The Bethany question will be answered towards the end of the fic, though I think most people already know who Bethany is, let's be honest here. They were seven so it was five years earlier and they knew each other for less than an hour so there's no instant "Oh it's you!" moment. Voting-
Also, just to clear something up, Percy knows her uncles wouldn't like her because of who her father is but she believes it's just because they don't like each others kids, she has no idea that there's a pact, or she doesn't until this chapter.
Percy/Annabeth/Rachel: 39
Percy/Thalia: 31
Percy/Jason: 3
Percy/Annabeth/Thalia: 2
Percy/Jason/Piper: 1
Percy/Thalia/Rachel: 1
Percy/Calypso: 1
Nico/Percy: 1
Percy/Annabeth/Nico: 1
Percy/Annabeth/Piper: 1
Thalia/Luke: 13
Chiron led Percy to one end of the porch, where a man was sat at a card table.
The man was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby Cherubs, and Percy forced back a giggle as she found herself thinking that he looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and she got the feeling that there was more to him than looks would imply.
"Mr. D." Chiron was smiling, his hand on Percy's shoulder as they moved to join the man at the table. "Meet Percy Jackson.
This is the young lady who I went to Richmont to see."
"Hm." Mr. D eyed Percy with a mixture of suspicion and automatic dislike. "So she's the one who killed the Minotaur then."
"That would be me." Percy gave a tiny shrug and a small wave. "Uh, nice to meet you sir."
"I hope you understand the rules that have been broken to allow your mother in here." he didn't sound impressed and Percy winced.
"Right, yeah uh... I appreciate it."
"Does she know?"
"Yes." Chiron nodded, squeezing Percy's shoulder reassuringly. "Her mother told her a lot. She knows as much as could be hoped for, as does her brother."
"Oh yes." Mr. D waved a hand dismissively, "The older one- must say I'm surprised their both still alive, it was foolish to wait so long before bringing them here."
"I wanted to stay with my mom. And so did Luke."
"Yes yes and I'm sure your mother wanted that too. It's how you brats usually get killed."
That made Percy's eyes narrow slightly.
"Who are you exactly? I know who Chiron is, that was pretty easy to figure out but I have no clue who you are." she didn't like him at all, he grated on her nerves.
"Are you stupid girl-" the man waved a hand, and and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine, and Chiron sighed.
"Mr. D. Your restrictions."
But Percy knew the God-and he was a God had done it to demonstrate the fact he could, to tell her what he was-and her mind raced as the God looked at the wine and feigned surprise.
"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"
There was thunder, and Percy forced herself not to flinch at the noise as Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.
Chiron winked at Percy at that. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."
"His father..." Percy's brows furrowed.
"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time—well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away—the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."
Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.
And Percy knew with a flash of realization who the God in front of her was, "Your father is the Lord of the Sky." she said quickly, "Which would make you... the wine. Of course, the only God who would be punished by banning him from wine was Dionysus.
"You're Dionysus, the God of wine." Percy breathed the words, and the God blinked, raising an eyebrow at her, clearly surprised by how quickly she'd figured it out, though he covered it by then rolling his eyes.
"Well duh Miss Jackson, did you think I was Aphrodite perhaps?"
Percy had to bit her lip to stop herself from blurting out what she was thinking-though her lips twitched as she forced down a snicker.
Aphrodite would probably be offended by that comparison she was sure.
Unfortunately for the daughter of Poseidon the God noticed and his eyes narrowed at her as she saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing the tiniest bit of his true nature. There were visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. Percy knew that if she pushed him, it would end badly, and the amusement had died away quite quickly.
"Is there something amusing child?"
"No sir." Percy shook her head, swallowing hard, "I'm sorry."
"You best be." the God stood up, "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing along tonight. Cabin Eleven Miss Jackson. And mind your manners." he swept into the farmhouse and Percy let out a breath, shoulders relaxing, tension she hadn't noticed was there fading away as Chiron gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. He just hates his job."
"It's a punishment right? That doesn't seem fair-"
"It's hardly supposed to be fair Percy-" Chiron looked amused, "It's a punishment-"
"No I mean on the Campers." Percy shook her head, "If he hates it here then he's hardly gonna make us feel welcome here."
"Ah." Chiron winced, "Well I must admit you're not entirely wrong, but I'm afraid that this is his punishment and there's little that can be done about it."
Percy let out a little hmph and looked away, "That's dumb."
"Perhaps. But what's done is done child." Chiron sighed, "In any ca-"
He was cut off by a familiar voice, and Percy turned her head-she could see four figures rushing towards the Big House-and her face lit up into a huge grin.
Luke was leading the way, if only because he was flying low, surging through the air with his flying shoes-occasionally knocking shocked campers out of the way as he zoomed through the air.
"Sephie!" and then Percy was sprinting down the length of the porch and throwing herself into Luke's arms, which wrapped around her, tight and safe as he spun her midair before lowering them both to the wooden flooring of the porch and muttering "Maia." making the wings recede.
She pressed her face into her big brothers shoulder as Luke pressed his face into the top of her head, his voice shaking, "Never ask me to leave you behind like that again Sephie I swear to Hades I will kill you if you do that to me again."
"Sorry." Percy let out a shaky breath, and then there was the sound of footsteps, of running on the wooden deck and another set of arms wrapped around them both.
"Thank the Gods you're awake Percy."
Percy let herself breath, "Are you both okay?"
"We're fine." Sally's voice was gentle as Percy squirmed out of both of their arms, "Luke and I didn't fight Pasiphae's son."
"I'm fine." Percy rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Percy you weren't even awake! Chiron had to carry you into Camp."
"Eh, details." Percy waved a hand dismissively, trying to put her mom at ease. "I handled it didn't I?"
"You could have been killed." Luke's voice was tight, "Think we could have lived with that?"
"I..." Percy ducked her head, "Sorry. I just... I wanted you two to be okay I knew I could handle it."
"You nearly died." the slightly panicked bleat made Percy turn her head, and there was Grover clad in the same orange tshirt as Annabeth was-Percy could see now that they had the words Camp Half-blood written on them, and Percy rushed over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders, a wide grin on her lips.
"Grover!"
"I was so worried about you." Grover hugged her back. "I can't believe you knew all along."
"Sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's okay." Grover grinned, "Your mom and Luke explained."
"As much as I enjoy a good reunion." Chiron's voice was warm and amused, "I'm afraid that we have things to do. Miss Jackson, I'd like to talk to you again. Grover, I believe Mr. D will want to talk to you if he's still awake."
Grover tensed. "Oh no."
"Why?" Percy frowned, "Grover-"
"Don't worry about me." Grover shook his head quickly, "I'll be fine."
"He will be." Chiron's voice was reassuring, "Annabeth, would you show Percy and Luke to Cabin Eleven?"
"Regular or undetermined?" Annabeth asked quickly.
"Well." Chiron eyed Percy and Luke, a thoughtful look on his face, "I certainly don't know Percy's father, but based on those shoes-"
"I'm a son of Hermes." Luke gave a small shrug, a proud glint in his eyes, "They were a present from him for my tenth birthday-"
"Oh!" Percy's eyes widened, "I almost forgot." she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the familiar bronze cylinder, tossing it to her brother, who caught it with a laugh.
"I didn't even realize you'd grabbed that." Luke admitted, "Figured it was gone for good."
As they spoke Grover headed inside, and Annabeth tilted her head, "What is that?"
Percy and Luke exchanged grins at that, and Luke pressed down on the pearl-and then it extended, transforming into a sword, making Annabeth gasp, and Percy grinned, "Hey Luke, look I have one too."
She pulled out Riptide, uncapping the pen and it transformed into a sword too.
"About time brat." Luke grinned, knocking her shoulder lightly, "This mean we can actually train with real swords?"
"Damn straight."
"Oh dear." Sally glanced up at the sky, sighing loudly, "Try not to maim one another you two. Please. Just put the swords away."
"Awe but mom." Luke and Percy said the words in unison, giving matching grins as Sally turned her head to look at Chiron.
"You gave her that sword didn't you? Look what you've done. They'll be nightmares."
"Mom I've used Luke's sword before-"
"Rarely." Sally muttered, shaking her head, "Ten, ten years old and he gets a sword for his birthday... honestly who gives a literal ten year old a sword." the disapproval in her voice made Percy giggle and Luke almost seemed to pout.
"Mom I didn't ever cut myself on it."
"Not for lack of trying."
Chiron did laugh at that, loud and clear. "I do apologize Miss Jackson, I felt your daughter needed it under the circumstances. Children try not to maim one another or your mother may have a heart attack-"
"May? May have a heart attack?" Sally raised an eyebrow, "Will have a heart attack, there's no may about it."
"Come now Miss Jackson. Let's talk inside." as Sally was led away by Chiron Percy and Luke both turned to Annabeth, putting their blades away almost in unison again-and Percy caught a hint of longing in Annabeth's gaze-it was only a flash but it was gone in an instant so Percy decided against commenting on it.
"So." Luke spoke up, draping an arm over Percy's shoulder, "Annabeth right, so what's this Cabin Eleven Chiron was saying you've got to take us to?"
"Hermes Cabin." Annabeth straightened up slightly, "There are twelve Cabins, one for each of the twelve Olympians." she explained, "You know you're Demigods, obviously each of them house the children of the God of that Cabin but Hermes Cabin also takes in the kids who haven't been claimed by their parents or the kids of Gods without Cabins."
"Why only twelve?" Percy frowned, "Why not more? Shouldn't there at least be a Cabin for the Minor Gods and Goddesses children?"
"No." Annabeth shook her head, "The Gods wouldn't allow it." she started moving, heading down from the porch with Percy and Luke following her closely to the Cabins, which were nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings Percy or Luke had ever seen.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.
She smiled softly when the girl looked towards her and met her gaze, giving the young girl a wave.
The girl looked shocked at that, before she shot Percy a radiant smile, and Percy felt a warmth fill her, but Luke's voice drew her attention to him.
"Who are you waving at Sephie?"
"The girl over there."
"There's no one there." Annabeth's voice was confused, and Percy glanced back towards the firepit-and the girl was gone.
Percy felt slightly sad at that. And she wondered distantly who the girl was, but those thoughts were side tracked when she once again looked at the Cabins.
The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.
Percy shivered slightly-she'd avoid Cabin one she knew that much.
"Are they Zeus and Hera's?"
"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, "No one ever stays in those two though."
"Why not? I mean Hera I get because she's supposed to be loyal to her husband but I mean, the Lord of the Sky has a hell of a reputation." she thought about the dark haired girl who had summoned lightning all those years ago, and Percy could see from the look on Luke's face that he was thinking of it too.
"You're not wrong." Annabeth's voice was sad, lost and Percy wondered why before she spoke again. "But the Big three, the three brothers, they swore on the River Styx not to have anymore children after World War two."
Percy had to physically stop herself from reacting, her eyes flicking towards Luke-who's eyes had widened in shock.
Suddenly she really did understand why her father was so protective, why he hid her existence so fervently.
She was never supposed to have been born.