Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights go to Rick Riordan. I own Michael T, Killian V, and Alex M.
Percy POV
My jaw had dropped when Michael kissed Bianca. And I'm pretty sure I went into shock.
When I was finally broken from my trance, I found that I was staring at an empty spot on the ground. I shook my head and look to who had slapped me upside the head. I rolled my eyes at Beckendorf.
"Did you have to hit me?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head.
He crossed his arms and said, "Snapping my fingers didn't do anything and Silena has already gone to bed, taking her charm speak with her. And there's no way I'm getting Drew to do it." I blanched.
"Thank you for that," I said. "But did you have to hit me so hard?"
He grinned. "That was for letting Silena die in the last timeline."
"I thought she was Clarisse!" I protested. He shrugged.
"It's over and done with now." He concluded. "You've been standing here for over an hour." I blinked at him. "Yeah. Those two are up and gone. Separately. After being thrown in the lake, Michael headed to the Big House while Bianca went to the Hermes cabin. Neither has been seen since, but Michael can light travel and Bianca can shadow travel. I honestly don't know who was more shocked—you, Nico, Bianca, or Michael himself." He laughed roughly. "The man almost ran to the Big House, he was so hasty. He didn't even get dry clothes for himself."
I shook my head. "How's Nico dealing with this?" Beckendorf moved, and I saw Nico sitting down by the hearth, with Will and Hestia. His smile was strained. "So, don't bother him for a while?"
"That's my guess. Now go get your brother dry clothes and get him to change before he gives himself hypothermia." He clapped me on the shoulder before going to the Hephestaus cabin.
I walked to the Apollo cabin and opened the door to see Lee and Yew looking out the windows. Their heads whipped towards me but they relaxed when they saw that it was only me.
"On Michael lookout?" I asked as I walked to Michael's bunk and began to rummage through his things.
"Yeah," Lee said. "The poor bloke. He seemed scared out of his wits when he was dragged to the lake."
"Haven't seen him since." Yew finished.
"Beckendorf says that he's in the Big House," I told them, closing my brother's trunk now that I had his clothes. "He probably won't come out till morning."
"Makes sense." Lee agreed. He settled into his bed. "Well, tell him that we approve."
"Alright," I said. "See you two tomorrow." They bid me goodnight and I left. Once I was at the door to my room, I opened it and slipped through quietly, closing it softly behind me. I looked at my brother, sprawled on the floor at the foot of Estelle's crib, who was sleeping with her butt high in the air.
I chucked as I threw a blanket over Michael and placed his clothes on top of the cabinet. I crawled into my bed and dozed off.
I was woken up by a soft giggle followed by Michael's deep laugh. I cracked open my eyes to see Michael, on his knees, overlooking our sister as he changed her. I closed my eyes and rested for a few more minutes until I felt a weight on my stomach.
I opened my eyes to see Michael holding Estelle by her armpits as she walked over my stomach and chest.
"There are worse ways to wake up," I groaned. I grabbed Estelle from Michael and brought her down. She laughed as I lifted her up above my head. I brought her back down and kissed her cheek. "Good morning Elle," I said. She made some unintelligible noises that I took as my good morning. I looked at Michael. "And hello to you, Mr. Kiss-My-Friend's-Sister." He blushed deeply.
"Yeah..." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "About that..."
"What's there to talk about?" I asked. "Almost everyone knew you two liked each other, besides probably you both and Nico. I was only shocked because you actually kissed her. Seriously, though? Now? When we might have to go on a quest?"
He laughed weakly. "Yeah, there was a quest given to Zoe." He stated. "I don't remember what it said, having kissed Bianca before that and thrown into the lake right after, and Chiron called a counselors meeting for today. You and I are to go there, being twins and to represent Aether. Zoe is going to be there too." I nodded and shucked off my shirt.
"Get out, I have to change," I said. Michael nodded immediately and scooped Estelle into his arms, getting her to laugh.
"Come on, Esty." He said while tickling bet stomach. "Let's go see Lee and them." They left and I continued dressing.
Once I was done, I headed for the rec room. I walked in to see everyone sitting around the ping pong table, Zoe and Phoebe included. Estelle was nowhere to be seen, so I guessed that Michael had taken her to be watched by most likely Lou Ellen since he was probably avoiding Bianca.
There was a demigod for almost every Olympian. Castor and Pollux for Dionysus, Silena for Aphrodite, Beckendorf for Hephaestus, Luke for Hermes, Annabeth for Athena, Zoe for Artemis, Lee for Apollo, Katie for Demeter, and Clarisse for Ares. Thalia would normally fill in for Zeus, and Hera's chair was always empty.
To my eternal delight, the Poseidon chair was empty.
"Great, now that everyone is here, Zoe, may you recite the prophecy?" Chiron asked kindly.
Zoe took a breath before saying, "Five must go west,
To the goddess in chains,
Men and women combined,
Will take out what detains,
Follow the son of the East,
To the land without rain,
New friend or foe,
Who will take upon the Titans pain,
Child slain by godly parent,
Woe written into fate,
One choice will turn gods helpless,
Clean will be the new slate."
It was silent, until Clarisse said, "Who's the son of the East?"
"Is there a god of the east?" Lee asked.
"Eurus is the god of the east wind, but he has no children," Annabeth added. I did my best not to flinch at her voice. I still wasn't over what she did in the last timeline.
"What about Hyperion?" Michael suggested. Everyone stared at him. "He's a Titan, and he's had children before: Eos, Helios, and Selene. What's to stop him from being like any other Greek god?"
"That's quite a chance," Luke said skeptically. "And Hyperion hasn't been seen in years. Why would he surface just to impregnate a mortal?"
"Gods do it for less than a reasonable answer," Katie replied. "Who's to say Hyperion won't?"
"But then who could it be?" Silena inquired. "We have many unclaimed demigods, but none that indicate that they are Hyperion's son."
"Stories say that he has flaming gold eyes," I added. "Not much else on his physical description."
"When you dial back flaming gold," Annabeth hypothesized, "you get an orangish yellow. Do we know anyone who has those colored eyes?"
Michael and I shared a look.
"The kid we brought from Westover Hall," I said. "Killian. He has orange eyes."
"Luke, if you can go get him for us please?" Chiron asked the son of Hermes.
"Sure thing, Chiron." Luke agreed before walking out of the room. At least I knew hat he wasn't turned in this timeline. That was apparently his brother, which is just bad luck for Hermes.
"Now, we know Mr. Killian is going on the quest," Chiron started. "Who else is going?"
"We do not any filth going with us." Phoebe hissed. "The hunters will deal with this."
"Hey Phoebe," Lee called from his chair. "We don't like you calling us filth. Also, the Stoll brothers send their regards with this T-shirt." He tossed a shirt over to her. "Compliments of Camp Half-Blood for shooting almost everyone in the back and head." Lee's lip curled in a wicked smile that I didn't know he could make. "Please, wait until you are back at your cabin to try it on. We wouldn't want to disrespect you here."
I made eye contact with Clarisse, then Castor and Pollux. We all smirked. I saw Zoe narrow her eyes at Lee but didn't say anything, probably choosing to let things play out like last time. Phoebe growled, taking the shirt. Then, for some reason, she left.
After another minute or two Luke walked in, with Killian behind him, and everyone stared at the young boy. At his orange eyes.
"What?" He asked at everyone's stares. "Do I have something in my face?"
"Killian," Annabeth started. "Do you know your father?"
"No,"
"Any weird happenings?" Pollux asked next.
"No," he said again. "Well, besides the fact that I can't be burned."
"And you can flame travel," Michael added for him. "You used it to get away from us."
"Is that what that is?" He inquired.
"Can you do anything else with flames?" Lee asked.
"Anything destructive?" Clarisse suggested. Leave it to the daughter of the war god to ask about destruction.
"Not really," He guessed.
"Can you do anything with light?" Katie suggested.
"Like this?" Michael waved his hand and visible golden light trailed it.
"Something like that," he said. The brown haired boy lifted his hand and orange light emanated from it. "And this." His eyes burst into golden flames.
Katie, Luke, Pollux, and I all jumped. I noted that we were the ones to see Hyperion in the last timeline.
The flames quickly went away, replaced by his orange eyes.
"Interesting," Chiron said, tugging at his beard. "It looks like you were right, Michael." My brother leaned back in his chair, grinning like a fool.
He looked at me, his gray eyes sparkling as he said, "It looks like you were wrong to doubt me, brother." I rolled my eyes and pushed him backward.
He hit the floor with a grunt. "Screw you."
"No thanks," I said. He groaned. "Oh, you're fine. Quit being a baby." Lee, Silena, Luke, and Katie chuckled. I looked back to Killian, who was watching us with wide eyes. "So, do you want to know who your father is?"
"Uhh, yeah," he said like I was stupid.
"He's Hyperion, Titan of the East, light, wisdom, and watchfulness," Katie explained.
"A Titan?" Killian asked. "Aren't those the bad guys in the Greek myths?"
I looked to Zoe, who had been quiet the whole time. She looked at me, and an understanding passed between us.
"Most Titans were on the other side of the first Titan War," She spoke up. "But Hyperion was not heard from or even seen during the war. My father, Atlas, told me that Hyperion knew what the end result would be. He consulted Phoebe, the Titaness of prophecy, and was told that the Titans would not win. So he abstained like his brother, Oceanus, and sisters, Phoebe, Tethys, Mnemosyne, Rhea, and Theia. Prometheus and Themis had already allied themselves with Zeus and the gods. Hyperion has not been seen since the Titanomachy."
Silence.
Then, "Your father is Atlas?" from Annabeth.
"Does it matter?" I almost barked. "Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia are children of Kronos. Michael and I are children of Aether, a primordial. But we are on the Olympians side, not neutral or on the other."
Her eyes widened. Then narrowed. "I was merely asking." She growled.
"Enough," Beckendorf interrupted. We shut up. "It doesn't matter who's parent you have. It's about who you support. Killian," Beckendorf turned to the younger boy, "are you with us?"
"I guess so." He said. "I've nowhere else to go."
"Well, now you're here." Katie smiled. "And here to stay."
"Now, back to the quest," Luke said. "Thalia was taken by Thorn because a 'general' wants to see him. Question is, who is the 'general'?"
I nodded at Zoe.
"The General is my father. Atlas was an important figure in the Titanomachy." Zoe informed them. "He must've gotten someone to take his burden."
"The sky?" Silena asked dryly. Zoe nodded.
"Could he have gotten Thalia to take it?" Luke asked worriedly.
"Most likely," Chiron said gravely. "Ms. Grace is most likely underneath the sky as we speak."
"We have to get her." Clarisse demanded. "No one can support that sky for long."
"No one but an immortal," said a deep and tired voice from the door. We all turned to see a man in his mid twenties with blonde hair and blue eyes standing in the door, dressed in khakis and a white button up shirt.
"Dad?" Lee asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"Lord Apollo," Chiron greeted. "As nice as it is to see you, why are you here? It is not every day that we get a visit from you."
Apollo snapped his fingers and a chair appeared between Lee and Katie. He sat in it, bracing his forearms against his legs.
His voice was raspy and dry when he said, "Artemis has been captured. She's been put under the sky." I paled and noticed that almost everyone else did as well. "And that's not the worst of it."
"What could be worse than Artemis being captured and contained?" Annabeth asked.
Apollo stared her directly in the eyes, sky blue clashing against stormy gray, and said, "Your mother has vanished as well."
Crash!
Michael, who had been leaning back in his chair, had fallen in reverse and backwards somersaulted to his feet, his eyes wild.
Almost everyone else had shot to their feet. "Both goddesses gone?" Katie cried.
"What will happen at the solstice meeting?" Luke added.
"There won't be any progress in the war without Artemis and Athena there," Silena said.
People kept talking and shouting at each other until I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Enough!" I shouted over all of them. They all fell silent. "Sit your asses down and rationalize." They did, eyes wide. "Thank you."
"Why don't we go to the oracle for a quest for Athena?" Michael, who looked the least surprised at my outburst, suggested. "I'll do it."
"Very well, be quick," Chiron agreed. Michael was gone in a flash. Literally.
"Lord Apollo," Castor spoke up. "I'm sure that you didn't come to only give us news of Artemis and Athena. What other game are you playing?"
Apollo smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm going to get one of my sisters back. No one messes with my baby sisters. No one."
It was silent for another minute before Michael flashed into his seat. Seriously, he's going to have to teach me that.
"Prophecy?" Luke asked politely. Michael nodded and began to recite it.
"Sons of light, daughter of death, and god of sun,
Travel south where monsters run,
Together wisdom is sought,
Ever far but with prey caught,
Light and dark together lost,
Anger of the Titan will be crossed,
To free the olive owl,
One arrow shot at the growl." He finished.
"Sons of light?" Katie asked. "Isn't that you two?" She pointed at me and Michael.
"I'm going on the quest to save Thalia and Artemis." I stated. "I'm not leaving her."
"Then who's the other son?" Luke asked.
"I am," Lee spoke up. "Apollo is the god of the sun. The sun provides light. I'm the other son of light."
"And the daughter of death?" Killian asked. I forgot he was still here.
"Bianca," Michael breathed.
"Wait, death as in Hades?" Annabeth inquired. We nodded. "So Bianca and Nico are children of Hades."
"We assume so." I cut in. "Bianca and Nico were locked in the Lotus Casino since the 50's, so they were born before the oath. Which is more than I can say for Thalia and Alex."
Silence. Until Beckendorf started saying, "So, Zoe, Killian, Percy, and two other people go to save Artemis while Lee, Michael, Bianca, and Apollo go to save Athena. Sounds fun."
"Two hunters should go," Zoe said. "And then the two campers will be Perseus and Killian."
"Then it's settled." I said, clasping my hands together. "Zoe, Killian, and I will go west to save Artemis with two other hunters, and Michael, Bianca, Apollo, and Lee will go south to save Athena. Now, let's go tell the other parties the plan."
