when they were parched for numbers–asked.

“Call her name?” Leo shrugged.

“And grab every other god's attention,” Luke snorted. “As if.”

“Have any better ideas, Winghead?” Leo retorted. 

Luke flushed in embarrassment using his hands to cover his wings. Pollux snickered as did Castor.

“I say we vote,” Thalia suggested.

“I’m good with that,” Most of the demigods replied.

“All in favor of going to… Hearth Girl, raise your hand,” 

Despite Leo having suggested it he never raised his hand. He must’ve realized that going to any god and not being taken was as futile as falling from a cliff onto a hoard of sharp rocks and living.

“Alright… guess it’s decided then,” Thalia began to walk toward a forest in the distance.

Like a bunch of ducklings the demigods followed, Luke stayed behind hand never leaving his cargo pocket. Wonder what’s in it. Castor thought.

They were camped out on a hill surveying the small glimmers of light that were the gods' temples. Trees shrouded them from both the sun and moon and the scent of soil covered their smells. None of the trees were inhabited by nymphs and naiads weren’t appearing anywhere from the river. Despite all these assurances no one went to sleep. They all kept watchful eyes over the sparks of the gods' temple. 

The pale blonde kid, Jason, if Castor remembered right was tapping a steady beat which the elfish teen tapped back to. The faint rustle of the leaves, the tapping from the two demigods, and the trickle of the river nearby was calming in an odd sort of way.

Pollux touched the long scar running from his knee to his shin, it was a reminder of the Battle of Manhattan, his memories were foggy, either with grief or the overwhelming sense of fear he felt, either way he didn’t remember exactly where he got it he just knew it hurt like fuck when he did.

Castor seemed to be doing the same thing as he gingerly touched the side of his stomach, the spot where he got impaled. The spot held a six-inch divot in his skin, it was pinker than the rest of his skin but it was slowly fading.

“Remincising?” Pollux asked, scooting closer to his twin.

“Not really…” Castor admitted lowly, “... just worried about how much of this I'll feel when we read it.”

Pollux winced, “I hope not too much but… it’ll probably be the same.”

Castor sighed and started nibbling on his fingers.

“You’re going to bite off your hands doing that,” Pollux snorted, lightly slapping Castor's hand.

“You can’t be talking when you drink vodka of all things,” Castor snickered.

“Hey!” Pollux protested, drawing the other demigods' attention, “Vodka is not that bad!”

When he realized how loud he was being he shrunk back. Will was looking at him with a mix of exasperation and annoyance while the rest were laughing at the statement.

“Pollux, we’ve talked about this, stick to weaker liquor!” Will lectured.

“I have built-in intolerance. I'll be fine.” Pollux said.

“Not if you keep getting yourself blackout drunk,” Will said. It must’ve been a funny scene to watch, a sixteen-year-old kid scolding a twenty-year-old over drinking of all things.

“Come on Polly~” Castor sighed, using the nickname they came up with at nine.

“Wait Pollux!” The elfish guy said, getting Pollux’s attention, “Have you ever tried tequila? It’s so good, though I’ve usually only had silver before.”

All the demigods stared at the sixteen-year-old boy talking about tequila like he would soda.

“What?” The Latino asked.

“Leo, when have you gotten your hands on Tequila?” Percy asked at the same time as Jason said, “Leo what the fuck were you doing with Tequila?”

“What? It’s chill I didn’t steal any… from the stores…” Leo grinned guiltily.

“Leo… what the freak,” Nico sighed.

“Ugh you all shut up,” Thalia moaned, “I’m trying to fucking sleep.” She wasn’t but Pollux didn’t mention it.

“Sorry Thals,” Annabeth said.

“No probs, just shut the fuck up.”

The night passed uneventfully. It was the first time the demigods had been completely alone from their respective parents. Pollux was glad that whatever drug Nikaolos –who he found was a fucking titan when Clarisse mentioned how she got kidnapped by both Apollo and Ares– wore off.

When he moved his head up when he woke up his neck cracked too many times to be healthy. It took embarrassingly too long to figure out that the man identical to him was not a hallucination brought on by a heavy night of drinking. 

Castor’s eyes cracked open at the sound of Pollux’s neck and he blearily mumbled, “Control your neck old man.”

The scab that Pollux got last night when he walked straight into a tree reopened. Pollux groaned and wiped the small drop of blood onto the back of his hand.

In less than an hour the demigods were up, some more awake than the others, everyone sat around in the semicircle rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. No nightmares happened, a rare occurrence especially with a certain traitor in their midst, but the Fates were probably being kind before they had to continue that gods-awful reading.

A storm was forming over Olympus, a big one at that. The demigods regarded it as a regular occurrence with gods who have no conception of personal space.

“Should we head back before McThunder-thighs has a temper tantrum?” Luke asked, rolling his eyes at the drizzle that began.

Thalia snorted, “Yeah wouldn't want precious Lightning-pants to get angry.”

Jason, who for being Thalia’s full sibling, looked nothing like her just sighed content that he would have to deal with all these nicknames.

“If we step out in the sun won’t my… fake-father just see us and yoink us?” Will asked. Will was chewing on his lip and his grip on the goth-boy –Nico his brain supplied– tightened.

“Well then how are we going to get to the dining hall thing?” The Latino guy tilted his head.

“I could… shadow-travel all of us there?” Nico suggested.

Will went from looking like he was having a panic attack to straightening up and facing Nico, “You will not Nico!” He squawked.

“I’ll be fine,” Nico brushed it off, “if anything I’ll just be hungrier and we can grab something to eat.”

Percy interrupted any argument that might be started by saying, “We can do that, but Nico, are you sure you’ll be okay? You’ve never transported eleven people before?”

“I’m fine! I’ve transported a statue half way across the country, this is like three hundred feet away at most!” Nico said.

“Okay fine, but Nico,” Nico turned to face Will, “if you fucking faint or start to fade don’t tell me I didn’t damn warn you.”

Nico nodded quickly, “Alright everyone form a circle.”

The demigods quickly assembled into an oval shape, “Alright three, two, one.”

Pollux was eternally grateful for his intolerance for dizziness. Dark crept along Pollux’s vision until it was fully black, being thrown into an ever-churning whirlpool was probably the best analogy Pollux could make in his disoriented mind.

Castor and him jumped back once they were in the dining room. The other demigods, specifically Will, Jason, Percy, and Thalia, were clutching their stomachs. Will was definitely paler and he looked sickly as he was clutching Nico’s shoulder.

Nico was also not spared as his eyes were crossing and his posture was drooped. Luke must’ve been used to shit like this as he snapped up the quickest out of the rest of the demigods.

“Never,” Jason began weakly, he was held up by the short Latino boy –I should really learn his name– who gazed at him with concern, they looked like a couple the way they were holding each other's hands tightly.

“Are you children okay?” Pollux head snapped to the left, there staring at the demigods in concern were all the gods.

The demigods didn’t have time to react before Nico’s shout cracked the stand off the demigods and gods had, “Will!”

Someone, Will, crumpled to the ground with a loud thud. Nico and Apollo were at Will’s side instantly. Nico kept shooting Apollo wary glares as he pulled Will closer to him.

“What happened?” Apollo asked tensely.

Apollo began humming something, the words filled the room with light as sunlight seeped into Will’s unconscious body. The tan of Will’s skin laggardly came back and his eyebags –which were a permanent feature on his face since the Battle of the Labyrinth– lightened.. 

The moment Apollo took his hands off Will, Nico grabbed Will’s body and with strength too common in young demigods, hauled Will onto the bench with the rest of the demigods. Apollo pouted like a kid and went back to the gods table.

“You okay Neeks?” Percy asked.

“Yeah… just Will’s been working like hell since the,” Nico’s voice dropped to a whisper, “giant war.”

Jason, Leo, Annabeth, and Percy winced.

“Wait, have we,” Percy gestured to him and Annabeth, “been overworking Will?” Percy gazed down apologetically like he was the only reason Will could possibly be tired.

“No!” Nico shouted drawing the attention of the gods, “it’s not that he’s just been taking way too much responsibility for everyone.”

Nico’s shouting awakened Will who pulled himself up and clutched his forehead.

“Holy fuck,” Will swore, he groaned and Nico supported him with his hands.

“What happened?” Will asked.

“I don’t know, first thing I just shadow-traveled you here and the next second you were down on the floor,” Nico responded.

“Damn,” Will muttered.

Zeus cleared his throat definitely louder than need be in Pollux’s opinion but either way he turned to face the king of the gods. 

“Would you children mind enlightening us on where you were resting?” Zeus asked, concern didn’t sound good on him.

“Why?” Thalia asked, more like snapped but Pollux was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“We were really concerned where you children ran off too, especially after the incident when we last left you all alone,” Hermes turned a pointed glance to Luke who stared straight back, the gold in his eyes igniting with annoyance.

“Well we're all here anyways. We’re fine. No need for you all to worry your heads off,” Thalia said.

“Please children?” Aphrodite asked, she looked a lot like Pollux’s mother, the dimples by her mouth, the way her blonde hair tipped up at the edges and the calm effect her blue eyes always had on Pollux. But that was in the past, before she died from that hellhound.

Most of the demigods turned away from her, either reminded of all too painful memories or mainly out not wanting to look at a god for too long.

“Children please understand that we're doing this because we love you,” Just the very thought of it made Pollux’s skin crawl, “Could you at least answer our questions?”

The gods' unblinking stares were met with Luke’s twitching glare. Out of all the demigods he knew the most about the gods' manipulations, the false promises, the bitterness that grew in their stomachs until it consumed them.

Something in Luke’s demeanor shifted, he wasn’t bitter… well at least it didn’t consume him like it had before, but instead it was something more protective? Like an older cousin taking the blame when you got caught doing something stupid, which was a heavy contrast when he had started a gods-damned war at the age of nineteen. But Pollux couldn’t come to hate Luke that much, because somehow even in all his twisted battles, he was right, the gods were just playing with the demigods like they were pawns on a chess game played with half-interest.

“No disrespect, but you all aren’t going to get shi– information if you keep prying into our lives even though you’ve existed in them for about a month at most,” Clarisse stated bluntly.

Finally someone said it. Pollux thought.

“But we want to be in your lives,” Apollo protested.

Will shuddered and Pollux really felt bad for the guy, he had to become the father figure of an entire cabin at the age of thirteen.

“We don’t want you in our lives,” Will said shakily, he never met his fathers eyes but the conviction was there all the same.

“But why?” Apollo asked.

“You’ll find out in the books,” Nico sent a not-so-subtle glare at Apollo.

“Since we are all done with first meal, how about we begin to read?” Athena suggested.

“Why not? We’ll find out more about our children,” Ares looked giddy at the thought. Not a good look on him in Pollux’s opinion.

“Yeah…” Percy agreed but it fell short, “...let’s do that.”

Everyone made their way to the throne room, others, like the demigods, more reluctant to do so than the gods. Pollux walked side by side with Castor, it was a familiar sight back before the Battle of the Labyrinth. The two of them sat next to each other on their own private couch and Pollux began to dread the beginning of the reading.

“Hopefully it’s a small chapter,” Pollux mumbled.

“Hopefully,” Castor said.

“I’ll read,” Ares signalled.

“Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I’d done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I’m sorry, I did not trust Chiron’s back end the way I trusted his front.”

Poseidon snorted while Chiron rolled his eyes.

“We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, “That’s him.”

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn’t normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.”

“Can you?” Leo asked.

“I think so?” Percy said.

“After this chapter should we do a flip competition?” Leo suggested.

“Ye–” Percy began before Will cut in, "Absolutely not!”

“Aww come on Will you're no fun,” Leo frowned.

“I’m just being safe,” Will said.

“I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I’d realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort.”

Jason groaned, “Ugh, that thing is so annoying to try and run away from, especially if you're on the top floor.”

“What,” Zeus stated.

“It’s like at least four flights of stairs you have to run down and with those tentacles chasing you,” Jason shuddered, “it’s terrible.”

“What tentacles?” Thalia asked.

“Wait… you mean you guys didn’t get surrounded by tentacles that made you schizophrenic?” Jason asked.

“What are you all talking about!” Apollo shouted.

“How we– I got here,” Jason said.

“You were being chased down a four story building by tentacles?” Zeus asked.

“Yeah… how else did you think we got here?” Jason replied.

“Jason none of us–” Percy was interrupted by Leo, “Wait black tentacles? Like weird stringy shadows?”

“Exactly!” Jason snapped and pointed to Leo.

“Do you think maybe because we were sleeping or, um, dead, that we didn't see the tentacles?” Annabeth suggested.

“Maybe, that would make sense since the tentacles started chasing after the demigods that were awake in the Big House.”

“What in chaos happened when you abducted Jason?” Artemis asked.

“Well… I didn’t remember it after I got out of the big house since the tentacles were like whispering things,” Castor and Pollux turned to look at Jason, “but then the tentacles grabbed me and eventually I got transported here, in my older body, with the rest of the demigods.”

“If this is better, other than ADHD and dyslexia, and dyscalculia, you have no other mental illness, so you're not schizophrenic,” Pollux said.

“That’s… I don’t know if that's good or bad,” Jason sighed.

“Could we continue reading?” Leo asked.

“Sure,” Ares replied.

“ I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.”

“She moved?” Annabeth said, surprised.

“I thought humans always move?” Aphrodite asked.

“Not her…” Annabeth replied.

““What’s up there?” I asked Chiron. 

He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. “Just the attic.” 

“Somebody lives there?” 

“No,” he said with finality. “Not a single living thing.”’

“Technically true,” Nico hummed.

“I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain. 

“Come along, Percy,” Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. “Lots to see.” 

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. 

Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. 

“It pays our expenses,” he explained. “And the strawberries take almost no effort.” 

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.”

“No grapes too?” Dionysus groaned. He was sickly pale, just like the last time, and he looked a lot frailer.

“I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D. 

“Grover won’t get in too much trouble, will he?” I asked Chiron. “I mean . . . he was a good protector. Really.” 

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse’s back like a saddle. “Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill.” 

“Well he reached his dreams,” Percy winced, as did Nico and Annabeth, “but not in the way he would’ve liked.”

“But he did that!” “I might agree with you,” Chiron said. “But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I’m afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there’s the unfortunate . . . ah . . . fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover’s part.”

“He didn’t lose me in New York,” Percy huffed, “I lost him.”

“I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover’s fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn’t given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble. 

“He’ll get a second chance, won’t he?” Chiron winced. “I’m afraid that was Grover’s second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He’s still so small for his age. . . .”

“It’s not his fucking fault though!” Thalia protested.

“It’s not, and the Council knows that,” Annabeth agreed.

Pollux thought he heard Pan mumbling to Dionysus about creating a Council.

““How old is he?” 

“Oh, twenty-eight.” 

“What! And he’s in sixth grade?”’

“Man he’s old!” Leo exclaimed.

“Yeah, he’s probably around thirty-eight now?” Percy guessed.

“Old man,” Leo said.

““Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years.” 

“That’s horrible.” 

“Quite,” Chiron agreed. “At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career. . . .” 

“That’s not fair,” I said. “What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?”’

“It was m– their choice!” Thalia said.

“Chiron looked away quickly. “Let’s move along, shall we?” 

But I wasn’t quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother’s fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea —a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind. 

“Chiron,” I said. “If the gods and Olympus and all that are real...” 

“Yes, child?” 

“Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?”’

“Please do not.”

“Son, you are NOT  going to the underworld!”

“Did you meet anyone there?”

“Percy…”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Percy raised a hand, “I was fine, it was a passing thought.”

“Are you sure about that Percy?” Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

“Absoleutly!” Percy said, silently asking for Annabeth to stay quiet.

Pollux wanted to do nothing more but laugh, he knew full well that it was not a passing thought in Percy’s mind.

“The ghosts still laugh about it when I was in Elysium," Castor snickered quietly.

“Chiron’s expression darkened. “Yes, child.” He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. “There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now . . . until we know more . . . I would urge you to put that out of your mind.” 

“What do you mean, ‘until we know more’?” 

“Come, Percy. Let’s see the woods.” 

As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans. Chiron said, 

“The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed.” 

“Stocked with what?” I asked. “Armed with what?” 

“You’ll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?”’

“I know Percy lives in Manhattan but did Chiron really think you would own a sword?” Jason snickered.

“I don’t–” Percy cut himself off, “Hey! What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing Percy, don't worry about it,” Leo was snickering quietly next to Jason.

““No,” Chiron said. “I don’t suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I’ll visit the armory later.” 

I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn’t seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights. 

“Sword and spear fights?” I asked. 

“Cabin challenges and all that,” he explained. “Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there’s the mess hall.”’

“I very much do not like the stables,” Chiron huffed.

“We know brother,” Hades said.

Ares, Artemis, Athena, and Apollo were muttering something darkly with the mention of lethal challenges.

“Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls. 

“What do you do when it rains?” I asked. 

Chiron looked at me as if I’d gone a little weird. “We still have to eat, don’t we?” 

I decided to drop the subject. Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I’d ever seen.”

“Yeah,” Castor sn0rted, “it’s like a knick knack shop of houses.”

Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed). 

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.”

“Aunt Hestia,” Hermes smiled.

“If we each have our own house, how many children do we have?” Zeus asked, his eyes were bright, and Pollux couldn’t tell if that was from happiness or rage.

“Depends what year you're asking about,” Will said, he sent a pointed glare at Luke much to the dismay of Hermes and Apollo.

Luke winced. Serves him right, Pollux thought.

The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks. 

“Zeus and Hera?” I guessed. 

“Correct,” Chiron said.

“Their cabins look empty.”’

Zeus sighed, it came out as a deep rumbling noise. Hera leaned against Zeus’ shoulder while Poseidon patted them on the back. Pollux turned away to face Castor, he didn’t want to see the gods being all lovey-dovey if he could help it.

““Several of the cabins are. That’s true. No one ever stays in one or two.” 

Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.”

Ares snorted.

“Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty? I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three. It wasn’t high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that!”

“Why? You are my son? Even if you were not I would not mind if you looked inside,” Poseidon asked.

“Well, you are not allowed to go into someone else’s cabin, especially one of y’alls,” Percy motioned to the Kronides, “if you aren’t claimed.”

“So I have not claimed you yet?” Poseidon asked, Pollux was surprised, did this version of Poseidon want to claim Percy instantly? And letting other people look into the cabin? Unheard of.

“Yeah, you haven’t claimed me yet,” Percy responded.

Leo whispered something to Percy and he shook his head.

“Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Come along, Percy.” 

Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar’s head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALFBLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.”

“You can call me mean, but I cross the line at being compared to that Nancy girl,” Clarisse said.

“I retract that statement La Rue,” Percy grinned.

“Good.”

Pollux looked over to Ares, the gods eyes were teary and he was grinning from ear to ear like a leprechaun. Aphrodite was smiling at him and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

“I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron’s hooves. “We haven’t seen any other centaurs,” I observed. 

“No,” said Chiron sadly. “My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I’m afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won’t see any here.”’

“The Party Ponies!” Percy cheered.

“My kinsmen— the who?” Chiron asked Percy.

“The Party Ponies... you probably don’t have them here but that's what the other centaurs were doing.”

Chiron sighed exasperatedly.

““You said your name was Chiron. Are you really . . .” He smiled down at me. 

“The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am.” 

“But, shouldn’t you be dead?” 

Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. “I honestly don’t know about should be. The truth is, I can’t be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish . . . and I gave up much. But I’m still here, so I can only assume I’m still needed.” 

I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn’t have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.”

“Hercules,” Jason spat.

“Who’s Hercules?” Zeus asked.

“Someone we hate,” Jason gestured to the demigods.

It was the first time Pollux saw the Jason guy actually angry. He said Hercules, like the guy, had caused him hell on earth. Pollux knew the guy was a bitch but was he that much of a bitch?

“I’ll be sure to curse whoever this Her-cu-les is,” Zeus said.

The demigods snorted but didn’t say anything else which left the gods more confused than before.

““Doesn’t it ever get boring?” 

“No, no,” he said. 

“Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring.” 

“Why depressing?” 

Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again. 

“Oh, look,” he said. “Annabeth is waiting for us.”’

Castor squeezed Pollux’s hand in support.

“The blond girl I’d met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.”

“You can read?” Leo gasped.

“Leo… all of us can read,” Annabeth said confused.

“No, but like, only Frank, my man, can read well.”

“Well I’m not sure about everyone else but I don’t think dyslexia affects the Athena and Apollo cabins as much,” Annabeth tapped her chin.

“Is dyslexia the example from the first chapter? With the words quote-on-quote doing backflips and riding skateboards?” Athena asked.

“Yup, that’s probably the best example of it,” Nico nodded.

Athena hummed but said nothing else.

“When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled. 

I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn’t make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn’t even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.”

“Oh that makes more sense,” Leo said.

“What is Greek?” Apollo, the Greek god asked.

The demigods only stared.

“...you all…” Thalia gestured to the gods vaguely.

Apollo's face scrunched in confusion, “We’re Hellenic?”

“Oh,” Jason snapped his fingers, “The term got changed to Greek after Rome rose.”

“Interesting…” Apollo tilted his head.

““Annabeth,” Chiron said, “I have masters’ archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Cabin eleven,” Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. “Make yourself at home.” 

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor’s symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it . . . ? A caduceus.”

“That looks horrid,” Hermes said, “my children live there?”

“Yes,” Luke’s eye twitched.

“Wait!” Poseidon shouted, making the demigods jump, “Why is Percy going into Hermes' cabin if I’m his father?”

“My question exactly,” Leo said.

“Castellan, do you want to explain or…” Percy trailed off.

Luke sighed and pinched his nose bridge, he looked like a disappointed librarian, “I can, basically in short terms, whoever isn’t claimed resides in Cabin 11 until they’re claimed.”

“How long does that take?” Hermes asked.

Percy let out a humorless laugh, “Depends if you're needed for a quest or not.”

“If you are not?” Artemis asked.

“Can take between a few weeks or never,” Luke stated simply.

“Never?” Aphrodite shrieked.

“Never.”

“By chaos,” Artemis mumbled.

“Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.”

“I am going to assume those aren’t just my children?” Hermes said.

“Yep,” Nico replied.

Hermes sighed. Pollux couldn’t tell if he was disappointed that he had a bunch of unclaimed kids in his cabin, or that the gods didn't claim their kids.

“Chiron didn’t go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully. 

“Well, then,” Chiron said. “Good luck, Percy. I’ll see you at dinner.” 

He galloped away toward the archery range. I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren’t bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I’d gone through it at enough schools. 

“Well?” Annabeth prompted. “Go on.” 

So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.”

“Can’t be as bad as my entrance to Cabin Nine,” Leo said.

“Oh gosh Leo, what did you do?” Jason asked.

“Asked them why they were so depressed…” All the demigods to stare at Leo.

“Leo,” Nico sighed.

“I know, I know, but hey at least Festus worked!” Leo said as if the two had any relation at all.

“There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. 

Annabeth announced, “Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.” 

“Regular or undetermined?” somebody asked. 

I didn’t know what to say, but Annabeth said, “Undetermined.” 

Everybody groaned. 

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. “Now, now, campers. That’s what we’re here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there.”’

“Oh,” Luke said.

“The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.”

“Much more than a knife slash,” Luke snorted.

Most of the gods were eyeing Luke’s scar in confusion while Hermes and Apollo looked depressedly at it.

“How did you get it?” Hermes asked.

“Same way a lot of people get their scars,” Luke replied.

That was not true. Sure people got their scars from monsters, but from Ladon? The hundred headed dragon? Pollux was sure as fuck no one got a scars from Ladon normally. Luke and Hermes were in a stare-off most likely because Luke was caught lying but Hermes gave up and said nothing.

“Your eyes are different,” Aphrodite commented.

“That they are,” Luke replied.

“You are not described with wings on your ear,” Aphrodite continued.

Luke said nothing but Pollux couldn’t help but wonder how he got his wings. If they had spontaneously grown from his head or slowly grew while they were trapped in this world.

““This is Luke,” Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could’ve sworn she was blushing.”

Luke looked surprised and Pollux couldn’t help but smack his forehead. How was this guy so dense?

“You had a crush on me?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t know?” Annabeth asked.

“No… was I supposed to?” 

How this guy was crushed on by everyone in camp was a miracle.

“What about when you asked me… you know the thing when we were up on the six-hundredth floor?” Now it was Annabeth's turn to look surprised.

“I was asking you that in a familial sort of way? Did I think you had a crush, not at all,” The two blinked at each other.

“You gotta work on your communication man,” Percy sighed.

“You're the one to talk to, Jackson,” Clarisse said.

“Don’t bring my communication skills into this!”

“Children,” Hestia said. The demigods stopped their bickering and looked up to see all the gods waiting for them to stop. “Could we continue?”

“Mhm.”

“She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. “He’s your counselor for now.” 

“For now?” I asked. 

“You’re undetermined,” Luke explained patiently. “They don’t know what cabin to put you in, so you’re here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers.” 

I looked at the tiny section of floor they’d given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur’s horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.”

“Good to know,” Apollo sent a small glare Hermes way.

“I looked around at the campers’ faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets. 

“How long will I be here?” I asked. 

“Good question,” Luke said. “Until you’re determined.” 

“How long will that take?” The campers all laughed. 

“Come on,” Annabeth told me. “I’ll show you the volleyball court.” 

“I’ve already seen it.” 

“Come on.” 

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, “Jackson, you have to do better than that.” 

“What?” 

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, “I can’t believe I thought you were the one.” 

“Oh my gods,” Nico groaned.

Apologizing, Annabeth said, “Yeah, hearing it out loud, that was very harsh of me.”

“It’s alright Wise Girl,” Percy pecked her on the forehead.

“Get a room,” Leo groaned, “We’re right under you, y’know.”

They blushed.

“What’s your problem?” I was getting angry now. “All I know is, I kill some bull guy—” 

“Don’t talk like that!” Annabeth told me. “You know how many kids at this camp wish they’d had your chance?” 

“To get killed?” 

“To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?” 

“I don’t know about you Annabeth, but I know that no one wants Percy’s chance,” Will sighed.

I shook my head. “Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories . . .” 

“Yes.” 

“Then there’s only one.” 

“Yes.” 

“And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So . . .”’

“Who’s Theseus?” Poseidon asked at the same time as Athena questioned, “What’s the Labyrinth?”

Luke shuddered so violently Pollux thought he was going to have a seizure. He looked paler now, “You’ll find out about the Labyrinth, don’t worry.”

Clarisse was mumbling something to him and when he whispered something back she gasped slightly.

“Yeah, you’ll know about it,” She said gravely.

““Monsters don’t die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don’t die.” 

“Oh, thanks. That clears it up.” 

“They don’t have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you’re lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they reform.” 

I thought about Mrs. Dodds. “You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—” 

“The Fur . . . I mean, your math teacher. That’s right. She’s still out there. You just made her very, very mad.” 

“How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?” 

“You talk in your sleep.” 

“You almost called her something. A Fury? They’re Hades’ torturers, right?” 

Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. “You shouldn’t call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all.”’

“Kindly Ones?” Demeter snorted.

““Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?” I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn’t care. “Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there.” 

I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. “You don’t just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or . . . your parent.”

 She stared at me, waiting for me to get it. 

“My mom is Sally Jackson,” I said. “She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to.” 

“I’m sorry about your mom, Percy. But that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about your other parent. Your dad.”

“He’s dead. I never knew him.” 

Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she’d had this conversation before with other kids. “Your father’s not dead, Percy.” 

“How can you say that? You know him?” 

“No, of course not.” 

“Then how can you say—” 

“Because I know you. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t one of us.” 

“You don’t know anything about me.” 

“No?” She raised an eyebrow. “I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them.” 

“How—” 

“Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too.”’

“Stalker~” the demigods chorused.

“I’m not–” A pointed look from Percy made Annabeth go quiet.

“Hate to break it to you Beth but you are that bad,” Thalia snickered.

“I tried to swallow my embarrassment. “What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Taken together, it’s almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That’s because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you’re impulsive, can’t sit still in the classroom. That’s your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they’d keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that’s because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal’s. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don’t want you seeing them for what they are.” 

“You sound like . . . you went through the same thing?” 

“Most of the kids here did. If you weren’t like us, you couldn’t have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar.” 

“Ambrosia and nectar.” 

“The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would’ve killed a normal kid. It would’ve turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you’d be dead. Face it. You’re a half-blood.”

A half-blood. 

I was reeling with so many questions I didn’t know where to start. 

Then a husky voice yelled, “Well! A newbie!”’

“Oh gods no,” Clarisse covered her face in embarrassment.

“I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets. 

“Clarisse,” Annabeth sighed. “Why don’t you go polish your spear or something?” 

“Sure, Miss Princess,” the big girl said. “So I can run you through with it Friday night.” 

“Erre es korakas!” Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for ‘Go to the crows!’ though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. “You don’t stand a chance.”’

The gods gasped, “Who taught you that foul language?” Demeter asked, scandalized.

Clarisse laughed, “I forgot about that, honestly we really shouldn’t be teaching the twelve-year-olds to tell someone to kill themselves.”

“You are treating this as a joke yet one of your comrades just told you to kill yourself?” Artemis asked.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Clarisse shrugged.

The gods looked at each other, some of their faces were alight with shock, others in disappointment.

““We’ll pulverize you,” Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn’t sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. 

“Who’s this little runt?” 

“Percy Jackson,” Annabeth said, “meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares.” 

I blinked. “Like . . . the war god?” 

Clarisse sneered. “You got a problem with that?” 

“No,” I said, recovering my wits. “It explains the bad smell.”’

“You don’t smell bad Clarisse,” Percy said.

“Didn’t think so punk,” Clarisse said, but if Pollux looked closer he would probably see the insecurity in her.

“No I’m serious Clarisse, the stuff I say in this book is well, very insulting, but seriously I don’t mean it, my twelve-year-old self is just dumb.”

“Thanks Prissy,” Clarise smiled.

“Clarisse growled. “We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy.”

“Percy.” 

“Whatever. Come on, I’ll show you.” 

“Clarisse—” Annabeth tried to say. “Stay out of it, wise girl.”’

“You got the nickname from Clarisse?” Will asked.

“Huh," Percy said, "Guess I did."

“Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn’t really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep. 

I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom. 

I was kicking and punching. I’d been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls’ bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should’ve been able to afford classier johns.”

“Ow,” Percy touched his scalp which was slowly reddening.

Will sighed and made his way over to Percy, he tried to heal his head but Percy’s face was still scrunched in pain.

“I think it only heals when the chapter is done,” Annabeth said.

“Clarisse’s friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I’d used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn’t there. 

“Like he’s ‘Big Three’ material,” Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. “Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking.”’

“You look fine Jackson,” Clarisse said.

“Is this your way of saying I look good?” Percy grinned.

Clarisse flushed with embarrassment, “No Prissy! Don’t twist your luck.”

“Her friends snickered. Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.”

“I was not!”

“Yes you were, wise girl.”

“But–”

“You definitely were Annabeth.”

“Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won’t. Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse’s grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.”

Clarisse sputtered, in the blink of an eye her hair was drenched and her clothes wet and sticking to her. She groaned but motioned to keep reading.

“I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall. 

She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started. 

The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn’t been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn’t been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock. I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn’t have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.”

“That feels terrible,” Annabeth groaned, wiping away non-existent water.

“I stood up, my legs shaky. 

Annabeth said, “How did you . . .” 

“I don’t know.” 

We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse’s hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. 

“You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead.” 

I probably should have let it go, but I said, “You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth.” 

Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet. Annabeth stared at me. I couldn’t tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her. 

“What?” I demanded. 

“What are you thinking?” 

“I’m thinking,” she said, “that I want you on my team for capture the flag.”’

“And you still didn’t figure out this man was a child of Poseidon?” Thalia exclaimed.

“We didn’t want to believe it,” Annabeth said, her and Clairsse’s hair had dried off right when the last word was read.

Chapter Text

Demeter and the rest of the gods eyed the demigods expectantly. Demeter fully expected them to run off to who knows where and hole themselves up in some random crevice even the satyrs didn’t know of. It didn’t happen.

“Can we continue to read please?” The son of Hephaestus asked.

Demeter was embarrassed to admit that she didn’t memorize any of the children's names.

“Certainly, who would like to read?” Hestia’s voice was soft yet firm, like a campfire in the dead of night.

“I can,” Hephaestus said gruffly.

“Don’t push yourself son,” When Hephaestus was born he had an issue with his vocal chords, they were not fully complete, giving his voice an oddly scratchy quality.

“I’ll be fine, mother.”

“Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.”

Water began to pool at Annabeth's feet making her close-toed sandals sopping wet. Demeter thought Artemis would thoroughly enjoy the closed-toed sandals every one of the children wore, except for the son of Hermes who wore feathered sandals like his father.

“She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man)--”

“Is that a statue of me?” Pan asked. Demeter wouldn’t say it aloud but he was her favorite.

“Yes,” Annabeth answered, voice a little tighter than usual.

“--and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn’t get to the top fast enough.”

“Is that safe?” Apollo asked.

“Yes!”

“Depends.”

“No.”

Apollo sighed realizing he wouldn’t get one agreed upon answer.

“Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. 

“I’ve got training to do,” Annabeth said flatly. “Dinner’s at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.” 

“Annabeth, I’m sorry about the toilets.” 

“Whatever.” 

“It wasn’t my fault.” 

She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I’d made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn’t understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.”

“Only you Perce,” Jason, the one demigod Demeter remembered from how much Zeus doted on his tiny baby form.

““You need to talk to the Oracle,” Annabeth said. 

“Who?” 

“Not who. What. The Oracle. I’ll ask Chiron.”’

“My oracle is very much a who! Thank you very much!” Apollo huffed.

“Sorry Lord Apollo, but in where we come from she’s not exactly the liveliest to talk to,”

The son of Poseidon snorted, “That’s one way to put it.”

“I wonder how she got that way?” The son of Apollo asked.

The son of Poseidon winced and scrunched his nose up like a bundle of hay.

“I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.”

“I feel that man.” Jason sighed, “When we swapped the first thing Chiron said to me was: ‘You should be dead’”

“What?” Chiron said in alarm, “Why would I– that version of me say that to you?”

“Not really sure honestly, probably because I was a demigod,” Jason shrugged as if it were a typical thing to say to a child.

“I wasn’t expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. 

They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend. I didn’t know what else to do. I waved back.”

Aphrodite smiled, “Aww the naiads are saying hello!”

“They must recognize you as a child of mine,” Poseidon noted. 

““Don’t encourage them,” Annabeth warned. “Naiads are terrible flirts.” 

“Naiads,” I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. “That’s it. I want to go home now.” 

Annabeth frowned. “Don’t you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us.”’

“What about Olympus?” Demeter asked.

The demigods didn’t respond.

““You mean, mentally disturbed kids?”’

“Wow great that you think of us that way Percy,” The son of Hades laughed.

“Am I wrong?” Percy responded.

“Nope!”

““I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human.” 

“Half-human and half-what?” 

“I think you know.” 

I didn’t want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad. 

“God,” I said. “Half-god.” 

Annabeth nodded. “Your father isn’t dead, Percy. He’s one of the Olympians.” 

“That’s . . . crazy.” 

“Is it? What’s the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they’ve changed their habits in the last few millennia?”’

“WHAT?” Zeus asked.

“That is not how the stories go,” Athena said.

“They could just have kids willy-nilly?” Apollo shouted, “Just like that?!”

Demeter could hear the kids gulp. Demeter assumed they weren’t used to the rage of the gods, and the gods certainly weren't used to reigning their rage in for the sake of the mortals.

“That’s how it is in our world, our parents have had so many kids that well, others are forgotten,” Luke’s words were the nail in the coffin.

“And you still call them your parents?” Hermes yelled, utterly dumbfounded that his son would not call him the true parent.

“Yes,” Luke said. 

The simple word shocked every one of the demigods more so than it did the gods. Their eyes were wide in disbelief and shock was evident in how their eyebrows were raised or their mouths were slacked.

Hermes clenched his fist, but as he turned to face Demeter and the others the spark in his eyes told the gods that they would never let go of their children. Even if they had to keep them locked in a temple, or croon them into sleep, they wouldn’t let go.

““But those are just—” I almost said myths again. 

Then I remembered Chiron’s warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. 

“But if all the kids here are half-gods—” 

“Demigods,” Annabeth said. “That’s the official term. Or half-bloods.” 

“Then who’s your dad?” 

Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I’d just trespassed on a sensitive subject. 

“My dad is a professor at West Point,” she said. “I haven’t seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history.”’

“Amer-i-ca,” The word sounded weird on Athena’s tongue, “Is that where you children come from?”

“Yes.”

““He’s human.” 

“What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?” 

“Who’s your mom, then?” 

“Cabin six.” 

“Meaning?” Annabeth straightened. “Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle.”’

Athena smiled at her daughter acknowledging her, Demeter noticed that the daughter of Athena didn’t seem very keen on doing so normally.

“Okay, I thought. Why not? 

“And my dad?” 

“Undetermined,” Annabeth said, “like I told you before. Nobody knows.” 

“Except my mother. She knew.” 

“Maybe not, Percy. Gods don’t always reveal their identities.” 

“My dad would have. He loved her.” 

Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn’t want to burst my bubble. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe he’ll send a sign. That’s the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.”

“Sometimes?” Hera shrieked.

“Well when I came my dad claimed me pretty quick,” The darker tan one said. 

Demeter noted that the son of Hephaestus’ mother must have been a slave or a worker that Hephaestus took a particular liking to in that world, after all someone of his skin couldn’t have been very high up.

“Though, that doesn’t happen for everyone,” Luke said bitterly.

““You mean sometimes it doesn’t?” 

Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. “The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don’t always . . . Well, sometimes they don’t care about us, Percy. They ignore us.””

“How could they.” Apollo and Artemis were seething.

They had seen too many mortals go under the abuse of a neglectful parent, one who doesn’t give glances about their children. Demeter herself felt the gecko spots along her cheek elongating like shadows in flame light. The scales upon her arms shifting their way through her fake skin.

“It just happens…” Luke said quietly, fist clenched as he said, his pupils were narrow and his eyebrow twitched.

“Are you sure you consider those… bastards, your parents?” Aphrodite asked in concern, her voice held no charm in it but it was still sweet like an overripe fruit.

“Why? Are you trying to replace them? Just to toss us all away the second we don’t seem new and fun anymore?!” Thalia yelled.

“What!” Zeus gaped, “My daughter we’d never do that to you!”

“That’s what they all say,” The son of Hades said. 

The son of Apollo held his hand whispering comforting words into his ear. They were most obviously courting, like that of Poseidon and Athena’s children, and Zeus’ son and Hephaestus’ son, even if the last pair was painfully unaware of it.

“Son–”

“Just leave it,” Jason cut in harshly. His breaths were coming out in long sharp sighs, like he was too used to this treatment to outwardly affect him.

The gods edged back. Though they weren’t above having their kids hate them until they saw reason it would be better for them to avoid any long-drawn conflicts with the children.

“I thought about some of the kids I’d seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come.”

Hermes hissed. Despite most of them not being his children, they were in his cabin under his protection and he would never let anyone under his protection look in such a way.

“I’d known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn’t have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.”

The demigods looked at Percy nervously. Their anxiety seemed to waft through the air. Instead of the gods lashing out they nodded firmly and hummed their agreement.

““So I’m stuck here,” I said. “That’s it? For the rest of my life?””

The younger son– twin? – of Dionysus snorted, “If you live that long.”

Dionysus let out a sharp cry of despair.

“It depends,” Annabeth said. “Some campers only stay the summer. If you’re a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you’re probably not a real powerful force—”

The gods raised an eyebrow at that.

“Apologies,” Annabeth said quickly, “your children aren’t the most powerful and usually aren’t gone after by monsters as much.”

Demeter didn’t care as long as her precious saplings were safe.

“The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it’s too dangerous to leave. We’re year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they’ll ignore us until we’re old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old—”

“Nine for me,” Will sighed.

Apollo hung his head sullenly. Demeter could tell that her nephew was in despair about his one child being hunted by monsters at nine summers old but he was also happy that his child had made it to somewhere safe.

“---but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you’d know them. Some don’t even realize they’re demigods. But very, very few are like that.”’

“Interesting,” Zeus mused, “is that version of us so weak that our kids do not realize that they are not human?”

“Rarely, but it happens, though I know that you all have lost a very large number of your believers and followers,” Annabeth replied.

Zeus just hummed.

““So monsters can’t get in here?” Annabeth shook her head. “Not unless they’re intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside.”’

“Ahem,” The son of Poseidon threw a very pointed glare at Luke.

“Sorry,” Luke said.

“I’m not going to accept it that easily Castellan.”

“I know,” Luke said, “I’m not expecting you to, honestly I hope you don’t.”

““Why would anybody want to summon a monster?””

Clarisse punched Luke in his shoulder.

““Practice fights. Practical jokes.” 

“Practical jokes?”’

“Those jokes don’t seem funny,” Hermes frowned.

“We don’t do that anymore,” Will mumbled.

““The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm.” 

“So . . . you’re a year-rounder?” Annabeth nodded. 

From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke’s, except Annabeth’s also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring. 

“I’ve been here since I was seven,” she said. “Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I’ve been here longer than most of the counselors, and they’re all in college.”’

‘Seven,’ Athena sighed within the mind link

“No offense Annabeth,” The son of Apollo began.

“Yeah?” The daughter of Athena asked.

“But I don’t think we should’ve put a twelve-year-old on the council. I mean your still developing frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex in addition to your hippocampus and amygdala. I mean since you were only twelve your prefrontal cortex hasn’t gone through the rapid development that happened from between thirteen to fifteen. Of course your amygdala isn’t primarily used for social situations but it’s still very useful for emotional processing, social cues, memories, etc… And I assume you already know about the hippocampus and how it’s the ‘heart of the brain’ and it’s crucial for memory and decision making.”

Apollo was soaking up the information his son was talking about like a dry stone does to water.

“That’s…” the daughter of Athena took a deep breath, “...fair.”

The daughter of Zeus smirked and patted her on the back. The daughter of Athena seemed to have an issue with her pride and overachievement, a very dangerous fatal flaw for someone to have, especially for a woman. It could lead to her being unmarried or simply executed if she thought herself above the mortal men. However Demeter was glad the daughter of Athena found a partner in the son of Poseidon.

“I’m not calling you dumb 0f course,” the son of Apollo continued, “but I think someone older should’ve done it, both from a psychological and neurological standpoint.”

Demeter was shocked at how inept she felt when the son of Apollo began talking about what she assumed were medical terms and the effects it had on one’s mind.

“It’s okay Will, it’s just– you know with my whole flaw thing,” the daughter of Athena was gesturing to herself, “but I definitely agree, despite me having some of the longest time there I was way too quest hungry and too prideful to successfully lead a cabin.”

The son of Poseidon gave her a quick peck on the cheek and smiled at her brightly.

‘They’re really cute!’ Aphrodite said.

‘That they are, I’m glad they found each other,’ Artemis replied.

Artemis loved when a man treated a woman as an equal and not as a slave to manipulate and harm.

““Why did you come so young?” 

She twisted the ring on her necklace. “None of your business.”

“Oh.” I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. “So . . . I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?” 

“It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D’s or Chiron’s permission. But they wouldn’t give permission until the end of the summer session unless . . .” 

“Unless?” 

“You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time . . .”’

Luke shuddered and was feeling his neck for something, most likely the necklace the son of Poseidon described but sighed when he realized he didn’t have it.

“Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn’t gone well. 

“Back in the sick room,” I said, “when you were feeding me that stuff—” 

“Ambrosia.” 

“Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice.” 

Annabeth’s shoulders tensed. “So you do know something?” 

“Well . . . no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn’t have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?” 

She clenched her fists. “I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won’t tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal.”’

“You were on Olympus?!” Jason exclaimed.

“Why did they let you leave?” Artemis asked.

“I forgot you didn't go to Olympus,” the daughter of Athena said.

“But how–”

“WHY DID THEY LET YOU LEAVE?” Athena screeched, “They had children right there and they just— forgot them!”

“That’s what happens when you all have so many children,” Luke mumbled.

Demeter could barely make it out but she didn’t miss the way his hands clenched into fists, how his pupils thinned, and how the gold in his eyes seemed to gleam all the brighter.

The gold was concerning, not that Demeter had anything against the color gold but more on how the gold in Luke’s eye was the same gold that stared the kronides down and cursed them until their nests lay fruitless.

““You’ve been to Olympus?” 

“Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That’s when the gods have their big annual council.” 

“But . . . how did you get there?” 

“The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor.” She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. “You are a New Yorker, right?”’

“Annie! What the hell!” Thalia shouted.

Annabeth cringed, “That’s my fault, I shouldn’t have said that, it was really rude. I’m sorry Percy.”

“Annabeth it’s–” Percy began.

“If you say ‘it’s okay’ I will lose it Percy. You’re way too forgiving when it was obviously my mistake!”

Percy sighed, “I won’t say it then Annabeth but you have to trust me.”

‘I’m glad they're together, you barely see a relationship like that among the mortals, so healthy, so pure,’ Artemis commented.

‘I can feel it in my domain, they are true lovers,’ Aphrodite said.

‘I wonder when their wedding is going to be?’ Hera wondered.

‘Hopefully not too soon I’d like to craft my daughter a marital chiton to wear,’ Athena said.

‘I can help provide some pearls or gems to give your daughter so she can give it to my son as dowery.’ Poseidon suggested.

‘I think that would be lovely for both of them but let’s give Hephaestus some time to read so we can think more on it,” Hera said.

““Oh, sure.” As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out. 

“Right after we visited,” Annabeth continued, “the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting.”

“Strange, do you know what happened?” Hermes asked. 

Demeter noticed the way his charm speak almost worked on the demigods as the young daughter of Ares opened her mouth to speak before Luke slammed a hand over mouth.

“You started fighting, that’s what happened,” the son of Hermes stared straight at Hermes.

Demeter could see the way the son of Hermes was grinding his teeth. Hermes did look down at the ground, guilty at being caught in the act by his child when he should act like a responsible parent but it was irking that the demigods didn’t want to tell the gods one clue on what happened.

“Plegh–” Clarisse spat, “your hand tastes like blood.”

“What did you just say?” Hermes asked.

“His hand tastes like blood,” the daughter of Ares shrugged.

“Would you care to tell anyone why your hand tastes like blood, brother?” Pan asked in concern.

“It was–” Luke shrugged

“It was not nothing Castellan, your voice was hoarse and your hand was almost overflowing from the blood you coughed up, I don’t know what the hell caused it but it was not nothing,” the son of Apollo scolded.

“I mean honestly it was nothing compared to what he did to me, like seriously, that was just the after effects of a normal nightmare,” Demeter didn’t like the way Luke said ‘he.’

“I have bad nightmares but I never spit blood after them so I don’t think your nightmares are exactly normal Luke, unless he was already in your dreams,” Luke’s eyes widened before he dragged his hand down his face.

“Yes, he was in my dreams at that point but it was genuinely normal, I’d been dealing with for about two years,” Luke flip-flopped his hand, “roughly.”

“And who exactly was this person?” Hermes asked, his wings were flared out and his eyes glowed white, not enough to take over his pupils and irises but enough to know he was seething internally.

“They're gone,” Luke mumbled.

“A couple of times since, I’ve overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen.”

“Stolen?” Hermes gasped, for a regular mortal to steal something from the gods? That thought was too blasphemous to even ordain.

‘What was the title of the book called? I thought it started with a thief or something of the sort?’ Demeter asked through the mind link.

‘I… cannot recall,’ Aphrodite mumbled.

‘Maybe the hectic days we’ve had lately have affected our memory,’ Athena theorized.

‘Possibly,’ Apollo said.

“And if it isn’t returned by summer solstice, there’s going to be trouble.”

“Isn’t it May 28th in the book? You have what? twenty -four days total? And that doesn’t even account for the weeks you spent getting accustomed to camp,” Jason frowned.

“Not the worst time crunch,” the son of Hephaestus shrugged, “Our first quest we had four days.”

“Four days?” the son of Hermes exclaimed, “That’s so little!”

“I know right, it really sucked when our transportation broke down,” the son of Hephaestus pouted.

“Hopefully your quest was something easy?” Hera grimaced at the stares she was getting.

“Easy? Psshhh– nope!” the son of Hephaestus laughed.

‘What are those other versions of us doing to them?’ Demeter said.

‘I do not know but when I get my hands on them,’ Artemis had to lay a soothing hand over Apollo’s shoulder to be sure he didn’t melt the demigods into puddles with his anger.

“When you came, I was hoping . . . I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares.”

“What?” Athena said, “I get along with my brother perfectly well.”

“Not in our world apparently,” Clarisse mumbled a lot quieter than Demeter had ever heard the daughter of Ares.

“And of course she’s got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something.”

“Why would I have a rivalry with my dear niece? Pallas loves her!” Poseidon asked.

“Who?” Percy asked.

“Pallas? My grand-daughter?” Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

Annabeth whispered something to Percy and his eyes widened.

“That girl we met on the beach?” the son of Poseidon asked.

“You met her?” Athena questioned, “What did she look like?”

“I dunno she was like a mermaid. We had to fix her tail.”

“Why didn’t she alert me?” Poseidon asked, “Of you both?”

“Oh she did, well at least I think, my memories feel fuzzy, but there was this green guy who I think was my half-brother.”

“And what happened after?” Poseidon’s brow creased.

“I think… something attacked? Not sure I think I blacked out?”

“Don’t strain yourself Percy, I remember what happened when I did and it hurt,” Jason lamented.

“Alright…” the son of Poseidon looked guilty at not being able to give his father more information.

‘Attacked?’ Poseidon’s voice sounded hollow.

“I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.”

“That’s nice of you Percy,” The daughter of Athena smiled.

““I’ve got to get a quest,” Annabeth muttered to herself. “I’m not too young. If they would just tell me the problem . . .”’

“NO!” Athena shouted, shocking her daughter, “Do NOT get a quest.”

Athena’s intended effect of warning her daughter did the opposite and made her glower.

“I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must’ve heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she’d catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.”

“Wow that’s weird,” the son of Poseidon murmured, “I feel really hungry right now.”

A hard stick of meat that Demeter thought originally was a piece of bark was hurled at Percy.

“Thanks Will,” Percy snarked, “Though, it could’ve been blue.”

“I don’t carry blue jerky specifically for Percy,” Will rolled his eyes.

“You should.”

“I’ll consider it.”

 “Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.”

Hermes smiled at the mention of his children.

“The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.”

“Not for long,” Clarisse said.

Hermes had to do a double take at what she said.

“I don’t think any smiles would be intact honestly,” Will grumbled.

“Your scar seems deeper than that of an unlucky knife nick,” Ares noted.

Luke didn’t respond. Demeter was proud of herself for remembering another name.

She could successfully name five demigods, Luke the son of Hermes, Clarisse the daughter of Ares, Jason the son of her brother Zeus, Nico the son of her other brother Hades, and Percy the son of her other other brother Poseidon.

““Found you a sleeping bag,” he said. “And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store.””

‘As good at stealing as me,’ Hermes said warmly.

“I couldn’t tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.”

“No,” Luke responded.

“I said, “Thanks.” 

“No prob.” Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. “Tough first day?” 

“I don’t belong here,” I said. “I don’t even believe in gods.” 

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn’t get any easier.” 

The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything. 

“So your dad is Hermes?” I asked. 

He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. “Yeah. Hermes.”’

Hermes frowned but said nothing.

Luke’s eye twitched involuntarily which seemed to surprise him greatly.

“I feel like I did four years ago,” Luke whispered to Clarisse.

“You're not going to start anything right Castellan?” She whispered harshly.

Luke’s eyes widened, “No! Once all these stories are done I’m leaving… for good.”

Hermes wanted to interject but Dionysus stopped him.

“Good, I think all of us deserve a godless life.”

‘NO NO NO!’ Hermes' voice was frantic within the mindlink.

‘At ease son. We won’t let them leave, remember? For their greater good.’ Zeus soothed.

‘Yes father.’

““The wing-footed messenger guy.””

Hermes snorted, “That’s one way to put it.”

““That’s him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That’s why you’re here, enjoying cabin eleven’s hospitality. Hermes isn’t picky about who he sponsors.” 

I figured Luke didn’t mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Luke said.

“You didn’t mean it or past you didn’t mean it?” Percy cocked an eyebrow.

“Both.”

““You ever meet your dad?” I asked. 

“Once.””

“WHAT,” Hermes shrieked, “I visited you only once?”

“That’s a lot for most demigods,” Luke grumbled.

The gods' eyes widened.

‘Once! Just once! That foul, ugly, bastard visited my son only ONCE! What kind of conniving, atrocious, imbecile visits their child once?’ Hermes seethed.

‘Son calm down,’ Hera said.

“I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he’d tell me. Apparently, he didn’t. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.”

The gods stared at Luke’s scar obviously waiting for an answer, when he looked up he raised an eyebrow at them and said, “What?”

“Your scar, will you tell us how you got it?” Hermes asked his words, sweet and caring.

“Why would I tell you?”

Hermes looked taken aback for a moment before he recovered, “So I know you were safe.”

“It’s none of your business how I got it,” Luke said, his voice was bitter like the fruit of the nearest olive tree.

Luke looked up and managed a smile. “Don’t worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they’re mostly good people. After all, we’re extended family, right? We take care of each other.” He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him—even if he was a counselor—should’ve steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He’d even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.”

“Don’t remind me of our family relations,” Nico groaned.

“I won’t, just don’t think about it,” Luke grinned slightly. It was the only smile Demeter had seen on him since he’d gotten to Olympus.

“I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. “Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being ‘Big Three’ material. Then Annabeth . . . twice, she said I might be ‘the one.’ She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?” 

Luke folded his knife. “I hate prophecies.”’

Apollo pouted.

Leo, who waved his bark like meat around like a stick, said, “Understandable.”

“What do you mean?” 

His face twitched around the scar. “Let’s just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn’t allowed any more quests–”

“The garden of Hesperides,” Hera murmured, “With Ladon!”

“Ladon?” Hermes asked frantically, “Is that how you got your scar?”

Luke grumbled something of a curse to his past self before answering, “Well cats outta the bag so might as well say it.”

Demeter had no clue what a ‘cat’ was nor why it resided within a bag.

“I did get my scar from Ladon,” Luke shrugged as if Ladon was a measly bug instead of a poisonous hundred head drakon.

Hermes whimpered quietly for his son.

“--Annabeth’s been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He’d had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn’t tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn’t destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until . . . somebody special came to the camp.”

The daughter of Athena groaned, “I think I’ve seen too much of the world.”

“Hear, hear,” The son of Hephaestus agreed.

““Somebody special?” “Don’t worry about it, kid,” Luke said. “Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she’s been waiting for. Now, come on, it’s dinnertime.” 

The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I’d never heard one before.

Poseidon's smile at the mention of his son's symbol quickly turned to frown when he remembered the early conversation about Triton being attacked.

“Luke yelled, “Eleven, fall in!” 

The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.”

“Why would I have a cabin? Most of the time my hunters hunt with me or by themselves?” Artemis asked the daughter of Zeus.

“It’s for when we stop by M’lady,” The daughter of Zeus responded.

“We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods— and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.”

“The nymphs,” Demeter said.

“In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.”

‘One hundred,’ Dionysus said awestruck.

‘To think that those versions of us don’t even bat an eye at them,’ Apollo grumbled.

‘Maybe they will when they do not get their precious heroes back,’ Hermes smirked.

“At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven’s was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.”

Luke sighed while Hermes frowned.

“I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.”

Dionysus at the mention of that version of Dionysus reverted back to his sickly withdrawn body. His domains seemed to flicker with him, growing dimmer with its owner.

The older twin son of Dionysus snorted, “We were pretty chubby back then.”

“Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.”

“Weird,” Athena mumbled, looking at her own hair, “I like my hair brown.”

“Clarisse sat behind me at Ares’s table. She’d apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends. 

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. “To the gods!” 

Everybody else raised their glasses. “To the gods!” 

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, “Speak to it. Whatever you want—nonalcoholic, of course.” 

I said, “Cherry Coke.” The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid. 

Then I had an idea. “

“Let me guess, you want it blue?” the son of Apollo guessed.

““Blue Cherry Coke.” 

The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. 

I took a cautious sip. Perfect.”

“Only you,” Someone sighed.

“I drank a toast to my mother.”

Hera and Hestia smiled.

“She’s not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She’s in the Underworld. And if that’s a real place, then someday . . .”

“Please don’t break into the underworld,” Nico groaned.

““Here you go, Percy,” Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. 

I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something. 

“Come on,” Luke told me. 

As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll. 

Luke murmured in my ear, “Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell.” 

“You’re kidding.”’ 

“Does it not smell good to you?” Athena tilted her head.

“No…” Leo raised an eyebrow, “It just smells like burning food, or smoke.”

“His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn’t help wondering why an immortal, allpowerful being would like the smell of burning food. Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. “Hermes.”’

Hermes gasped slightly when a cluster of grapes landed in his lap. He took an experimental bite and found that they were in fact real, with how the juice squirted out at his face.

“I was next. I wished I knew what god’s name to say. Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please. I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.”

The brisket landed in Poseidon's lap.

“When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn’t gag. 

It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn’t have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.”

“No, no,” Zeus cautioned, “That’s far too dangerous.”

“When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. 

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. “Yes, I suppose I’d better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels.” 

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table. 

“Personally,” Mr. D continued, “I couldn’t care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson.” 

Chiron murmured something. 

“Er, Percy Jackson,” Mr. D corrected. “That’s right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on.” 

Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo’s cabin led a singalong. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s’mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn’t feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.”

Dionysus let out a sickly sigh at the other version of him’s antics.

“Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag. 

My fingers curled around the Minotaur’s horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite. 

When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.”

A choked cough let its way out of Luke’s throat.

Demeter couldn’t see the foul red fluid but she could smell the distinct tang of iron and copper coming from Luke’s hand. Blood was coming from the seams in between his fingers and slid down his wrist in goopy drops.

“Just, ack,” Luke attempted to speak but blood trickled down the corner of his mouth before he began to cough, “...finish…”

“That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood. 

I wish I’d known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.”

Demeter didn’t care at all about the last two lines of the book. Despite how ominous they were, the room was entirely focused on the bloodied coughs of Luke.

Luke stood up abruptly, knocking Clairsse’s hand off of him and made a mad dash for the entrance. Everyone just sat there, Hermes was staring at the blood that stained the floor as Luke ran away.

Chapter Text

Hermes cursed all the stars above for his slowness. He had never felt slow, all his immortal life he was the quickest, quickest of the gods, quickest to grow, quickest of the second generation to have a successful offspring. But was he so inept at the mental, emotional, and physical constraints of a human that his own son would rather kill himself than spend a shrivel of the day’s light with his father? Would Luke, a mortal, with a life that could pass in the blink of a godly eye rather spend his life away from the protective clutches of his father than the safety that is Olympus?

Those treacherous thoughts were what whispered into Hermes' ear as he walked the marble halls of the main building on Olympus searching for his child with only a bloody path. 

Did Hermes really know his own child? 

Despite Luke being from another world Hermes thought he would understand him, he was a child, Hermes was the parent there could be no other way about it. He would be the care provider, someone who would give the world and sky to his child if requested, someone who would fight a war for his child. But the treacherous bastard from the other world thought the opposite. Thought that parents should take until their miracles can’t give anything else. Interact with their children, their miracles, only when they need something. 

Frantic wasn’t even a word to the pent up panic that was building on top of Hermes until his wings collapsed from the sheer weight of the emotion. Luke, his youngest son, his precious child, his miracle, had faced ladon, was coughing blood, and had an emptiness in his face that crushed the small hope in Hermes soul that he wasn’t hunted by monsters. 

The lengthy scar along his son's face was a constant reminder of the pain his child must’ve gone through without any help from his father. The sickly pale color of his skin is a memoir of the pain and death his son had experienced at barely the age of adulthood. The deep eyebags a sickening testimony to the nightmarish dreams that plagued his son.

A bloodied hand print on a pillar gave away Luke’s struggle with whatever was going on inside his body. Something was happening to his son, and he wouldn’t speak of it. Hermes rifled through his memories, the first time Luke had coughed blood had been the night after the son of Poseidon had gotten to camp, the second time it had been when the son of Poseidon had gone to sleep. 

Hermes didn’t know what was invading his son's dreams but all the wrath of Chaos would even be able to scratch the surface of just what he would do to the creature that was in his son’s head. The torture that would wrought the mind-invaders body would be so great that even Luke pleading for him to stip wouldn’t even pause the pain that Hermes would inflict.

How had his son hid it so effectively?

Did he truly not believe Hermes when he promised to take away all his pain. To keep him safely away from the misery and anguish that would otherwise plague him in the world of Hellas. How Hermes would like nothing more than to coddle Luke in his nest and temple, feed him a plethora of mortal and divine cuisine.

Another bloody handprint appeared on the cypress wood doors. Golden light, a tell-tale sign of Apollo, seeped through the crack of the two doors. Scuffling could be heard along with the pleas to let go. 

Hermes however didn’t care one bit about that, all he cared about was the ever present tang of blood that wafted through the air. The coppery smoke was melded into everything, from the trail of it on the floor, to the bloody handprints, to the infirmary. Along with the blood, a scent that would've regularly pleased Hermes if not for this situation, permeated the copper scent: strawberries and paper. 

The smell that marked someone as a descendent of Hermes, the scent that currently marked Luke as bleeding out.

The doors flew open with a bang, the hinges straining from the overuse of divine strength. The scene was a chaotic picture that not even the most blessed of minds could have painted.

Will, the first and only child of Apollo, strained against his fathers iron grip. The sound of smacking feathers resounded each time Will slapped at one of Apollo’s white raven wings. Apollo stood there keeping his child from running either away from him or to Luke’s body.

Luke was a different story entirely. A story that made Hermes' eyes glistened with waxen tears. Luke lay stagnant on the infirmary’s cot. Narrow trails of blood ran down palm and fingers until they dripped off his sharpened nails to hit the floor with a red dot. Already there was a large splotch of crimson staining the pristine floors. Blood smeared across his lips, his chin and mouth a tortured canvas for a sadistic painter.

“Why can’t you heal him?” Hermes shrieked. 

His wings were spread outward, all four hawk wings appearing in his panicked state.

“If only he–” Will jerked harshly in an attempt out of his fathers grasp, “would let me go I could heal him!”

“Apollo,” Hermes stared at his brother, his pupils thinner than paper, “let him go.”

Hermes and Apollo were in a stare off. Both their divine presences were masked to not overwhelm the mortal children that were within the infirmary.

“It will not work for me, Hermes,” Hermes' wings twitched, “if it does not work for me it won’t work for my son.”

“Yes it will!” Will huffed, “It did before.”

“Child,” Apollo all but pleaded, “do not be silly, if it cannot work for me then it will not work for you.”

“How do you think Luke fixed himself before, do you just think it magically went away?” Will shouted, “No! I fixed it, took a damn lot of power to fix him and Percy but that’s what I am fucking here for! So let me do my damn job!”

Will and Hermes sent a pleading look towards Apollo. Apollo’s brows pinched but he relented letting his grip loosen just enough so that if Will wanted to leave he could. Adamantly that was what Will wanted all along as he elbowed his father before moving next to Hermes who stood by Luke’s bedside.

“Useless whore,” Hermes jumped at the new language that flowed through the son of Apollo’s mouth. The meanings of the barbaric language trickled through Hermes mind as his domains tried to grasp at the language only to fail. Still, the words clicked into his head and he gasped at what he assumed was the son of Apollo calling his father a whore.

The son of Apollo’s eyes widened, fear graced his eyes as his struggle all but stopped in the face of Hermes' new found knowledge.

Hermes' eyes quickly averted from the son of Apollo’s eyes to Luke. The son of Apollo pulled out one of the clear pouches that all of the children seemed to have. Hermes distantly remembered Hephaestus wanting to replicate one but not knowing the materials in which they were fashioned from. The panic calmed as the son of Apollo pulled out a couple squares of ambrosia. His child was safe, about to eat a healing food worthy of the gods. He wouldn’t die, the creature in his mind wouldn’t win so easily.

Sadly, that calm didn’t last long as the child of Apollo shoved the godly food into Luke’s mouth with his hand. 

Hermes thrashed against Apollo in an attempt to get Luke to safety. A quote-on-quote medic had just killed his son and Apollo wasn’t even letting him seek retribution. Apollo if anything should be ashamed at calling that barbarian his son, bedside manners were almost non-existent along with no sense of patient safety, what kind of no-good, uncaring–

Soft sunlight flared from the son of Apollo’s hand. The sun in a calm meadow filled the room. Hermes stopped thrashing as he and Apollo watched the son of Apollo work on Luke until the scent of strawberries and paper had entirely fallen away and disappeared.

Will stepped away and Apollo released his grasp on Hermes. Hermes hadn’t meant to shove the son of Apollo away like he was a mere tree branch in the forest, but could you blame him for his worries? His son, his fleeting mortal son could have died and Hermes would have to live with the knowledge that his son had hated him, would discard him like a piece of trash if it meant his freedom, how could Hermes let that happen to Luke.

Hermes watched Luke’s form tremble and still until with a movement quicker than even Aphrodite could perceive the tip of something sharp was touching the space where Hermes' thyroid would have been if mortality plagued him. A small gasp was elicited from Hermes and Apollo as Hermes shifted his gaze downward and beheld Luke with one hand tightly grasping a glistening bronze dagger, a celestial bronze dagger, and the other hand supporting him off the bed.

“Castellan,” Will warned, the son of Apollo’s eyes were twitching and he began to squirm in Apollo’s hold.

When Luke’s eyes cleared of the golden shine that had quietly enveloped his eyes. Hermes noted this down for what to ask his father about in terms of Luke’s ever-present condition. Luke’s pupils dilated and the dagger withdrawn into a large satchel that appeared to be sewn into his separated chiton. Hermes would question Aphrodite of the practicality of the fashion choice of the children and possibly ask Athena to fashion him a pair. 

Luke scratched his neck harshly causing small bursts of blood to pop up when his claw-like nails dug in too harshly. Luke squawked in surprise at the blood that now beaded down small scratches in his neck, red covering the tips of his nails which had sharpened at some point during the time the miracles were on Olympus.

Before Luke had a chance to pull away, Hermes pressed a cloth to the right side of his neck. Luke froze entirely causing Hermes to slowly drop his arm down, with the hand now removed from his neck Luke jolted up to his feet and took harsh steps away from the two gods and the son of Apollo. 

When Hermes made no move to bring Luke back unto his hold Luke turned towards the door. Right as he was about to step out of the infirmary he turned back to Will, quietly, yet Will must’ve heard from the look of pure disgust he gave Luke, Luke murmured, “Thanks… Solace.”

Apollo looked between the disconsolate Hermes and his own son and released Will to scamper away from the infirmary as he quietly held the sobbing Hermes in comfort.

~~~~~

Leo didn’t know what to do. That seemed like a common trend nowadays. Without the impending threat of the world ending looming above Leo and the rest of the seven like a particularly annoying storm cloud his life was free.

Freedom was typically a good thing. But freedom without purpose was like a hammer with nothing to nail. Journeying across the world wasn’t his type of thing. He had enough of that with the journey to Greece and Italy, finding Hera, going to Ogyia, and many more things that Leo couldn’t even bother to name. But Calypso wanted to go somewhere and Leo would happily do anything for his girlfriend… even if it meant not enjoying himself to the fullest.

Leo, with too much time on his hands and no tools to mess around with began to think. Within this freaky crazy world would Calypso still be there? Still stuck on that island? Still waiting for a hero to save her?

And Leo didn’t know if he entirely cared. Technically he should. He should care about his girlfriend, friend, whatever they are. But he really didn’t. Calypso was a nice person but Leo didn’t really care about her. Not in the way partners should. He couldn’t help but think he rushed into his relationship, but no, that was a silly thought they had clicked… at one point.

Maybe it would have been better if you hadn’t taken the cure.

Everyone around you gets hurt anyways, do you really want to plague them?

You always leave, it’s not like running is something different to you anyways. 

Leo didn’t even know where he was going until he unceremoniously hit a wall, flat in the face. As he rubbed his nose he couldn’t help but sigh when he realized he had pulled a Jason. Jason was the one who was supposed to get hit by walls and bricks, not Leo.

“You alright, Leo?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

“Yeah… just distracted…” 

“Thinking of Calypso?" Jason wiggled his eyebrows while Leo slumped down slightly.

“Mhm,” Even to him the reply sounded fake.

But when was the last time any response he gave was real, probably when his mom was alive.

Jason being the amazing person he is, dropped the subject and started talking about himself which was great for Leo to get distracted from his thoughts on Calypso.

“And me and Piper–”

“Oh yeah, how are you and Beauty Queen doing?” Leo asked.

Jason visibly waned, “we’re doing… it's been a bit rough.”

Leo frowned, last time he was with them it was when he had surprised them by showing that he was actually alive. They appeared fine, all smiley and happy, holding hands like true partners, “Sorry about that man, shouldn't have brought that up.”

“No it’s alright, you haven't been to camp in so long I wouldn’t expect you to know.”

As Leo and Jason turned to the dining hall, which thankfully wasn’t infested with gods, they sat down at a lunch table and a few nymphs put some pieces of flat bread with butter, overly green olives, honey, and some pieces of roasted chicken. It smelled delicious, the fresh smell of the honey and chicken made it smell like the tacos his mom would make him… when she was alive.

Leo nodded at them in thanks while Jason did nothing. Leo wouldn’t say anything but it was a bit weird for Jason to not thank people that were serving and cooking the food that they ate. Maybe it’s his Roman-ness, don’t want to get too close because you never know who will stab you in the back.

“You alright? you’ve been staring at me like I just stepped on your favorite toga?” Jason’s question snapped him out of his thoughts.

Leo swallowed and quietly asked, “Why didn’t you thank them?”

“Really? I thought I did…” Jason looked in the direction where the nymph had disappeared off to mournfully.

“It’s alright!” Leo said quickly, trying to change the subject he asked the stupidest question he could’ve ever uttered, “Can you teach me how to use a sword?”

“Eh?” Jason asked surprised as his eyes flew to Leo who blushed in embarrassment.

“You don't have too, it’s just that–”

Jason perked up, “I’d love to Leo.” And then he gave Leo the brightest smile known to man.

Noticing the way someone's dimples came out when they smiled, or how their eyes brightened, or how the under of their eye crinkled when they smiled was entirely normal right?

It's completely normal to love the way someone smiles especially when they look at you. Jason and him were just good friends, friends who loved being around each other.

“When do you wanna start?” Jason grinned even wider as Leo floundered for an answer.

“How ‘bout, uh– maybe– after we eat?”

Too soon, mouth!

“Perfect,” Jason clapped, “I better finish eating if we want to get some lessons in before they continue the reading.”

Leo didn’t even notice as the food on his plate disappeared into mouth when he and Jason were chatting. A bad habit he had developed while on the run, always eating in under ten minutes so he could move to the next town or sewer in time. Most of the time he didn’t have enough food to stretch the eating time to ten minutes but when he did he would scarf it down.

After some time and Jason raving about what he was going to do when they got back to camp, Leo didn’t have the heart to tell him he was going to leave again. 

Jason sounded so… excited. Like the prospect of Leo being at camp with him was the best thing in the world. Leo wouldn’t break the happiness his best friend so dearly needed after the war with the giants.

While Leo did feel bad about leaving Jason with the impact of his death for a good two months he would rather he experience the pain of a ‘heroic’ death than Jason. After all, he was the seventh wheel, it wasn’t like anyone would’ve missed him that much. He would’ve had a funeral and then slowly people would forget about him and go back to their peaceful lives. 

And Jason having a peaceful life was even better than Leo having life. But he couldn’t tell anyone, especially Jason about that. They would walk on eggshells around him like he was about to explode if they even mentioned something negative. 

Or, something that was even worse, they would attempt to convince him that his life was ‘worth more than ten others’ as if Leo didn’t spend eight years of his life dealing with the crippling fact that his life was worse than a regular person. 

“Alright,” Jason said, a giddy pip in his step, “first we need to know what weapon would best fit you. Knowing your weapon is a very important step in knowing how to fight.”

Leo distantly wondered if the kids at Camp Jupiter got this type of lecture from Jason.

“So,” Jason said looking at Leo’s arms, legs, his depressing height, even asking him his weight.

“So?” Leo asked, awkward was one way to describe being examined like a fish at a farmers market.

“I think a cutlass would be the best for you?”

“A custard?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

Jason shook his head amusedly, “No, a cutlass, cut-lass.”

“I don’t think I can magic that out of my tool belt,” 

“We could–” Jason started before he frowned and shook his head.

“We could what?” 

“I was thinking we go to the armory to find one but your dad might be there so…”

Oh. That was a problem.

“Maybe we could sneak in and find one?” Leo shrugged.

“Sneak in and find one, what?”

“Holy mother of flaming pancakes!” Leo turned and jumped as he saw Artemis peering at them curiously.

“Oh, um Lady Artemis, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Jason asked, picking at his nails nervously.

Artemis snorted, “No need to be so formal brother, I was just curious as to what you were planning to do.”

Leo and Jason snuck a look at each other before Jason replied, “We want to get Leo a cutlass.” 

“A… cut-lass?” Artemis carefully pronounced the foreign word.

“I’ve never heard of it, can you describe it?”

“Well it’s like–” Jason seemed like he was struggling so Leo stepped in, “It’s a short sword that's single edged and curved slightly at the front.”

Leo didn’t know where the sudden terminology came from but he assumed it was something about being a son of Hephaestus.

Jason looked surprised but something popped into Artemis’ head, “Do you mean a makhaira?”

Leo nodded despite not knowing what on earth that was. His demigodly abilities had its limits.

“Why do you need a weapon?” Artemis frowned.

“I just want to learn,” Leo shrugged.

“Alright, but please be careful nephew, I wouldn’t want you to get injured.”

Artemis did the very godly thing and made the mak-whatever poof into existence and carefully handed it to Leo before disappearing into a cool breeze.

Hesitantly Leo picked up the makhairy-something. The blade was about two feet long with the grip making up another six inches. The blade was curved weirdly with the nearest bit to the hilt being smaller and curving inward before it protruded outwards. The distinct bronze sheen indicated the weapon as celestial bronze.

“Alright,” Jason started “before you even hold a sword you need to know where to place your feet.”

Leo nodded while moving to copy Jason’s stance. Since he was right handed he put his right foot forward and his left back and to the side.

“Bend your knees more, if you arch so much with your back then you're going to injure yourself.”

Leo shifted, bending his knees until Jason nodded, “Good, but put more weight on your back foot if you want to go forward, like this.”

Jason leaned back on his right foot before exploding into motion. He launched forward on his feet and thrusted at open air with a tree branch he picked up. Leo was astounded out fast Jason was. He’d seen him fight, but a close up really showed how skilled and fast he was. Leo didn’t know if he could ever get that fast and control his sword too, he was used to grabbing things from his tool belt and throwing in whatever direction the enemy was.

“If you want to go back,” Jason jumped back, “put more weight on your front leg.”

Leo repeated the demonstration back to Jason, even if it was slower it wasn’t by much judging by Jason’s shocked face.

“Damn your fast, you should’ve been put onto a sword before this,” Leo blushed at the statement before resuming back into his regular position.

“Next, your grip.”

Leo grabbed the hilt of his sword and brought the sword up. He gripped the sword as hard as he could to prevent it from dropping, straightening his back and turning the sword straight up with a small tilt.

“Lean forward more,” Jason said.

“I thought you just told me to use my knees?” 

“Well yeah use your knees but having a straight back is going to make you stiff, bend into it but don’t arch your back.”

Leo thought it was a whole load of nothing but when he did his back didn’t ache as much and it was a lot less awkward looking. Maybe Jason did know what he was going on about.

“Next,” Jason said as he held Leo’s hand while adjusting his grip, Leo froze from the closeness while Jason remained oblivious to his struggle, “you wanna loosen your grip a bit, you have to be flowy with it.”

Leo snorted while he followed Jason’s instructions “Flowy?”

“Let’s not focus on the wording.”

Jason pressed Leo’s sword until it was tilted at a forty-five degree angle.

“You learn fast man, it took the peeps back at Camp J weeks to learn how to hold their sword."

Leo didn’t know how to react to the praise. It was weird, it felt good but it was such an abnormal feeling Leo was caught off guard.

“Since you have your basic stuff down we can go on to actual sword motions.”

“Great,” Leo said sarcastically while Jason rolled his eyes.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Sure.”

“A cutlass, or makhaira in your case, is primarily used for hacking and slashing,” Jason demonstrated a vertical slash with his stick.

“Nerd,” Leo teased while copying the motion.

“With you being shorter and quicker you could probably overpower some opponents easily since a cutlass is primarily used in close-quarter fighting.”

“Sorry for being the only one not built like a basketball player.”

“Your still short.”

Leo did the very mature thing of sticking his tongue out at him while following along with the slash. Leo repeated the vertical slash in multiple directions along with Jason showing him how to parry with the sword.

“Alright, block my strike.”

“What–” Leo didn’t have time to reply as Jason thrust the stick at him, with reflexes he didn’t know he even had he brought his sword to the right and parried.

“Nice reflexes,” Leo couldn’t process the comment as Jason sent another strike, this time to his left, again he locked his sword with the branch and flicked it off of him.

“Target is me, not the stick.”

Leo grunted as he blocked yet another strike to his torso. Jason may have been holding back but he was crazy strong, stronger than what Leo's flimsy stick arms could do.

After a few hours of training in the summer heat Jason finally let him ease out and rest.

As Leo flopped on the ground he asked, “Do you think that blonde guy is okay, wasn’t he like coughing blood or some shit?”

“Dunno.”

The grass felt like a comforting bed as it swayed around next to Leo. Leo was half sure that Jason was trying to kill him with all the exercises and training, three hours of training and he felt like someone just shit on him and threw him in a dumpster. Even the heat felt hotter and Leo was from Texas!

“I’m so sore,” Leo groaned, “How the fuck do you do this all the time?”

“Practice,” Jason replied, “Maybe genetics.”

“You and your stupid sky god genes.”

Leo in his tired state had barely enough energy to process that he had gotten compliments from the best sword fighter on the Argo II, and compliments from Jason. 

“Do you want to try sparring with me?” Jason asked.

Leo gaped at him, he barely got the hang of the basic movements and parries and now he was being asked to spar with Jason of all people.

“You’re going to kill me,” Leo groaned but got up anyway.

“Be careful Leo!” Annabeth called while Percy yelled, “Beat his ass Leo!”

“Percy–” Annabeth reprimanded.

“Great, we have an audience,” Leo groaned, he readied himself for the obvious beating he was about to get..

“It’s fine, just do your best, I’ll go easy on you since this is your first time sparring.”

Leo and Jason circled each other after Annabeth had yelled, “Start!”

It was glaringly obvious Jason was going easy on him. His posture had loosened and he didn’t go straight to cutting Leo up like a pile of fruit. Leo decided to fuck it and went to attack Jason with a jab aimed at his sword arm. From the conversation of the battles he heard from the seven, going for someone's sword arm or leg was a great way to incapacitate someone. Or get yourself screwed over, either one.

Jason parried easily and stepped in for a strike at Leo’s wrist with the flat of his blade. Leo jumped back and lunged for Jason’s left shoulder. 

Blood pumped in Leo’s ears as he continued to block or dodge most of Jason’s attacks. A couple bruised his arms and legs and he just knew that Will was going to have a fit about it later. He hadn’t managed to land a single strike on Jason and Jason was still going strong as Leo’s energy was significantly waning. Being able to run for weeks but not even making it to one spar was plain sad in Leo’s opinion.

Leo pulled a risky move as he moved in closer to Jason. Jason was a lot bigger and stronger than him but Leo saw Jason shift his stance just slightly and he took a gamble and shifted to the right before the flat of Jason’s sword could strike his sword hand.

He didn’t focus on the cheer from Percy as he slipped under Jason’s guard and struck Jason’s solar plexus with the butt of his sword. The hit took Jason off guard and he doubled over to wheeze. Leo, taking Jason’s distraction to his advantage, kicked his imperial gold sword away and leveled the point of his makhaira to Jason’s chest.

Jason was wheezing and Leo thought he hit him too hard. Was he being too rough? Was he not supposed to go for the solar plexus? Is that what you're supposed to do in a spar? Do you point your sword at someone’s chest?

“Shit, man are you okay, did I do something wrong or–” A clap cut him off

“That was great Leo!” Percy said, clapping him on his back.

“Yeah Leo,” Jason coughed before recovering, “That was really good you caught me off guard there with that!”

Jason grinned widely before stringing his arm over Leo’s shoulder. Leo smiled from ear to ear. He had somehow, by some stroke of luck, bested Jason in a duel.

“Are you alright why are you so bruised,” The happy moment ended as Artemis' voice reached the demigod's ears, “Did something attack you? Are you hurt? Do I need to call my brother?”

Leo and Jason froze taking into account their own bruises and Jason’s heavy breathing.

Leo mustered up fake confidence and replied, “We’re doing fine, just had a little spar is all, heh…”

Artemis sighed, “Alright, I will not tell but please be more careful in the future, you would not want your parents to think you were attacked.”

Percy, Annabeth, Leo, and Jason collectively sighed in relief.

“Apologies for the wait but something happened to the son of Hermes so we had to delay the reading, we are ready to do so now so follow me.”

Chapter Text

Annabeth knew something was wrong by the time they reached the throne room. While the whole universe or world the demigods were in was wrong something felt a little off. First of all, Will, Nico, and their respective godly parents were missing.

Secondly… Luke wasn’t there.

Luke had taken Annabeth’s trust and twisted around his finger until he played Annabeth like a piano. And her young, naive self had gone along with it. Kept telling Percy that Luke would never betray. Saved Luke from the torment of holding the sky. Thought that Luke could be persuaded on Olympus.

But some treacherous, young part of her brain, her inner child that was still running around on the streets, thought he could be changed. Thought that Luke could still change, that he was the same fourteen-year-old kid that gave her a dagger. She couldn’t let that part of her brain win. No matter how much someone looked like they changed they could still turn on you anyways.

Like Luke, like Silena, like Athena.

Annabeth was done forgiving people who wronged her. She had tried so hard for her mothers approval. Taking quest after quest. Never letting it get to her, physically. Being the architect of Olympus. Taking that damned coin on the subway.

“Hey,” Percy whispered, nudging her out of her inner ramblings.

“Hey,” She said, linking her fingers with Percy’s.

The feeling of his callouses on her hands helped to steady her.

“You ready for the next chapter?”

“Are you?”

Percy paused for a moment, his pace slowing while his eyebrows drew together and his face gained a slight pout, a clear sign he was thinking deeply about something.

“While I don’t enjoy my whole life being read out like a fairytale, it’s a nice break from all the quests.”

Annabeth had no clue on how Percy could stay so optimistic. But maybe that was in his nature. He always thought the best of people until they did something to wrong him. No matter how bad the situation was he could still make some light of it. And Annabeth loved that part of him so much. It helped balance her more pessimistic view of things.

“Hey Thalia.”

“Hi Sparky.”

“Hola.”

“Hey Thals.”

They all greeted her and everyone went back to their conversations. Leo was animatedly talking to Jason about his machines while Jason nodded along. Thalia eyed the two and smiled before returning to her conversation with Clarisse. Annabeth took a seat next to Percy putting her head on his shoulder. Jason sat on the floor next to Thalia’s feet and Leo sat to the left of him.

Eventually everyone began to file in. Luke came looking far better than he deserved, than when he had left the room. Hermes came in a few minutes later looking distraught and calmed when he saw Luke. Apollo came in and he was bridal carrying Will.

Annabeth winced knowing just how much Will would’ve hated that. If her mother picked her up and began to carry her around Olympus she wouldn’t be above rioting or stabbing her mother, fake version or not.

After a weird series of clicks and whistles from Apollo, Will was finally put down onto the couch farthest to the right. He practically jumped away from Apollo and scooched closer to Nico than Will normally would. Annabeth could understand the feeling.

Once everyone had sat down and situated themselves Hera held up her hand and Hephaestus passed the book towards her. Annabeth readied herself for the chapter and the onslaught of questions it would bring.

“The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don’t count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.”

“Normal enough now,” Percy mumbled.

“Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn’t that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.”

“You got a headache from that?” Annabeth whispered the question.

“Yeah, didn’t you?” Percy whispered back.

“Not really?” Annabeth considered something for a moment, “Maybe it’s a gene from my…”

“From your mother?” Percy finished, he seemed to know whenever Annabeth was having difficulty talking about something.

“The rest of the day, I’d rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn’t any good with a bow and arrow. He didn’t complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.”

Apollo, Artemis, and Chiron winced while Will started to laugh at Percy.

“Only you Percy,” Jason shook his head amusedly.

“Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They’d had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.”

“Excuse me?” Aphrodite glanced between the gods and demigods stunned.

“Remember,” Clarisse reminded, “y’all are a bit different where we come from.”

A bit was an understatement.

“But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.”

“They are more than trees,” Demeter grumbled.

“And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.”

Poseidon frowned. Annabeth knew he was one of the more ‘caring’ godly parents but seeing all the gods be so lovey-dovey with their kids made her skin crawl. Annbaeth had a bad feeling that they wouldn’t let the demigods return home when the readings were over.

“Still do?” Clarisse flexed her muscles.

“Yeah, yeah, LaRue,” Percy laughed.

“There’s more where that came from, punk,” she’d mumble in my ear.”

“Gosh with you and Percy the infirmary is going to be even more crammed than it usually is,” Will groaned, dramatically flopping onto the couch.

Annabeth winced internally. She knew that her and Percy were giving him a decade of work trying to find a cure to whatever type of illness the two had gotten from the Pit. With him taking it upon his shoulder to cure everyone he had been running himself into the ground.

Clarisse seemed to have the same thought process as Annabeth as she gazed concernedly over to Will, who still had his deep eyebags and paler skin, along with his scrawnier frame from skipping meals to help out at the infirmary. Annabeth was at least glad that he had someone like Clarisse and his siblings to look out for him.

“The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn’t the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.”

“And you really couldn’t figure it out from there?” Thalia sighed, pinching her nose bridge.

Annabeth and the other campers didn’t have any good defense to that statement so they all stayed quiet, proving Thalia’s point further.

“I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren’t having an easy time of it. I wasn’t as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn’t have Hephaestus’s skill with metalwork or—gods forbid— Dionysus’s way with vine plants. Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none.”

“Are those truly the only traits that you can retain from your parents?” Athena quirked her brow.

“Depends, but most of the time yeah,” Castor shrugged.

Annabeth thought she heard Hermes mumble, “Master of none?”

“But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn’t know what to make of me either.”

“To be honest I think none of us knew what to make of you,” Pollux shrugged.

“Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad.”

“Still trying to feel that connection,” Percy grumbled.

“Yeah…” Annabeth agreed, “me too.”

“Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I’d always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back. . . .”

“Mi stai facendo perdere la voglia di vivere,” Nico sighed.

“Y’know what he’s saying?” Jason asked Leo.

“I speak Spanish not Italian,” Leo whispered back.

“Aren’t they similar?”

“Not that similar!”

“I started to understand Luke’s bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes.”

Luke’s eyes widened.

Annabeth could barely hear Percy when he mumbled, “Still do.”

Annabeth, despite not wanting to be anything like Luke could understand it too, more than ever.

The demigods were all giving small nods which seemed to sadden the gods further. Annabeth couldn’t feel any remorse, they weren’t the demigods parents, they shouldn’t treat them like they're fragile and about to break the moment they set foot on the earth, curse or no.

“So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn’t they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn’t my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?”

Will snorted.

“Thursday afternoon, three days after I’d arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor. 

We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.”

Leo started fiddling with his hands and looking down despite his sword fighting lesson with Jason doing well.

Jason squeezed Leo’s hand and Leo looked up surprised at him. Annabeth smiled at how happy the two made each other. They were great friends.

“The problem was, I couldn’t find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.”

“Man I never understood that, like I get that an ocean blade or whatever should work for me but no other blade seems odd,” Percy sighed.

“Yeah,” Jason said, “I don’t need a blade carved from lighting or whatever.”

““Good luck,” one of the campers told me. “Luke’s the best swordsman in the last three hundred years.”’

Luke winced. Hermes looked proud but toned it down from how uncomfortable Luke appeared.

“I’m going to be honest,” Percy started drawing the attention of everyone, “Jason’s probably the best swordsmen, er, no offense Luke.”

“None taken.”

“Really Perce?” Jason questioned.

“Yeah man, you could totally beat me in a fight,” Percy said, from his tone Annabeth knew he wasn’t backing down on this.

“Mhmmm, sure,” Jason rolled his eyes.

“I swear dude, you have like eight more years of practice than me,” Percy argued.

“Still–”

“Oh my gods Jason take the compliment!” Thalia shouted.

Nico, Clarisse, and Annabeth were cracking up.

““Maybe he’ll go easy on me,” I said. 

The camper snorted.”

Luke dragged his hand over his face and groaned.

“Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. “Keep your guard up, Percy,” he’d say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. “No, not that far up!” Whap! “Lunge!” Whap! “Now, back!” Whap!”

“That’s so much better than the Roman way of teaching,” Jason exclaimed.

“What do you need to train this hard for!” Hermes gasped.

“This is normal sword training,” Ares stated but it came out like a question.

“Goodness that is horrible,” Aphrodite said.

“Standard training,” Athena said.

The gods proceeded to have the oddest staring contest known to anyone, they didn’t say anything but their facial expressions continuously changed. If Annabeth had a guess then she would wager that they were talking telepathically. Once their facial conversation ended they began to read again.

“By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same. Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn’t feel so awkward.”

“If I got struck by lightning would that do the same?” Thalia tapped her chin.

“You better not do that Pinecone Face,” Percy warned.

Thalia held her hands up, “It was just an idea!”

““Okay, everybody circle up!” Luke ordered. “If Percy doesn’t mind, I want to give you a little demo.””

“Really Luke,” Annabeth spat, “singling out a new kid like that?”

Luke’s face scrunched up before he opened his eyes and looked dead straight at Annabeth, “No Annabeth I wasn’t singling him out,” he took a breath, “I was just doing a demo, not all of my actions are affected by the thing downstairs.”

Annabeth huffed but relented when she didn’t have a good argument back.

“Great, I thought. Let’s all watch Percy get pounded.”

“If we wanted to see you get pounded we should’ve seen you wrestle,” Clarisse commented.

“Ha, ha, funny LaRue,” Clarisse gave Percy a grin in return.

“The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they’d been in my shoes before and couldn’t wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy’s blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.”

“I should teach you that next,” Jason whispered to Leo.

“Am I the one getting beat up next?” Leo groaned.

If the gods heard that they gave no sign.

““This is difficult,” he stressed. “I’ve had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique.” 

He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand. 

“Now in real time,” he said, after I’d retrieved my weapon. “We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?””

Ares had his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. Annabeth never talked to him but what she knew from her world Ares wasn’t the type of guy to sit around and be quiet.

“I nodded, and Luke came after me.”

“Happens every time,” Annabeth mumbled.

“Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force. 

The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn’t right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck? 

I tried the disarming maneuver.”

“But you are too inexperienced!” Athena reprimanded. She turned to Luke and gave him a pointed look, “You should have stopped him.”

Luke rolled his eyes and Annabeth had to admit she had that same reaction. The gods were being over pushy about something as simple as a technique, it wasn't a war… yet.

“I was fine,” Percy shrugged.

“My blade hit the base of Luke’s and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust. 

Clang. 

Luke’s sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers were silent.”

Athena’s eyes widened while Ares looked impressed.

“I lowered my sword. “Um, sorry.” 

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. 

“Sorry?” His scarred face broke into a grin. “By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!””

Annabeth thought she heard Luke mumble, “Loves pointing out my scar doesn’t he.”

“I didn’t want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted. 

This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor. 

After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, “Beginner’s luck?” 

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. “Maybe,” he said. “But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword. . . .”’

“Wow life was so boring back then,” Percy murmured into Annabeth's ear.

“Yeah.”

“Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.”

“Ow,” Percy frowned, the hair on his forearm disappeared, or more adequately got singed off his forearms.

“We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D”

Like clockwork whenever Mr.D’s name got mentioned the Dionysus of the weird world turned sickly and pale. Thankfully, he hadn’t changed into the form of a ugly middle-aged drunkard but he still looked like he got run over by a car and a bus in the span of an hour.

“His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.”

“Was it really,” Dionysus coughed, “that bad?”

““Fine,” he said. “Just great.” 

“So your career’s still on track?” 

He glanced at me nervously. “Chiron t-told you I want a searcher’s license?””

“Search for what?” Pan raised an eyebrow. 

Annabeth couldn’t look at the god without being reminded of the labyrinth and Grover’s distraught face when he faded right in front of their eyes.

““Well . . . no.” I had no idea what a searcher’s license was, but it didn’t seem like the right time to ask. “He just said you had big plans, you know . . . and that you needed credit for completing a keeper’s assignment. So did you get it?””

“If what happened to my son earns credit then I daresay I hope this Grover does not get any,” Poseidon grumbled.

Percy shot him a dark look but said nothing.

“Grover looked down at the naiads. “Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn’t failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he’d consider the job complete.” 

My spirits lifted. “Well, that’s not so bad, right?” 

“Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest . . . and even if you did, why would you want me along?”’

“He needs to stop thinking so lowly about himself,” Leo said, “it doesn’t do him any good.”

Annabeth didn’t tell him that he needed to follow his own advice.

““Of course I’d want you along!” Grover stared glumly into the water. “Basket-weaving . . . Must be nice to have a useful skill.””

“It’s a good skill,” Demeter agreed.

Annabeth realized that the gods must not be used to the concept of sarcasm.

“I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow, “Pros and cons?”

“Seems to have a lot more cons than pros,” Will said quietly.

The gods heard if the look Apollo was sending Will was anything to go off of.

“Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins. 

“Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis,” he said. “She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn’t have one, she’d be mad.”’

“Have mortal perceptions of me skewed so far?” Artemis asked.

She didn’t appear to be mad at Grover’s statement so that was a plus for everyone involved. Thalia was staring into the left wall and was too zoned out to answer her maiden.

“Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. “No. One of them, number two, is Hera’s,” he said. “That’s another honorary thing. She’s the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn’t go around having affairs with mortals. That’s her husband’s job–”

“Excuse me?” Zeus gaped.

Jason was trying to hold in his snickers, albeit unsuccessfully, while Thalia was bluntly laughing in her father's face. All of the gods eyes were blown wide and they blinked owlishly at the book and the demigods. No other facial expression screamed disbelief like the one Hera was wearing.

“I would never!” Zeus stated at the appraising look he was gaining for Hera and the rest of the Kronides.

“Never say never,” Thalia laughed.

“Wha- uh- huh?” Turning the God of Knowledge speechless was a feat Annabeth didn’t know possible. 

If the fact that Zeus was a manwhore was a surprise then the gods clearly couldn't deal with the rest of the books.

“How does this even make any sense?” Athena mumbled.

“Let’s just,” Jason said trying to contain his smile, "continue."

“This matter is not over,” Hera said.

“--When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos.” 

“Zeus, Poseidon, Hades.” 

“Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what.”

“So there really is no curse,” Hermes said in disbelief.

““Zeus got the sky,” I remembered. “Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“But Hades doesn’t have a cabin here.”

“Odd.”

““No. He doesn’t have a throne on Olympus, either.”

“What?” Hades asked, “I have a throne on Olympus.”

The demigods all found anywhere but the gods the best place to look at. To Annabeth the floors looked especially interesting.

“So many questions, so little answers,” Hades sighed.

“He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here . . .” Grover shuddered. “Well, it wouldn’t be pleasant. Let’s leave it at that.””

“Excuse me?” Annabeth winced, she had forgotten how bad the prejudice was before the Second Titan War.

“Detail, details,” Nico waved off, clearly not wanting to have that discussion with his fake father.

““But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?”’

Zeus and Poseidon’s faces were a mix of mild perturbation and shock at that consensus.

“Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. “About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn’t sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx.”

“World War Two?” Ares inquired, “A war involving all of Hellas?

Much more than that.

“An oath on the Styx?” Poseidon said.

“How are you here?” The gods asked Thalia, Jason, Nico, and Percy.

“I’m not included in all of this,” Nico raised both his hands in a mock surrender.

“Yeah old man,” The gods raised some eyebrows but kept quiet and let Thalia finish, “We’re here because you guys were getting a bit chummy with our moms and decided to have a fun night with them.”

“No one uses the word chummy sis,” Jason patted Thalia’s knee.

“I’m still your older sister Jason. I can use whatever words I want.”

“So the mortal…” Hera looked like she was trying to find the right words, “affair. Is that comment true? Even with the many kids? That was true?”

“True as day,” Percy shrugged.

The gods looked amongst themselves, a silent staring contest-mental conversation going on between them. When they finally finished their silent conversation they motioned for the reading to begin again.

“Thunder boomed. 

I said, “That’s the most serious oath you can make.”

 Grover nodded. 

“And the brothers kept their word—no kids?”’

Percy snorted, “As if.”

“Grover’s face darkened. “Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn’t help himself.”

Zeus scoffed.

“ When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia . . . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he’s immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter.””

Fifteen different heads whipped around to stare at Thalia. 

Zeus sounded queasy when he spoke, “What kind of terrible fate?”

“Wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened, honestly,” Thalia shrugged.

““But that isn’t fair! It wasn’t the little girl’s fault.””

“You call me a little girl again Percy and I’m going to pummel you,” 

“Sure Sparks, sure,” Percy stuck his tongue out at Thalia.

“Grover hesitated. “Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn’t too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia.”

“Why would I do that?” Hades groaned.

“Dunno, never went down to the underworld and asked,” Thalia said.

~~~~~

Will’s father wasn’t exactly subtle. He had been staring at Will since he made the commentary about the gods' pros and cons. It really wasn;t that big of a deal, a little spite there, a little bitterness there, it certainly wasn’t like he was about to start a third war because he had some daddy issues. That’s for Luke to do.

Will was already pissed at his father for bridal carrying him into the throne room, in front of everyone. He really was fine, no matter who believed it or not he was okay. Him passing out once or twice, or three times, was normal. He may have been taking less and less breaks and eating less food but that’s because he was just a little stressed. The infirmary was a bit of a mess and if there were more patients than there was less time for will. 

NO BIGGIE.

But apparently everyone else, even Nico, was disagreeing with that statement. If Will wasn’t about to die or fade into light then he could work in the infirmary. Like the greatest minds say, “sleep is for the weak.” And Will wasn’t about to disagree with them.

Will only zoned back in when Nico flicked his ear and told him that they were continuing to read the book and he looked like he was staring off into space.

“A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she’d befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill.”’

“No one comments on that Satyr,” Thalia sent a pointed glare to her father and Poseidon.

“When’s this chapter over?” Will asked, he was getting seriously tired and a little light-headed. He might grab a bite to eat and pass out on the floor for a quick nap after the chapter.

Nico gave a concerned look that reminded Will to school his expression, “Why?”

“Need a break,” Will played off his real yawn for a fake one.

“We’ve been reading for like fifteen minutes, are you sure you're okay?” Godsdamn Nico and his perceptiveness of Will’s moods.

“Sleeping as well as I can,” Will sighed, he pushed down the wrinkles on his shirt and slouched.

“Sure love,” Will blushed like a middle-school girl when Nico pecked his cheek.

“Nico,” Will groaned, covering his face in his hands.

“What?” Nico smirked and whispered in Will’s ear, “I know you love it.”

Will swore on all things above that Aphrodite giggled.

When Thalia stopped her staring contest with her father everyone resumed reading.

“He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I’d fought the minotaur. “All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn’t want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn’t want to leave her, but he couldn’t change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That’s why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill.””

“YOU WERE THE PINE TREE?” Jason shouted.

Thalia winced, “Did I not tell you?”

“NO! You did not tell me you were a fucking tree, Thalia,” All the yelling was making Will’s head hurt.

He felt like some bartender had put his brain into a cocktail shaker and mixed the fruitiest cocktail imaginable. 

Will groaned quietly and rested his head in his hands.

“I stared at the pine in the distance. 

The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn’t seem like much. I wondered, if I’d acted differently, could I have saved my mother?”

Will couldn’t even focus on the story, he just needed sleep, and maybe a snack if there was no one else in need of healing. He hadn’t had a good bite to eat in days, and M&M’s don’t count.

 “Grover,” I said, “have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?” 

“Sometimes,” he said. “Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini.” 

“And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?” 

“No. Never. Orpheus came close. . . . Percy, you’re not seriously thinking—” 

“No,” I lied. “I was just wondering. So . . . a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?”’

Nico was assessing Will, Will may not have been looking at Nico but he could feel Nico’s stare on the side of his head. It was like a little lovers tingle. “You're not okay.”

“I’m fine,” Nico hadn’t stopped staring at Will. Will assumed he was looking for more than just fine. “just… tired.”

“Just tired,” Nico snorted, “Yeah right.”

“Ugh Nico I’m fine.”

Will internally winced from how not fine he sounded saying that.

“Grover studied me warily. I hadn’t persuaded him that I’d really dropped the Underworld idea. “Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems.” 

“And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special.”

“I just need a break y’know?” Will said.

“Can you get through the chapter?” Nico asked, he squeezed Will’s hand in support.

“Maybe? Don’t think I’ll make it to the Capture the Flag scene, and the Fates want all of us to be present or whatever, but I don’t know if we can take a middle of the chapter break.”

““Grover looked as if I’d just led him into a trap. “I didn’t . . . Oh, listen, don’t think like that. If you were—you know—you’d never ever be allowed a quest, and I’d never get my license. You’re probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Plus,” Will lowered his voice until only Nico could hear him properly, “I want some eyes off me.”

Asking who those eyes belonged to was pointless. It was glaringly obvious just who’s blue eyes were staring at Will.

“I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me. That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag.”

“Will?” Nico asked carefully, Will had a feeling this was going to be a sensitive topic.

“Yeah Neeks?” Will asked.

“Have you,” His voice dropped low, their little quiet conversation was definitely being noted down by Will’s father, “been eating?”

Fuck.

“Yeah Nico I have?” Will lied, “Why?”

Nico squinted at Will. Will was a practiced liar, keep an easy smile, keep eye contact, don’t let them touch your hands, don’t look suspicious.

“You didn’t eat anything at breakfast.” Will didn’t realize that Nico was paying that much attention.

“Wasn’t hungry,” Will shrugged.

“Matter of fact,” Great, there’s more. “I haven’t seen you eat that much even at camp.”

“I just take the food inside the infirmary Neeks, need to have a doctor in the infirmary at all times y’know?”

Will could tell Nico wasn't buying it. This would most definitely be a conversation for later. But later means time to sneak away, later means not now. And not now is enough.

“When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. 

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar’s head.”

Ares and Athena puffed up with pride at their daughters. Who would know that they would cause their daughters the most suffering?

“I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, “Those are the flags?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Ares and Athena always lead the teams?” 

“Not always,” he said. “But often.” 

“So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?” 

He grinned. “You’ll see. First we have to get one.” 

“Whose side are we on?”

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn’t. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. “We’ve made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help.”’

Will snorted, while his memories of the event were fuzzy at best he knew that Percy didn’t do much helping. More getting pummeled.

“The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins.”

Will's eyes turned downcast. The Apollo cabin had been the biggest cabin. Emphasis on had, after the Second Titan War it had turned from a cabin of around twenty to a cabin of three.

“Hey,” Nico and Will sat shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand.

Will felt horrible for making Nico comfort him all the time. He should be the one comforting Nico. The one to help him, not the other way around. Will was the doctor; his job was to help people. He had to do it on his own, he couldn't rely on someone to support him. Will was a terrible partner.

“Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.”

“Diplomacy and bartering,” Hermes sounded proud.

“Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I’d seen, Dionysus’s kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter’s kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff, but they weren’t very aggressive. Aphrodite’s sons and daughters I wasn’t too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus’s kids weren’t pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares’s cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.”

“I denounce that message,” Percy said, “gods younger me was so stupid.”

“You were twelve,” Clarisse commented.

“Still,” Percy said.

“Whatever Prissy, it’s fine.”

“Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. “Heroes!” he announced. “You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!”’

“Those are really open rules,” Ares said.

“Yup,” Castor said.

“He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. 

“Whoa,” I said. “We’re really supposed to use these?” 

Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. “Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You’ll be on border patrol.””

“Yeah,” Percy rubbed the back of his head, “that was a dumb statement.”

“My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena’s side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes. 

Annabeth yelled, “Blue team, forward!” We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.”

“Why is a twelve year old taking charge of an army?” Jason questioned.

Annabeth was about to counteract him before he shook her head and said, “Good point.”

“I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. “Hey.” 

She kept marching.”

“Their rivalry was so dumb,” Will chuckled.

““So what’s the plan?” I asked. “Got any magic items you can loan me?” 

Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I’d stolen something. 

“Just watch Clarisse’s spear,” she said. “You don’t want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don’t worry. We’ll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?” 

“Border patrol, whatever that means.” 

“It’s easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan.”’

Athena leaned forward in her seat. 

Will felt like a blender and water cannon had one unanimous agreement to destroy his head. Will continued to push himself, if he could do two all nighters in a row he could get through reading one chapter of a book.

“She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust. 

“Okay,” I mumbled. “Glad you wanted me on your team.””

Annabeth winced, “Sorry Percy.”

“It’s fine Beth.”

Percy threw her one of his signature smiles that had everyone at camp head over heels for him. Will didn’t understand the hype, but that might be because he hated him for a good part of a year.

“It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. 

Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I’d tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.”

“Your arms used to be so scrawny back then,” Clarisse said.

“There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?”

The demigods laughed.

“Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. 

Great, I thought. I’ll miss all the fun, as usual. 

Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.”

Luke, despite being the tallest of the demigods, shrank down in his seat.

The casual air of the demigods changed to one of high alert. Percy had the worst of the effects when he jumped into the air and sat ramrod straight. Most likely an effect of the Fates fun and games but was still annoying.

“I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me. 

Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. 

On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.”

“Sorry Percy,” Clarisse was truly sorry if she was using Percy’s actual name.

“S’fine LaRue.”

““Cream the punk!” Clarisse screamed.”

“You have to be kidding me,” Ares groaned.

“Her ugly pig eyes–”

“Gods what the fuck younger me,” Percy dragged a hand over his face, “You don’t have ugly pig eyes Clarisse.”

Clarisse smirked but it didn't have her usual bite in it, “Thanks.”

“--glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better. 

They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.”

“Was this really Annabeth's plan?” Nico asked.

Will nodded.

“She’s a lot better at making plans now.” Will snorted and agreed with Nico.

“I managed to sidestep the first kid’s swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.”

Percy recoiled his arm and did a weird body shake, similar to a minute seizure.

“Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back.

Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.”

“That’s what you did,” Jason poked Leo in the shoulder.

Leo gave an apologetic smile but Jason just fist bumped him.

“They could’ve kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing. 

“Give him a haircut,” Clarisse said. “Grab his hair.” 

I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb. 

“Oh, wow,” Clarisse said. “I’m scared of this guy. Really scared.” 

“The flag is that way,” I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn’t come out that way. 

“Yeah,” one of her siblings said. “But see, we don’t care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid.” 

“You do that without my help,” I told them. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say.”’

“Really wasn’t,” Clarisse said.

“Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn’t been wearing an armored breastplate, I would’ve been shish-ke-babbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut. 

Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time. 

“No maiming,” I managed to say. 

“Oops,” the guy said. “Guess I lost my dessert privilege.”

Will was so grateful that Percy would be healed by the water soon. Will was seventy-five percent sure he would pass out again if he tried to heal an injury as bad as the one Percy was about to get. Just thinking about it made Will dizzy.

“He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I’d just had a bag of my mom’s double-espresso jelly beans.”

“Why was Mrs. Sally giving you double-espresso jelly beans?” Nico asked.

“She didn’t,” Percy said, “I took them.”

“​​Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy’s head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.”

Will winced.

“Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy’s horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn’t look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig. 

“Ah!” she screamed. “You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!”’

Clarisse looked so ready to pummel Percy before shaking herself out of her stupor.

“She probably would’ve said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek. 

Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team’s banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse. 

“A trick!” she shouted. “It was a trick.”’

“You sound like a movie character Clarisse, I’m so sorry,” Will laughed.

Clarisse rolled her eyes, “Sure, sure, Sunny.”

“Sunny?” Nico asked bemusedly.

“Nickname.”

“I get that but since when did she call you that?”

“Battle of Manhattan,” Will said solemnly.

“Oh,” Nico shrunk in on himself, “sorry for asking.”

“No! It’s fine, it was just a question.”

“They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. 

The game was over. We’d won.”

Luke had a nostalgic expression on his face that he didn’t deserve.

“I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth’s voice, right next to me in the creek, said, “Not bad, hero.” 

I looked, but she wasn’t there. 

“Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?” she asked. 

The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she’d just taken it off her head. I felt myself getting angry. I wasn’t even fazed by the fact that she’d just been invisible. 

“You set me up,” I said. “You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out.” 

Annabeth shrugged. “I told you. Athena always, always has a plan.”’

“A plan to get Percy pulverized,” Nico mumbled.

““A plan to get me pulverized.””

“Gods, sorry Percy,” Annabeth said.

“I don’t care Annabeth," Percy said, “like seriously I don’t give a shit.”

“Language,” Nico murmured.

Will couldn’t help but laugh at that.

““I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but . . .” She shrugged. “You didn’t need help.” 

Then she noticed my wounded arm. “How did you do that?” 

“Sword cut,” I said. “What do you think?” 

“No. It was a sword cut. Look at it.” 

The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared. 

“If I get struck by lightning will it heal me?” Thalia said.

“Thalia,” Will sighed, “don’t.”

“You’re no fun Willy-o,”

Will stuck his tongue out at her, “Boo-hoo.”

“I—I don’t get it,” I said. 

Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse’s broken spear, and said, “Step out of the water, Percy.” 

“What—” 

“Just do it.” 

I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.”

Just like in the book Percy almost collapsed onto the floor. But Annabeth helped him back up.

““Oh, Styx,” she cursed. “This is not good. I didn’t want . . . I assumed it would be Zeus. . . .” 

Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest. 

The campers’ cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: “Stand ready! My bow!” 

Annabeth drew her sword.”

“Waiwawaiwawait,” Leo made a timeout signal, “you use a sword?”

Annabeth blinked, “I can, just choose not to.”

“But you’re like dagger girl,” Leo said.

“Is that your nickname for me?” Annabeth said, “Dagger girl?”

“Well it was until I found out you can use a sword.”

“There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.”

“Damn,” Leo said.

“It was looking straight at me.”

“Double damn,” Leo shook his head.

“Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, “Percy, run!””

“Run away from a hellhound,” Pollux said cheerily, “So easy!”

“She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth— and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other.”

Percy let out a string of curses that had Nico frowning. Since he wasn’t wearing an armor plate every got to see the beautiful sight of his bloodied and torn shirt. The gasp in the shirt revealed the wondrous sight that was deep claw marks in his chest.

Will didn’t even flinch at the overpowering stench of blood. Blood, anti-septic, and tears were a regular occurrence in the infirmary that Will had gotten accustomed to.

“From the hound’s neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.”

“Thank goodness,” Hestia said.

“By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn’t want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would’ve turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.”

Percy still didn’t look at his torn chest and shirt. Some sights were better left for medics than regular people.

“Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim. “Di immortales!” Annabeth said. “That’s a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don’t . . . they’re not supposed to . . .” 

“Someone summoned it,” Chiron said. “Someone inside the camp.”’

“Who would do such a thing?” Apollo whispered in horror.

Luke had slouched into himself so severely Will was almost worried his back would break. Nico and Will shared a look.

“Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, “It’s all Percy’s fault! Percy summoned it!””

“My bad,” Clarisse said, “I was being a dumbass.”

““Be quiet, child,” Chiron told her. 

We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared. 

“You’re wounded,” Annabeth told me. “Quick, Percy, get in the water.”’

“Smart thinking,” Poseidon amended.

““No, you’re not,” she said. “Chiron, watch this.” I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me. 

Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped. 

“Look, I—I don’t know why,” I said, trying to apologize. “I’m sorry. . . .” 

But they weren’t watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.”

The demigods turned to look above Percy’s head but the signature trident wasn’t there.

““Percy,” Annabeth said, pointing. “Um . . .” 

By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident. 

“Your father,” Annabeth murmured. “This is really not good””

“Have I cursed you son?” At least Poseidon was self-aware.

“I dunno to be honest,” Percy shrugged.

““It is determined,” Chiron announced. 

All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn’t look happy about it. 

“My father?” I asked, completely bewildered. 

“Poseidon,” said Chiron. “Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”’

“End of chapter.”

Once everyone started to chatter amongst themselves Will got up. Before he could step away and either faint or grab something to eat Nico tugged on his wrist.

“Do you want me to come?” 

No, I don’t want to be more of a burden. “No, I'm fine Neeks.”

Will walked out of the room, not too fast because he didn’t want to draw more suspicion from his father, but not too slow that he looked confused and like he needed help.

Will had, despite how much he hated it, acknowledged the fact that he needed rest. He may have been a hypocrite and didn’t eat much but he knew he needed sleep. The hard part was getting sleep in the middle of the day and letting his mind be okay with him hitting the hay.

Preferably hitting the hay rather than concrete.

But Fate loves to mess with him. From taking away his siblings and family to giving him a father who could care less about him. So for the second time this day Will crumpled to the floor.

Before he completely blacked out from his head being slammed into the concrete he heard someone scream his name. Guess I have to figure out who it is later.