Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful past two weeks! Unfortunately, my two weeks weren't all that great – I didn't start feeling better until Thursday, and by that point I was massively behind on writing, so I didn't get to write my Luke/Ethan/Percy story like I wanted to. -_- Ah, well. Maybe next time, right?

Onto some more pressing matters – first, this chapter, while short, is basically the climax of the TLT arc (which, according to my plans, should actually wrap up sometime around...chapter 26? 27? Something like that.). I had a ton of feels while writing this chapter because of it, and I will unashamedly admit that, if it wasn't for the fact I don't live alone, I would've screamed by the time that I finished it LOL.

Second, after much mulling over my updating schedule while on break, I decided that I'm going to slow it down with the updates...cause five updates per week is a lot. Thus, after this week, I'm cutting the updates down to Monday and Friday updates only...so two updates per week instead of three. I hope this doesn't bother you guys too much, as that's still a very frequent updating schedule, and it will hopefully make me not feel as stressed out as I have been. :)

Well...I'm out of thinks to ramble about, so with that being said, I hope you all stay safe and well and I will see you on Wednesday! :)

Sincerely,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 22: I'm Given An Offer I Can't Refuse~

You know that feeling you'd get as a little kid when you were talking with certain adults – that feeling that they found you cute and whatever, but didn't actually know what to do when you started to talk to them?

That was the feeling I got immediately after saying, "So...hi, I guess? Nice to meet you?" to my own father and stepmother.

Both of them were looking down at me with what looked like bemused expressions on their faces, as if neither of them had never interacted with one of my dad's mortal children in person before...although, I suppose for all that I knew of them, they very well mightn't've, which made my stomach twist and turn rather violently.

Finally, just when I had about enough of the silence, just when I was about done with their bemused looks, Poseidon tilted his head and said, "You know, you do remind me of your mother."

I blinked in surprise. "I r – remind you of Mom?" I couldn't help but ask, because while my mom had always compared me to him, my dad, nobody had compared me to my mom before. I was the only one who had ever done that.

Poseidon smiled softly. "Your mother is a queen among women, child," he replied wistfully. "I had not met such a mortal woman in a thousand years...had not met any mortal woman, perhaps, as kind and good as she is. You radiate her kindness, child. And her love. Although, I do think you got most of your rebelliousness from me, along with your hair and eyes."

"Your smile, though, is all hers," Demeter added kindly.

Surprised, I turned to look at her. "You've – you've met me before? And my mom?"

Gently, she nodded. But before she could fully reply, Poseidon turned and gave her a solemn look. She replied with a look of her own, but then she turned back to me and said, "Forgive me, Perseus. The three of us have much to discuss today, and I am admittedly getting ahead of myself."

"...Oh," I said awkwardly, not sure of what else to say. "Okay. What – what do we need to discuss?"

Poseidon looked at me for a hard, long moment before he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I presume that, during your talk with Styx, she told you of the prophecy?" he asked.

I blinked – I hadn't thought that I had left that out, but apparently, I had. "Uh...yeah, I guess? I mean, you are referring to the prophecy that says 'A halfblood of the eldest gods, shall reach eighteen agai – '"

"Yes, Perseus," my father interjected before I could get any further. "That is the prophecy I was referring to. But do you know what it means?"

"It means..." I started, but then trailed off, because I wasn't sure how much the two of them really wanted me to know.

Next to Poseidon, Demeter smiled at me warmly again. "It's okay, Perseus," she said. "You can be honest. We won't hold it against you. We just want to see what you already know."

"Well..." I said, "I know that it means I'm going to have to make a decision on my eighteenth birthday...if I survive that long, that is...right? I mean, I may not...probably won't..." here, I nervously wet my lips, before continuing with, "Anyways, I have to decide whether or not to save Olympus and the gods, or to let it and you all be destroyed...right? Whether to let the...old age, I guess...remain, or to...bring in a new one?"

Demeter chuckled at my words, while Poseidon gave another tender smile. "All of that is true, Perseus," he said. "But that is not the meaning that I was looking for."

Again, I blinked. "Uh – it wasn't?"

"No."

"Then what meaning were you looking for?"

"The meaning of what those actions mean," he replied cryptically, before saying, "Perseus...although I do not regret you being born, and am very proud for what you did in the two weeks leading up to today...I still regret the fact that, by being your father, I have brought you a hero's fate, and a hero's fate is never happy, child. It is never anything but tragic."

A tidal wave of emotions swept through me at his words. I mean, here was my dad, my own father, telling me in a roundabout sort of way that he regretted being my dad. Oh, yeah, sure, his reasoning made sense and all that, but still, it hurt. It made me think that, once again, while he seemed kind and all of that, he wasn't as interested in his mortal kids as I'd hoped he be, as I wanted him to be.

My eyes stung at the thought.

Demeter noticed my tears – but, then again, how could she not? Wasn't she one of the many goddesses of motherhood, on top of being the goddess of agriculture, harvest, and fertility, along with several other things that I was forgetting? "Don't take your father's words too harshly, Perseus," she said soothingly. Next to her, Poseidon nodded in agreement. "We are simply worried for you, that's all. Because we've both seen snippets of your fate."

"M – my fate?" I asked, confused. "What, did you talk to Lady Ananke or something?"

She laughed again and shook her head. "No," she replied. "But our eldest son, Apollo, has shared with us the few things that his Oracle has shared with him. And it has made us...concerned, to put it lightly. You face several decisions in the near future, Perseus, that will not be easy. Several decisions that, if I was not going to offer to you what I am about to offer, you would get in grave trouble for."

"I – decisions – offer?" I asked stupidly while I stared up at her with wide eyes.

But Demeter didn't immediately answer my question. Instead, she said, "To answer your previous question, Perseus, you, your mother, and I have met before. I do not usually make it a...priority to meet the mortal lovers of my husband, or even their children, but I knew when Poseidon told me of your mother that she was special – and that you would be, too. So, ever since your birth, I have been watching both of you with a careful eye, which is why I sent Katie to you when I realized it wouldn't be much longer until you realized your...godly heritage. It is also why I'm going to offer you what I am about to offer you, because if there is one thing that you have proven to me, Perseus, it is how brave, kind, and selfless you are, which are all traits that I admire."

Her non-direct answers, no matter how complimentary they were, were really starting to annoy me. Still, I did my best to be as polite as possible as I asked, "And what is that you are going to offer me?"

"My patronage," she replied.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but frown. Patronage? That wasn't an English word, was it? 'Cause it sure as hell didn't sound like one.

At the presumably co fused expression on my face, Demeter let out another laugh. "You don't know what patronage is, do you, Perseus?" she asked. When I shook my head, signifying that no, I did not, she added, "In our world, Perseus, patronage is when a god who is not the parent of a demigod decides to extend their protections over them, meaning that the demigod will not get in as much, ah...trouble as they would otherwise for the things that they do, as long as their patron god is in approval of it. In exchange, the demigod becomes the god's champion, meaning that they can act as that god's voice to other mortals, and may also wind up doing them favors or quests from time to time."

Unable to help myself, I stared up at her with wide eyes. She – she wanted me to her voice to other mortals, other demigods? And for me to do things for her "from time to time", in exchange for her protection? Protection that she said I would need in the near future, for the decisions that I was about to make?

Just how bad were these decisions?

"Of course, child, you don't need to decide on this now," she hurriedly added.

"R – right," I said dazedly.

"This is a huge decision for anyone to undertake," she continued. "Because it is life-changing. Completely and utterly. Hence why it is something that none of us have really done since the ancient times. But, no matter what you decide, Perseus, I do expect an answer by..." she trailed off, and looked over at Poseidon thoughtfully. Neither of them said anything, but I couldn't help but think that they were having some sort of epic conversation, a conversation that words weren't necessary for. "...July 4th. Yes. I expect an answer by July 4th. Is that enough time for you to make your decision?"

"I – uh – yeah, sure," I said after a few moments, once again not really sure what to say. "I can do it by then."

She smiled. "Good. Just ask for me when you have, child, and I will come to make things – ah – official, if your decision is to accept my offer."

"But, whatever you decide, Perseus," Poseidon added as he leaned forward, his eyes alight with a fiery kind of pride. "Know that you are mine, and that we are both proud of you. You are a true son of the Sea God."

And just like that, my conversation with them was over.

Fifteen minutes later, I was back on the streets of Manhattan, my mind swirling as I thought about everything that had happened, both that day and in the weeks before.

I had just been offered patronage by a god, something which, according to them, hadn't happened for thousands of years, because said god – goddess – wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get into any trouble for the "several decisions" that I was about to make.

But what were those decisions?

But even as I thought about it, I already knew the answer.

I had to decide what I was going to do about Luke, because Luke had been working for Kronos. My dreams about the "Crooked One" had made that obvious, considering the fact that Luke had been in one of them and had seemingly been on pretty cordial terms with the bastardized, the torture he suffered from notwithstanding.

And if Luke was working for Kronos – well, it definitely wasn't an if, but I was just playing with the hypothetical here, because my mind was still spinning far too much to think about it otherwise – then that meant he had probably been the one to steal Zeus's and Hades's symbols of power, seeing as how Ares couldn't have done that due to him being a god. And, because he had done that, Luke was the lightning thief, the stealer of the helm of darkness, and the traitor of Olympus.

And I had to decide whether I was going to turn him in or not.

Now, more than ever, I wanted to see to my mom. I wanted to talk to her, to ask her for advice, to listen to what she'd think she'd do in this situation. But, despite the fact that I knew she was home at our apartment, despite the fact how close she now was, I didn't call for a taxi to take me to her. Because, for one thing, I didn't want to disappoint her by telling her that I was pretty sure I had fallen in love with the traitor of Olympus – who was two or three years older than me and a guy, which meant that Gabe would be pretty fucking pissed, seeing as how he was just as much homophobic as he was abusive – while she was gone. And I also didn't want to see her because I knew that, speaking of Gabe, if I went back to our apartment now, after everything I'd been through and everything I'd done, I wouldn't hesitate in killing Gabe. And I didn't want my mom to see me become a murderer – at least, not if I could help it, because I knew she would kill him first in a heartbeat to prevent that. She was my mom, after all.

Still, though, I tried to think of what my mom would say if I did tell her about all of this, what she would do. I knew that my mom would probably tell me that it'd be only right for me to take Demeter's offer of patronage, and that it'd be only right for me to turn Luke in, because he needed to face justice for what he did – for stealing two symbols of power and nearly causing World War III in the process, and for aiding and abetting Kronos in his quest for revenge and the return of his power.

But, that being said, I also knew that my mom would also tell me to follow my heart, because even if I was only half in love with Luke as much as I thought that I was – because love was certainly what my feelings for him felt like – that still meant that I was in love with him. And that meant that I...that I...

...Oh, fuck it.

At the end of the day, I knew that I wasn't going to turn Luke in. I couldn't. Because even if he did do all of the things that I knew he did, I was too far gone to just throw him to the wolves and leave him there to die – even if that was in the metaphorical sense, although I had my serious doubts. I just couldn't do it, especially when, according to my memory, Luke had until August to convince me to join Kronos...which meant I had the same amount of time to convince him to rejoin the gods...or, at the very least, stop working for Kronos. I had until August to come up with a plan to do just that and execute it...which certainly wasn't going to be easy to do, considering the manipulation I was going up against. But, that being said, I knew I could do it. I had to, for Luke, for me, and for the kids of Cabin Eleven and Annabeth, even if my motivation to do it for the latter group was pretty fucking low. However, before I could do it, I also knew that there was just one thing that I was going to have to do first.

I was going to have to accept Demeter's offer.

Word Count: 2,475

Next Chapter Title: There's A First Time For Everything