Disclaimer: Own nothing
Summary: Sequel to "A pleading demigod," learning that Clarisse, Annabeth and Piper are going to adopt other demigod children, Hermes comes to them and has what may be an odd request.
Raising Legacies:
Clarisse stared at the one and a half-year-old child wriggling in the messenger god's hands then to the face of the god then back to the child. What was she looking at here? There was a chuckle and the daughter of Ares glared at the Greek God. Hermes smiled, holding the child up.
"So, will you, Annabeth and Piper at least consider it?" He asked, a certainty in his tone, probably had convinced his smug ass that they wouldn't refuse. Clarisse glowered at the child. She may not have known Luke Castellan very well but this child had his face. The child had black hair and there was a softer edge to the child's face than Luke's, but Clarisse could see it. There was definitely Luke's face there.
The child's face seemed kind of familiar and not just because of Luke. He was wearing a white shirt and tiny dark blue jean overalls, with little white sneakers. The child looked like he didn't have a care in the world; giggling excitedly and squirming to look around the forest of the camp as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world to him.
The muscled demigod sighed. How was Annabeth going to deal with this? This was Luke's son. She knew Annabeth and Luke's history. Piper wouldn't mind. If Annabeth wanted to keep this child then Piper was happy, but would Annabeth accept the child? She knew how much pain Luke had caused Annabeth. And the blonde had already gone through enough with finding her mother's statue and being brought into Tartarus. She turned and glared at Hermes again. "And you've just been holding onto him for a year and a half?" She snapped, tone accusatory, though she wasn't really sure what she was accusing him of.
"Well," Hermes chuckled, shrugging, "I couldn't very well let people know about him while all this Giant stuff was happening right? I barely succeeded in getting my….father," Hermes growled the word disdainfully out, startling Clarisse, "to let me keep him safely on Olympus. The only reason why he allowed it was because little Sammy here," the child swung his head around at his grandfather, hearing his name, "had nothing to do with the prophecy of the Seven. But now there's no reason to keep him there. Zeus insisted on me finding someone to take him in. His mother died in the Titan War. Please."
Clarisse finally sighed, staring at the giggling little squirming mass of joy in the god's hands. "Who was his mother?" She asked, curiosity getting the best of her. Hermes this time gave a sad smile, "Can't you guess? Sammy isn't just my Legacy. He's Aphrodite's too." At that, Clarisse stared blankly at the messenger of the gods. Aphrodite's grandson? Her mind wildly began to wander. The black hair, the dark blue eyes. Luke's eyes had been much lighter than that. And that face….even if Luke's facial features were evident, there was something about it that was a chilling ringer to her. And if it was Aphrodite's grandson…..what child of Aphrodite had Luke had the most contact with?
"Silena?" Clarisse mumbled out, not meaning for the vulnerability to appear in her voice like it had. Hermes nodded, pain now clear on his impish face. "I'm sorry." He said, looking away, "I know it must be hard. Losing someone you cared about." Clarisse tried to feel angry. Tried to summon up anger to spit out, "What would you know about it?" but didn't say anything. She didn't know how Luke's death had affected the messenger god. She just stared at the small boy still giggling.
"So will you do it?" Hermes pressed, looking back up at Clarisse, "Sammy can't stay at Olympus anymore. Luke's mother is….," Hermes grimaced, "She's not well. She's in no condition to raise another child. Silena's father died in a car crash. And you, Annabeth and Piper have been looking to adopt other demigods." Clarisse tried not to growl. This really was too perfect a situation that it seemed inevitable that the three of them would take the kid in. She looked back at Hermes. "He's not a demigod, is he?" She demanded, aware of how the demigod children's blood worked.
"Well, no," Hermes admitted, "But he's Aphrodite's and my Legacy. It's likely that monsters will try to track him. He won't be safe in the outside world anyway." Clarisse stepped forward, breathing heavily and looked past Sammy and stared dangerously at the God of thieves as she spoke, "I'll talk to Annabeth and Piper, but if we do this, this kid's ours. Not yours, not Aphrodite's or Zeus's or Apollo's; ours. He's our son if we raise him. You gods fuck everything up. After years and years of not seeing a godly parent you just expect them to accept you. If we raise Sammy, Sammy's ours. You will have nothing to do with him. And neither will Aphrodite." Clarisse's voice held a dangerous, dark edge that might even scare Hades in his worse moments.
Hermes's appearance was neutral and he responded quietly, sounding nearly grave, "There's nothing we can do to make up for how you all grew up. Now that Zeus's hold on us isn't as strong, we can do more for you. I…..if there was anything I could have done for Luke," Hermes ground out, "I would have done it in a heartbeat, but I couldn't. At least now I can leave his son in good hands." He locked eyes with the daughter of Ares, hoping to drive his point home.
The brunette growled, glancing down at the little child. "Fine." She snapped, scowling, "I'll bring the brat to Annabeth and Piper, but if Annabeth doesn't accept him-but she probably will, I'm leaving him at one of your shrines. You better pick him up. He's not gonna be my problem otherwise." Clarisse almost snarled it out, but even as she was saying it she didn't really believe it. Even she wouldn't hurt a kid that young. Besides, this was Silena's child.
Hermes's elf like smile returned. "Thanks, Ms. La Rue. Really, thank you." He looked down at his grandson, "He's…he's precious. He's the only thing left of Luke in this world."
Clarisse grumbled out, eyeing Sammy, "Relax, messenger boy." She reached out for the child and Hermes slowly handed him to the strong demigod. The little boy looked back and forth between his grandfather and his adoptive mother. Obviously the little Legacy was trying to work out in his head what was happening.
"A year and a half old…..," Clarisse spoke in contemplation, "Does he talk?" Hermes nodded smiling, though the smile was clearly somber "Not much, but he does talk. His first word was grand da." Sammy's quite happy face brightened some more and he started giggling, clapping his tiny hands. "grand da!" He shrieked, "grand da!" If possible, Hermes's face looked even more strained with agony. Clarisse didn't want to feel sympathy for the god; didn't want to care about the pain of the deity that had been partially responsible for Luke snapping and turning on all of them and causing Annabeth so much pain. But looking at this child and seeing Silena's face there…it was very hard not to.
She sighed, in near slow motion pushing Sammy against her chest and wrapping her arms around him. The boy looked up at her curiously, those dark blue eyes sparkling. "Looks like I better show you to your new mommy." Clarisse said to him quietly, staring down at him. She lifted her head to snap at Hermes, when she stopped short, seeing that the messenger of the gods was no longer standing there. Hermes had gone. Clarisse groaned, "Figures." She hated it when gods appeared and disappeared into thin air. It was really, really annoying. As if appearing and disappearing made them more godlike. She glanced back down at Sammy and turned, walking towards the Athena Cabin.
"Boy I bet you're gonna be trouble," Clarisse grumbled, looking down at Sammy again who was giggling, "Just go figure that, two demigods die and we're saddled with you. Well kid, just to tell you, you'd better not wet the bed, I have no sympathy if you do."
"Clarisse?" Annabeth's voice reached the large demigod's ears when she closed in on the cabin. She looked up to see Annabeth and Piper out on the porch of the cabin, both of them looking at her. "Clarisse," Annabeth asked, befuddled, lifting an eyebrow above one of her stormy grey eyes, "Are you holding a child?"
Clarisse opened her mouth but couldn't think of anything. What exactly was she supposed to say? "Hey, Hermes brought us a kid to adopt?" That didn't sound like it would go over well. After a few seconds, Clarisse finally found her voice, "Yeah. Hermes brought him. His name's Sammy." Clarisse held the boy out slowly so Annabeth could see Sammy's face, readying for her lover's reaction, "It's Luke's son, Annabeth."