AN: I should've mentioned this earlier, but in this storyline, Bianca doesn't join the hunters; at least not yet. She might later, but I really don't know. She and Nico are still in the Hermes cabin because they haven't been claimed yet. Also, in the last chapter, I said that Beckendorf and Jake Mason were unconscious after their fights with the hunters, but I just went back and changed it to say that they were injured; it just makes things a little easier for me. I'm just trying to clear up any confusion that might arise. Please review! Reviews are the motivation to keep writing. Sorry, but not much happens in this chapter. I was going to include the prophecy, but that will go in the next chapter. Speaking of which, part of the reason this chapter took so long was because I spent pretty much an entire day just writing the prophecy. Having it already done will just make the next chapter come quicker. I hope you like it.

Chapter 7: Explanations

Percy helped Beckendorf and Jake Mason get to the infirmary before he headed over to the dining pavilion. The campers were ecstatic that they had won their first game against the hunters in almost three decades. The hunters had disappeared into their cabin in a rage, having no taste for the festivities of the campers. Even though it was already very late, Chiron allowed them to stay up and celebrate, since the hunters had not been beaten at capture the flag since the 1980s.

After Beckendorf and Jake told everyone about the way that Percy had defeated Zoe, they crowded around him with congratulations. He smiled at their eagerness as he pestered him with questions; mostly about his wings, but he brushed them all aside, saying they would all find out eventually.

He kept his eyes open, and soon spotted the two children he was looking for. They were sitting by the fire and talking to a young girl who was tending the flames. Percy smiled when he saw them. Hestia was Hades' favorite sibling, and he spoke of her often. She was the only goddess who had always cared for him and visited him, even after he became the god of the Underworld. Percy had met her several times over the years when she had visited Hades, so he knew her by sight.

He sat down next to Nico and Bianca and smiled at Hestia with a slight bow of his head. "Lady Hestia, it's an honor," he said sincerely. Hestia smiled warmly at him and looked at him curiously.

"I assume you wish to speak with Bianca and Nico? Would you like me to leave?" She asked.

"I would be honored for you to stay. You have always been kind to your brother, and I'm guessing you already know these are his children?" Hestia laughed sweetly and nodded.

"I've always known about them, but I didn't tell them who he is because it's not my place." Percy nodded, but the gears in Nico's mind were working.

"If our father is your brother, and you're Hestia, then that must mean that we're the children of one of the Big Three, doesn't it?" He asked excitedly. "I hope it's Hades; he's my favorite, but Zeus and Poseidon are pretty cool too. I don't have a Hades figurine, but I have Zeus and Pos….uuummpph. Hey!" Nico pulled his sister's hand off of his mouth and glared at her, but she seemed to be used to it. She looked at Percy expectantly, and he smiled at their interaction.

"Your father is Hades, the god of the Underworld. He sent me to help the campers rescue you in Maine. The plan was for me to come here to camp with you and explain everything before he claimed you. However, I had to take a slight detour, so your father waited to claim you until I could show up and talk to you first."

"Why did he ask you to do it? Do you know him?" Bianca asked, while Nico was still grinning at finding out that he was the son of his favorite god.

"I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else; it would raise too many questions. I said I was a descendant of Poseidon, but I'm actually his grandson. My mother, a daughter of Poseidon, is married to Thanatos, the god of death. Since she's not a goddess, I'm not a god, but I have the powers of Poseidon and my father. Because of their relationship, Hades is my great-uncle, so I'm on pretty good terms with him."

"Does that mean you grew up in the Underworld?" Nico asked in awe.

"Yeah; while I grew up, I was trained by a bunch of dead heroes like Achilles, Patroclus, and Theseus." Nico was practically jumping up and down with excitement, and even Bianca looked surprised. "I got wings as a gift from my father just a few days ago; I wasn't born with them. You want to see something cool?" he asked with a grin. Nico nodded vigorously and Percy extended his wings. He wrapped one in front of him and drove his sword into it. Bianca yelped in surprise and even Hestia looked shocked. However, their looks of surprise quickly morphed into ones of awe as the sword was turned aside by the feathers.

"What are your wings made of?" Bianca asked, carefully inspecting his wing. "They look like normal feathers. How is that even possible?"

"I have no idea. During capture the flag, Zoe shot an arrow at me and without thinking, I covered myself with my wings. Then, my wings just deflected the arrow. I don't know how they do it, but it makes them so much cooler." At that moment, the conch horn blew, signaling that it was time for the campers to go to bed. Percy stood up and stretched his wings. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodbye Lady Hestia." Hestia nodded kindly at Percy and then at the siblings, then vanished in a small flash of flames.

Percy took off into the sky and landed at the door of the Poseidon cabin. He retracted his wings walked in, and tossed his duffel bags on the ground before laying down in his bed. He pulled off his shirt and slipped into a pair of long black pants for bed. A few minutes later, Patrick walked in and collapsed onto his bed. He was covered in bruises and cuts, even after consuming as much nectar and ambrosia as he was able to.

"You look good," Percy said dryly. "What happened?"

"Ha ha ha; very funny." Patrick said sarcastically. "The plan was for me to distract the hunters while Annabeth grabbed the flag. I definitely distracted them. They had a good time beating the crap out of me for a while before they realized that their flag was gone. At that point, they got even more violent. Luckily, when the game ended, Chiron rescued me and took me to the infirmary. Even after as much ambrosia and nectar as I could handle, I'm still not completely healed.

"Doesn't water heal you? Have you tried that?"

"Oh, of course! I'm such an idiot. It's too late now, though; the harpies will eat me if I try to get to the water." Patrick said dejectedly.

Percy laughed. "Sucks to suck, man. Next time, make Annabeth be the bait."

Patrick laughed but shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to her. Besides, the main reason the hunters were so eager to beat me up was because I'm a boy." Percy narrowed his eyes at Patrick. He picked up on the warmth in Patrick's voice when he talked about Annabeth, so he decided to have a little fun.

"That's true; besides, Annabeth is way too cute to beat up. Do you think she would say yes if I asked her out?" Patrick tensed and glared at Percy before he saw the smirk on his face. His face relaxed and Percy burst into laughter. "I knew it! I could tell by the way you talked about her that you like her." Patrick glared at him some more, but Percy just grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but if it's obvious enough that I could pick up on it, I'm guessing it's not much of a secret."

Patrick desperately wanted to change the subject, so he decided to bring up their conversation from earlier. "You said you'd tell me more about your life tonight. Care to explain?" Percy nodded.

"I'll tell you, but you have to swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone what I tell you now until I give you my permission."

"I swear on the Styx." Patrick said firmly, wondering what was so important that he had to swear on the Styx not to reveal it.

"Good. I already told you about my mother and how she met my father. Now, I'll tell you about my life. My father is Hades' lieutenant, and my mother is Poseidon's daughter. She brought the two brothers closer together than they had ever been. My parents wanted a child for years, but they weren't able to have one. Finally, my parents convinced Hades to ask Hera to bless them so that they could have a child. She did, saying she would only do it once, and I was born nine months later. I grew up in my father's palace in the Underworld, but I was rarely there. I was trained by dead heroes, including your much older half-brother Theseus and your namesake Patroclus. Of course, since Patroclus was involved, Achilles was too; those two are as inseparable in death as they were in life. A few days ago, Hades told me to go help the campers rescue his children." Patrick's eyes widened and he was about to speak, but Percy raised his hand to stop him. "He told me to come here with them since Kronos is rising and you will need all the help you can get to beat him, even the help of children of the Underworld. Hades was waiting to claim them until I got here and talked to them about it first. I'm guessing they'll be claimed tomorrow."

"That's an… interesting story. Mine's a lot simpler. I grew up in New York City with my mom and my step-dad. She was just married to him to hide my demigod scent since he smelled so disgustingly human, but he's out of the picture now. I got kicked out of a bunch of schools over the years and eventually came here, where my ADHD and dyslexia actually help me out most of the time. Two years ago, Annabeth and I went with a satyr to the Underworld to try to get Hades to give us back Zeus' lightning bolt. Turned out he didn't even have it, but it turns out it was just Kronos using Ares and another demigod to get the weapons to him. We got the bolt back to Zeus and Hades' helm back to him, so everything turned out well enough. Last summer, Annabeth and I went to the Sea of Monsters to get the golden fleece and bring it back here to heal Thalia's tree. I guess I should probably explain how Thalia became a tree…"

Percy laughed and shook his head. "I heard Thalia's story from Hades. I know what happened to her. I have stayed well-informed of what's been happening up here. Now let's go to sleep; waking up in the morning is hard enough as it is."