Chapter Text
When they all walked back into the throne room, the thrones were shrunk to mortal-sized. Zeus snarled. “Who did this!?” A note floated down and fell into the gods’ hands. He scanned over it before scowling, storming over to his throne. “Stupid fates…” He grumbled as he sat down.
The couches were still next to their parents’ thrones. Some of them were even combined into one big couch. Everyone looked at each other before picking a seat.
Hera sat on her throne next to her husband. Demeter did as well.
Hestia went and sat by the hearth again.
Hades and Persephone sat with Nico on the couch next to Hades’ throne, which was only there on the solstices’.
Poseidon sat with Percy. He took one side while Annabeth took the other. Grover sat next to Annabeth, Rachel beside him. Thalia sat in the same spot in front of Percy.
Apollo and Hermes’ couches were combined so the two gods and their kids sat together, except for Lee and Chris.
Chris sat with Clarisse by Ares’ throne, shrinking under the gods’ glare. The god sat on his throne, not the couch.
Lee sat with Drew on the Aphrodite couch. Aphrodite was on her throne, although she willed it closer to the couch and her children. Piper sat on one end of the couch with Jason, leaning on him. Silena was next to her, then Drew and Lee, who were cuddled up next to one another, much to everyone’s surprise, and Aphrodite’s delight.
Hephaestus was on his throne, and Leo and Charles were on the couch next to it.
Dionysus was on his throne, and, since he had no children there, he had no couch next to him.
Athena was on her throne, glaring over at Percy and Annabeth.
Chiron was on the cushion next to Poseidon’s couch. “Who would like to read?” He asked.
Before anyone could answer, another portal opened above them. Two demigods fell out, landing on the floor with a thump. They both groaned and stood up, looking around in confusion. “Uh, where are we?” A girl with flowers braided into her brown hair asked.
Travis lit up. “Katie! Welcome!” He smirked at her, Connor mirroring his expression. “Apparently we are in the past, reading about Percy’s life,” he jabbed his finger over at Percy who winced. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves?”
“Uh, okay,” Katie scowled slightly at the sons of Hermes before turning to the gods. “I’m Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter.” Demeter lit up, the couch next to her throne finally making sense. She gestured her daughter over.
The coco-brown-skinned girl walked forward. Her dark hair was held back by a red bandana, “Nyssa Barrera, daughter of Hephaestus.” Hephaestus grunted and gestured to his couch, where Leo and Charles were. Nyssa stared at Charles, rubbing her eyes to see if she was seeing things. “Charles?” Nyssa asked quietly. Charles smiled at her.
“Hey, Nyssa.”
Nyssa laughed and walked over, pulling him into a hug. She had tears welling in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. “It’s good to see you,” She whispered and pulled back. She glanced at Leo, tilting her head. “And you are?”
“Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme at your service.” Leo waved awkwardly. He didn’t know if the curse on the Hephaestus’ cabin was already in effect, so he didn’t know how she would react to his humor. To his relief, she grinned and ruffled his hair, sitting down next to him.
“Okay, now that there are no more demigods falling from the sky,” Chiron eyed the ceiling warily, “who wants to read?”
“I can,” Leo raised his hand. He jumped when the book was suddenly in his hand. “Okay then,” He muttered and opened the book, starting to read.
Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants.
Many people snorted. “Do I wanna know?” Annabeth gave Percy a deadpan look.
Percy shrugged, grinning. “Eh, it’s not as bad as you think. It’s when I found out he was a satyr.”
Confession time… to the bus terminal.
“I called it!” Leo cheered, startling everyone.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Katie asked in confusion, Nyssa mirroring her expression. The others quickly caught them up on the book.
“You fought a Kindly One?!”
“You saw the Fates?!”
Percy grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah…”
“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” Nyssa scowled at him.
“No, I think it left his mind by the time we got to camp, then he just didn’t find the right time to tell anyone,” Grover supplied.
“You were there!” Percy exclaimed, leaning over Annabeth to look at him, “ and you have a good memory. You could have told someone!”
It was Grover’s time to smile sheepishly. Poseidon glared at the satyr, thoroughly unimpressed. “I thought that if you wanted someone to know, you would tell them.”
Percy paused for a moment before sighing, patting Grover’s knee, “At least you respect my privacy.” He leaned back in his seat.
I know, I know. It was rude… “Why does it always have to be sixth grade?”
“Y’know, I don’t blame you,” Will muttered, grimacing.
“Yeah, that would have freaked anyone out,” Piper said.
“Sorry, Perc.”
“It’s alright.”
Whenever he got upset, Grover’s bladder acted up,
Grover blushed and glared at Percy while everyone laughed.
“Sorry, G-Man.”
so I wasn’t surprised when… caught the first taxi uptown.
“It would have been a lot easier if you stayed at home,” Grover grumbled under his breath, not realizing the others heard him.
“Where did he go?” Annabeth asked. She thought that Percy went straight home and then came to camp. He didn’t mention anything else.
Grover bleated, searching for words before lamely saying, “Spoilers.”
Poseidon scowled at the satyr. Not only did he give his son a huge hint about who he is, but he had also spooked him and then lost track of him. No wonder he already failed a mission. But he could see the deep affection his son had for this satyr, he couldn't take him away from his son. That, and the fact that Percy was here, sitting beside him, breathing and alive.
“East One-hundred-and-fourth and First,” I told the driver.
The Stolls grinned. Percy, however, shot them down quickly. “I don’t live there anymore,” he grinned as the two brothers pouted.
His grin slowly melted into a soft smile, “If you two promise to not pull any pranks, I’ll give you the address. We already have so many demigods showing up at our door, I’m sure mom won’t mind a few more.”
“Demigods show up at your house?” Artemis questioned.
Thalia nodded. “Yeah, it’s sort of like a safe haven. The hunters sometimes even stop by for a rest once in a while.”
Artemis raised a brow but said nothing in response. Her hunters trusted this mortal woman this much? Maybe she’d have to meet her one day, to see who her hunters were trusting.
A word about my mother before you meet her.
“Amazing,” Annabeth smiled.
“Perfect,” Percy added.
“Caring,” Thalia grinned.
“The best,” Nico muttered. Even if he pretended to hate it, he loved her mothering side. He was still only a child and Sally was like the mother he never had.
“Sally is pretty great,” Grover huffed a laugh, smiling brightly.
Her name is Sally Jackson… when she was five,
Everyone glanced over at Zeus, except for Poseidon and Percy, who glared at him.
and she was raised by… no money, no family, and no diploma.
“I never knew her life was this hard,” Thalia frowned, looking up at Percy. Artemis let the affection pass. She was more focused on how Sally was treated. She couldn’t believe that a maiden would be treated like this.
“Yeah, well, she made it through,” Percy smiled softly.
The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.
Poseidon smiled softly. He did not know Sally Jackson yet, but he could tell she is an amazing woman.
Aphrodite, Silena, and Drew cooed, all smiling brightly. Piper just smiled. It was definitely cute, but no need to fuss over it so much.
I don’t have any memories… the barest trace of his smile.
“You visited him?!” Zeus bellowed angrily.
“Of course I did,” Poseidon scoffed. He may not have done it yet, but he knew he would. This was his son. Not Zeus’. It’s not his fault he was a decent dad and he wasn’t.
All the demigods looked at each other. They were all thinking how lucky Percy was to have such a good mom and a decent god for a father. Most of their parents don’t even visit them, besides Hermes who stops by for a few minutes to drop supplies off. Even then, he doesn’t stay long nor interact with his children much.
My mom doesn’t like to talk… She has no pictures.
Clarisse scoffed, “they never do.”
See, they weren’t married… Not dead. Lost at sea.
Athena hummed, “Not a lie, but not the truth either. Your mother is a smart woman.”
“She’s an impressive one, Uncle P,” Hermes grinned.
Poseidon smiled, but then glared at his nephew as if to say ‘back off’.
“I’m guessing she knew who your father was?” Persephone asked with a tilt of her head.
“Yeah, she could see through the Mist.”
She worked odd jobs… But I knew I wasn’t an easy kid.
“You weren’t,” Thalia snorted.
“How would you know that, Pinecone face? You were still a tree.” Percy retorted, raising a brow.
“Because you’re not an easy teenager now, it had to be worse when you were a kid.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano… garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.
Everyone shuddered. Silena and Drew looked nauseous. Even Piper was gagging. Aphrodite grabbed the bucket Ares got her and puked into it. Hephaestus leaned over and patted her back. She sent him a smile before gagging into the bucket.
“Really Prissy?” Clarisse scowled, her face a little green.
Percy grimaced, “Sorry, sorry. I know it’s gross.”
“Unfortunately, pretty accurate though,” Grover shivered and shook his head, his nose wrinkling up.
Between the two of us… well, when I came home is a good example.
Percy tensed up, exhaling softly. Time for reactions.
Everyone looked at the boy in concern. Grover whispered something to Annabeth. She looked reluctant but sighed and nodded. She stood up and swapped places with Grover, so the satyr was next to Percy. He rubbed Percy’s back, muttering something under his breath. He was the only one who knew about Smelly Gabe. He had the unfortunate opportunity to see it firsthand.
Everyone watched silently before Leo started reading again.
I walked into our little apartment… strewn all over the carpet.
Artemis snarled, “Boys.”
Grover and Percy both scowled, which surprised everyone. They expected it from Percy, but Grover? He was normally the peaceful one.
“That’s where you lived before Paul?” Rachel asked in alarm.
Percy shrugged numbly, “you get used to it.” Everyone frowned at the answer.
Hardly looking up, he said… “You got any cash?”
“You just walked in the door,” Hestia exclaimed in shock.
“That’s the first thing he asks?” Clarisse hissed angrily. Percy was surprised when he looked up and saw everyone frowning at the book. Even the gods and everyone he didn’t know looked upset.
“That’s just how he was,” Grover wrapped an arm around Percy in support, glaring at the ground.
That was it. No Welcome back… as if that made him handsome or something.
Aphrodite, Silena, Drew, and Piper all cringed. Jason wrapped an arm around Piper, and Lee pulled Drew closer.
He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart… he would punch my lights out.
“He what?!” Annabeth exclaimed harshly.
“I’m going to murder him,” Thalia scoffed as her hands sparked with lightning.
“Not if I get to him first,” Poseidon hissed. His eyes were lit with anger. The ground shook softly beneath them.
Percy grabbed his father's hand, making Poseidon look at him. “Dad, it's okay.”
“Okay? Okay?!” Poseidon roared, oblivious when Percy flinched back. “That is not okay, son! That is child abuse .”
“Poseidon!” Grover interrupted, sending him a slight glare. “You’re scaring him.”
Poseidon looked at Percy, swallowing thickly when he sees his son looking anywhere but at him. He was slouched over himself like he was trying to make himself smaller. “I’m sorry,” He sighed and squeezed Percy’s hand, which his son squeezed back. The shaking stopped as Poseidon slowly calmed down.
“He got what he deserved,” Grover spoke after a period of silence, startling everyone. “I wish we could have done something more, but we couldn’t. But he got what he deserved. We won’t be seeing him again,” Grover said firmly as Percy leaned his head on his shoulder.
“I have one question,” Chiron started slowly. All eyes fell on him. “Did he ever actually… hit you, Percy?” Chiron was cursing himself silently for not paying attention to his student. Percy and Grover both tensed, but neither replied. That was answer enough.
“Percy…” Annabeth started, only to be cut off.
“Don’t.” Percy glared at the floor, leaning farther into Grover. This is why he didn’t want them to find out. He didn’t want their pity. “It’s over. Just forget about it.”
“We can’t just forget something like this Percy!” Thalia yelled furiously, sitting upright and turning to look at her cousin.
“Well, then just drop it!” Percy snarled back in warning. “I’m not talking about it, so just leave it alone.”
“But-”
“That’s enough!” Grover snapped. “Just… enough. He doesn’t want to talk. He’s most likely not going to talk. And he shouldn’t have to. Smelly Gabe was an asshole,” Everyone gaped at him. “He was obsessed with poker and alcohol. He was abusive. He hit Percy,” he left out some information, which Percy frowned at. “But he’s gone. He won’t bother Percy and his mother anymore. He never will. That’s all you need to know. You don’t need the small details, so just stop.”
Everyone was silent. Mostly because they were all in shock. Grover has never sounded this mad the whole time the demigods have known him, and the gods have never heard a satyr sound so pissed.
“Grover…” Percy said slowly, sitting up and looking at him. “He hit you too.”
“What!?” Annabeth and Thalia both exclaimed fiercely.
Grover, however, was calm. “Once. He hit me once.”
“Grover, I’m pretty sure it was a few more times than one. But even if it was, he still hit you. He hit you… because you were protecting me,” Percy looked down.
Grover just sighed and shook his head, flickering Percy’s forehead. “Hey, none of that. It wasn’t your fault, I chose to try and stop him.” He paused, “And I said we are not talking about this. Not now.”
“Oh, we will later,” Thalia growled in a low tone.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Grover shrugged and turned to Leo before she could answer, “just finish reading.”
Poseidon looked at the satyr with newfound respect. He tried to protect his son. He tried to protect even though he knew the consequences. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hard on him. It seems like his life was just as hard as Percy’s.
“I don’t have any cash,”... should’ve covered up everything else.
“That’s why she got with him,” Athena realized.
Percy nodded, “she wanted to protect me.”
“You took a taxi from the bus station,”... “The kid just got here.”
“At least one of them is decent,” Artemis sneered.
“Eddie was one of the nice ones,” Percy remembered with a small smile, “he tried to get Smelly Gabe to stop a few times.”
“Am I right?” Gabe repeated… passed gas in harmony.
Aphrodite gagged, shuttering. Ares took her hand in his and rubbed a thumb over it as Hephaestus rubbed her back.
Artemis wrinkled her nose. Men were disgusting.
“Fine,” I said… “I hope you lose.”
“Consider it done, Peter,” Dionysus hummed. When he looked up, he was annoyed to see everyone staring at him. “The kid doesn’t deserve to be treated like that,” He scoffed, “no one does.”
Percy smiled at the god, “thanks, Mr. D.”
“Your report card came, brain boy!”
“Oh gods…” Annabeth muttered, looking at Percy horrified. She didn’t even consider that Percy could be taking the nickname badly. She and Thalia shared an alarmed look.
Percy just smiled at her, leaning heavily against Grover. “You’re fine, wise girl. In the beginning, you used it as a way to distract yourself. Now, you say it fondly. I know the difference. The same can be said for all the other nicknames I’ve picked up,” He raised a brow at Thalia and grinned. The two girls looked hesitant but soon accepted his answer.
he shouted after me… I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.
“I’ve got to say,” Apollo grinned, “I like your sarcasm.”
Gabe’s smell was almost worse… snipping the yarn.
“Wow, that bad?” Leo frowned. Percy nodded.
But as soon as I thought that… growing long, horrible talons.
“She’s not there, right?” Piper asked nervously, shifting closer to Jason. She was glad their first encounter with the demigod world was over.
“No, she wasn’t,” Percy reassured her, “it was just a bad feeling.”
Then I heard my mom’s voice… my fears melted.
Aphrodite cooed softly, “Family love is wonderful.”
Hera barely hid her smile. This demigod had a great relationship with his mother, one she longed for. Her children don’t even try to spend time with her. She understands why, but it still hurts.
My mother can make me… not even me or Gabe.
“That thing needs more than a few unkind words,” Artemis scowled.
“Your mom must have a lot of patience,” Nyssa said.
“Oh, Percy… You’ve grown since Christmas!”
“Why do parents always say that?” Connor asked. “If you’re gone for even five minutes, they’ll say you’ve grown.” Everyone shrugged.
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on American… when I came home.
“Do you think she can give us free samples?” Travis asked hopefully.
Percy shook his head, “She doesn’t work there anymore.”
The Stolls pouted.
We sat together on the edge… doing all right?
“I’d say he’s doing alright, well besides having to give money to his stepfather and being threatened by the same man,” Thalia said. Everyone scowled.
“Guys please,” Percy frowned. “He’s not here no more, and Paul’s around now. Mom was doing her best. It worked out well in the end.”
I told her she was smothering me… glad to see her.
Ares scoffed, “Mamas boy.”
Hera looked over at her son, “Leave the boy alone, Ares.” Everyone looked at the goddess in shock. She hated demigods. Why was she defending one now? “He just missed his mother.”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. There was a hidden message in her words. They just couldn’t tell what it was.
From the other room… I gritted my teeth.
Many people in the room did the same.
My mom is the nicest… not to some jerk like Gabe.
“She deserves the world for having to deal with our shit,” Thalia grinned at all the demigods, who were nodding.
Percy laughed softly. Paul may not be a millionaire but he made his mom happy. That was all he could ever ask for.
For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat… suddenly didn’t seem so bad.
“That’s bad,” Piper wrinkled her nose, “when that girl seems good.”
Until that trip… I thought it would sound stupid.
Grover groaned, his shoulders shaking Percy, “You should have told her! We could have avoided everything that happened later on if you said something!”
Percy tilted his head back to look at him, “If I’m being honest, I don’t think anything we did would have avoided what happened.” Grover grumbled under his breath. The exchange left the others confused.
She pursed her lips… My eyes widened. “Montauk?”
Percy smiled at the reminder of the beach. It’s been a while since he and his mom have gone there. Maybe they could go soon. Maybe Paul could join them this time as well.
“Three nights - same cabin.”... Gabe said there wasn’t enough money.
Katie scoffed, “Because he spends it all on poker.”
“Jerk,” Rachel grumbled.
Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, “Bean dip, Sally? Didn’t you hear me?”
“He would make a great prey for my hunters to hunt,” Artemis snarled.
“Men should not order women around like that,” Aphrodite growled at the same time.
The two goddesses looked at each other in alarm, before nodding briefly. Everyone knew about the rivalry the two have. This seemed to be one of the only things they could agree on.
I wanted to punch him.
“Do it!” Clarisse and Ares both yelled.
“It would have made things worse,” Percy uttered softly. Clarisse frowned but gave a nod of understanding while Ares rolled his eyes. He didn’t say anything though. He wasn’t too keen on this ‘Gabe’ and would have preferred his life be knocked out of him, but he knew deep down that it would have gotten the demigod in more trouble.
but I met my mom’s eyes… Then we would get out of here.
“She expects you to be nice to him? After everything he did?” Will asked in disbelief.
“It was the only way he would let us go,” Percy paused before grinning, “and a little bribery.”
“I was on my way, honey,”... “He won’t let us go.”
“He better,” Poseidon growled as his face grew dark.
“Of course he will,”... “The works.”
“And the bribery comes into play!” Hermes cheered, earning laughs from around the room.
Gabe softened a bit… your clothes budget, right?”
“Clothes budget?! How dare he!” Aphrodite looked scandalous. Drew and Silena were frowning heavily, while Piper just rolled her eyes. Many people had to cover their ears from how loud the goddess was.
“Yes, honey,” my mother said… for interrupting my poker game.”
“He funded it!” Hestia said in outrage. Everyone jumped. The goddesshas been so quiet, they forgot she was here.
“Did you apologize young one?” Persephone asked, face twisted in barely contained rage.
Percy sighed, “I had too. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to go.”
Maybe if I kicked you… soprano for a week.
“Please tell me you did just that?” Ares asked, the flame in his eyes glowing brightly.
“Knowing Prissy, he didn’t,” Clarisse scoffed. “I wish you did though.”
“I really wanted to go to that beach.”
But my mom’s eyes warned me not to make him mad.
“I wish your mom could come on quests with us,” Annabeth sighed. “You listen to her all the time, while you listen to me only half the time.”
“And he listens to everyone else zero percent of the time,” Nico grinned at the pouting Percy.
“I’ll have you know, I listen to Grover most of the time too! But of course I’m going to listen to her. She’s my mom .”
Hera nodded in approval. She wished her children would listen to her. Hades, she would settle for them just talking to her for a while. Just holding a conversation.
“Wait, does that mean your mom knew about Gabe’s violent tendency?” Chris asked.
Grover and Percy looked at each other before Grover slowly replied, “I’m pretty sure he hit her too.”
Many demigods cried out in rage.
“I’m going to murder him,” Artemis growled, her hands clenching into fists.
“He’s been taken care of.”
“Probably not well enough,” Annabeth scowled.
Why did she put up with this guy?... Please go back to it right now.”
“The sarcasm is strong with this one,” Apollo laughed, grinning at Percy.
Gabe’s eyes narrowed… in my statement.
“I’d be surprised if he even knew what sarcasm is,” Drew muttered. Lee uttered a snort and pulled her closer, shaking his head softly.
“Yeah, whatever,” he decided… whatever you’ve forgotten to tell me, okay?”
“I guess that’s where you got your perceptiveness from,” Leo said.
“No,” Everyone looked at Hera in shock, who was shaking her head gently. “That’s just a mother’s instinct,” a soft smile graced her features, surprising everyone once again.
For a moment, I thought I saw… Gabe his seven-layer dip.
“You definitely didn’t imagine it,” Charles frowned.
An hour later we were ready to leave… for the whole weekend.
“He cared more about her cooking than her?” Silena scowled.
“He cared about his car more than both of them,” Jason shook his head.
“Not a scratch on this car… Not one little scratch.”
“He won’t be the one driving, he’s twelve,” Hephaestus scoffed.
Percy and Grover both grinned about what happened to the car.
Like I’d be the one driving. I was twelve.
Everyone laughed. Hephaestus just shook his head with a sigh.
But that didn’t matter to Gabe… he’d find a way to blame me.
“Seagull poop was the least of our worrys,” Percy snickered. Grover was chuckling uncer his breath as well.
“Are you two ever going to fill us in on what’s so funny before it happens?” Hermes asked with a pout.
“No, it ruins the book,” Percy grinned. He may not like reading this book, but he sure did enjoy the confusion on everyones faces.
Watching him lumber back inside… shot from a cannon.
“How did you do that?” Apollo gaped at him.
“Um, what?”
“That’s satyr magic,” Dionysus was looking up from his magazine, eyebrows furrowed, “Only satyrs are supposed to be able to do it.”
“It’s possible that our empathy link was already forming at the time,” Grover mumbled, “it would explain how easily it was made when I thought about making it. And how easy it was to tap into it.”
“Huh,” Percy hummed.
Hera beamed at the two boys from her throne. They were very close. She enjoyed seeing them interact with one another.
Maybe it was just the wind… and told my mom to step on it.
“The only way to ride,” Ares grinned.
“Uh huh, is that why you end up in my infirmary so much?” Apollo deadpanned.
“And your bike in my shop?” Hephaestus raised a brow.
Ares scowled at the two, “Oh shut up!”
Aphrodite shook her head and patted her boyfriends back, sending her husband and Apollo a warning glare, which the two just grinned at.
Our rental cabin was on the… spiders in the cabinet,
Annabeth and Athena both shuddered violently.
and most of the time… I loved the place.
“Of course you do,” Katie grinned.
“It is a wonderful place,” Annabeth sighed, looking at her boyfriend.
“You took Annabeth with you?” Grover asked, running a hand through Percy’s hair.
“You took Annabeth with you alone ?” Travis and Connor grinned mischievously.
Annabeth glared at the two Stolls, “It wasn’t like that. Mom was with us.” Athena seethed, glaring at her daughter and Percy.
We’d been going there since…where she’d met my dad.
Aphrodite smiled gently and looked over at Poseidon, “She still loves you.”
Poseidon smiled sadly.
As we got closer… Her eyes turned the color of the sea.
Poseidon frowned slightly, “I wonder if she has some distant niaid blood.”
“Why do you say that?” Percy questioned.
“Mortals eyes can change color a little,” Athena answered. “But to change completely? Nonetheless, when she goes to the sea?” Athena shook her head.
“That’s probably what drew Poseidon to her,” Hades hummed quietly.
We got there at sunset… my mom had brought from work.
“What’s with all the blue food?” Leo asked.
I guess I should explain the blue food.
“Yes please,” The Stolls said
See, Gabe had once told my mom… She did a rebellious streak, like me.
“Percy, you don’t have rebellious streak, you have a rebellious life,” Will snorted.
“The sea doesn’t like to be contained,” Percy grinned. Poseidon smiled proudly.
When it got dark, we made a fire… I never got tired of hearing it.
“We never do,” Piper smiled softly, thinking of the question game she plays with her dad.
“We can never get enough of them,” Drew nodded.
“He was kind, Percy,”... You have his black, you know, and his green eyes.”
Everyone looked at the son and father to see the similarities.
“Interesting,” Hades muttered. His brother’s children normally only gain some of his traits, but this demigod was almost an exact copy of his father. And he seemed to have his power level as well.
“He could almost pass as your clone, Uncle P,” Apollo said, shocked.
“It appears he could,” Poseidon hummed in interest, looking at his son with a smile.
Mom fished a blue jelly bean… He would be so proud.”
“I am proud,” Poseidon squeezed Percy’s knee.
I wondered how she can say that… for the sixth time in six years.
“I am proud, Percy,” Poseidon repeated with a small smile. “I may not know you yet, and I do not know what you have accomplished but know that I will always be proud of you.” Percy smiled gratefully.
The demigods watched the two with smiles. They may be jealous of Percy, but they knew he deserved everything good in the world.
“How old was I?”... Right here at this beach. This cabin.”
“But… that doesn’t make sense,” Annabeth furrowed her brows.
“How?” Percy asked.
“Your birthday’s in August. If you count summer as June to August, or even September, it doesn’t add up,” Annabeth pointed out.
“She’s right,” Aphrodite realized. “Pregenacy lasts only about nine month. You would have been conceived in November or December if your birthday is in August.”
Percy frowned. “But Montauk isn’t a place you wanna be in the winter? We only ever went in the summer.”
“But… he knew me as a baby.”... A warm glow. A smile.
“I probably visited when your mother was busy,” Poseidon supplied. Zeus glared at him.
“You have no say about that. You went back to the same women and had another child,” Hera raised her brow in challenge.
“That was Jupiter,” He defended weakly, though he knew it was no use. The demigods who didn’t know about the Roman camp frowned in confusion.
I had always assumed he knew me… Maybe it was stupid,
“It’s not stupid, Prissy,” Clarisse assured with a scoffed.
“Yeah, we all feel that way,” Will added
“You do?” Apollo asked his son.
“Well, yeah,” Will looked at him as if he was crazy, “as soon as we are born, we know nothing about our godly parents until we are claimed. Some anger towards them builds up after a while.”
but I resented him for going… we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.
“I’m sorry, Percy,” Poseidon frowned, “I most likely would have stay but…”
“The rules, yeah,” Percy shook his head in frustration. He laid his head on Grovers shoulder and closed his eyes. He just wanted this to be over. He felt Grover run his head through his hair again.
“Are you going to send me away again?”... “Because you don’t want me around.”
“Why would you think that?” Grover’s hand paused in his hair. Percy shrugged but didn’t move from his spot. He reached up and put Grover’s hand back in his hair. He smiled slightly when he felt Grover snort and his hand started moving again.
Percy couldn’t see the eyes on him, since his own were closed, but he could feel them. He didn’t care at that moment. He wanted this chapter to be done.
I regretted the words… that it was best for me to leave Yancy.
“Chiron, I can feel your guilt from here,” Percy snorted. He opened his eyes and looked at his old teacher. Just as he thought, Chiron had that guilty expression on. It was the one he always had when he felt bad about something. “I told you it’s fine. I know what you mean now.”
“Because I’m not normal,”... would be far enough away.
“Far away from what? Monsters?” Nico scoffed, “Monsters can find you no matter where you are.”
I thought you’d finally be safe.”
“Demigods are never safe,” Charles scowled.
“Yeah, with all the monsters blaming us for what our parents did,” Lee sighed softly. Most the gods looked concerned. They knew that demigods’ lives are hard, they just never knew how hard.
“Safe from what?”... some of which I tried to forget.
“I wonder which ones were picked,” Percy hummed, concerning his father.
During third grade, a man… right in the middle of his head.
“It could have been one of mine from the forges,” Poseidon said, “or a wild one.”
“How did you even survive until twelve, punk?” Ares asked in astonishment.
Before that - a really early memory… strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.
“If anyone says anything about Hercules, I’m stabbing you,” Percy glared at everyone in the room.
“Wha- you should be honored to be compared to my son!” Zeus bellowed. Artemis scowled while Percy wrinkled his nose in distaste.
“You think I’m kidding?” Percy snarled, pulling out his pen, “don’t test me.” Zeus’ face darkened as he stood up, glaring at the boy who dared to threatened him.
“Okay,” Grover drawled, pulling Riptide away from Percy, much to his best friend’s annoyance. “None of that.”
“Zeus, sit down.” Hera pulled her husband back harshly. “The boy does not like Hercules. Deal with it.”
“There’s no need to get so dramatic, brother,” Demeter rolled her eyes.
“Percy hates getting compared to Hercules,” Annabeth explained, “so it would be best if you limit doing so. None of the demigods at camp are too keen on this ‘hero’ either.”
In every single school… and I didn’t want that.
“You really should have told her, boy,” Athena stated.
“I know, but it wouldn’t have changed anything,” Percy rolled his eyes.
“I might have made getting to camp easier though,” Grover pointed out. Percy sighed and nodded. He had a point.
“I’ve tried to keep you as close… I just can’t stand to do it.”
“You’re mother must have loved you a lot if she wanted to keep you close,” Persephone smiled.
“Unfortunatly, that’s what normally leads to monsters coming after us,” Nyssa sighed.
“My father wanted me to go… about a summer camp?
“That does seem weird if you didn’t know what it was for,” Katie hummed.
And if it was so important… It might mean saying good-bye to you for good.”
“She must be glad you don’t stay year-round,” Clarisse grunted.
“She is,” Percy smiled.
“Why don’t you stay year-round?” Poseidon asked.
“You’ll find out.”
“For good? But if it’s only… That night I had a vivid dream.
“Not another one,” Nico groaned.
Apollo barely hid his wince. He feels bad about the dreams, but it’s the only way he can help without interacting with the demigods. No one has figured out it was him giving the demigods dreams, and he hopes it stays that way. Maybe he should lay back on the dreams for a bit though.
It was storming on the beach… at the edge of the surf.
“It’s definitely you two,” Dionysus said, looking between Zeus and Poseidon.
“The horse for Poseidon, the eagle for Zeus,” Athena hummed quietly in thought.
The eagle swooped down… goading the animals to fight harder.
All the gods turned to Hades, causing many of the demigods and Persephone to scowl.
“Hey! Don’t just automatically assume it’s my dad,” Nico defended his father furiously.
“Why would my husband want you two to fight? It would only make his job harder,” Persephone inquired with a glare.
I ran towards them, knowing I had to stop them… and I screamed, No!
“Ha! Even your own son knows I would win,” Zeus boasted to his brother. Poseidon just glared at him.
Thalia and Jason shared a look before they both rolled their eyes at the father. He acts more like a child than the King of the Gods.
I woke with a start…She sat up, eyes wide, and said, “Hurricane.”
“Something really must have made you mad if you caused a hurricane,” Hestia frowned softly at her younger brother.
“Apparently, I’m fighting with my brother over something,” the Sea God sighed. It was clear that he was being blamed for something. Most likely something he didn’t even do.
I knew that was crazy… But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.
“How could you forget Uncle P?” Hermes joked.
Over the roar of the wind… my hair stand on end.
“What is that?” Poseidon asked tensely, sitting up straight.
“You’ll find out in the next chapter. I think?” Percy furrowed his brows before shrugging.
Then a much closer… he wasn’t exactly Grover.
Grover laughed, looking down at Percy, “That was a weird sight to see wasn’t it?” The demigod nodded.
“I’m guessing this is when Grover dropped his disguise?” Chiron asked, gaining a nod from both Grover and Percy.
“Serching all night,”... not scared of Grover, but of why he’d come.
Rachel snorted, “I would be too.”
“Percy,” she said… What didn’t you tell me?”
“Just about everything important,” Athena grumbled under her breath.
I was frozen, looking at Grover… Didn’t you tell her?”
“It took you a while to snap out of it,” Grover’s chest rumbled under Percy.
“Yeah, and to be fair, I didn’t tell mom because I thought she would think I was nuts.”
“Well, you are nuts,” Thalia groaned when Percy kneed her again. “Stop doing that!”
“Stop being mean!”
I was too shocked to register that… where his legs should be…
“Oh just spit it out!” Travis cried.
“There was nothing there. He was floating,” Connor suggested.
“Or his legs were made of mud,” Chris supplied with a nod, grinning.
My mom looked at me sternly… in the flashes of lightning.
“I’m guessing these two are still fighting,” Hera sighed.
She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket… There were cloven hooves.
“That’s boring,” Hermes groaned.
“Well, it was not boring to me,” Percy huffed, practically laying on Grover. The satyr didn’t seem to mind however.
“It looks like I’m worrying about the wrong brother,” Zeus sneered, glaring at Hades.
“Oh my us,” Hades threw his hands in the air, snarling. “I don’t want to rule! How many times do I have to tell you? My hands are already full dealing with the Underworld!”
“And don’t get him started on the paperwork,” Persephone wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Nico was nodding along with his father and Persephone. The gods were also surprised to see that Percy, Grover, and Annabeth were all nodding as well.
“How do you three know that?” Poseidon asked, concerned but not wanting to come to the wrong conclusion.
“Spoilers,” Annabeth shrugged. “But I can say that it was not Hades’ fault. You do not need to worry about him.”
“Although, he does get blamed a lot throughout the book,” Percy winced. “Sorry in advance, Uncle H.”
Hades stared at the demigod in shock, as well as many of the other gods. Uncle H? Normally only Apollo and Hermes called him that, and most of the time they say it to annoy him. “It’s fine,” he cleared his throat, “as long as you realize I am not to blame in the end.”
“Alrighty!” Leo yelled, setting the bookmark in the book and closing it. “Who wants to read?”
“Oh me!” Hermes called, smiling when the book appeared in his hand. He opened it and began reading.