"Don't be silly, Kore." I laughed, braiding flowers into my hair.
The young maiden sitting opposite me rolled her eyes, "Honestly, Pallas, you talk and talk about escaping and being free, yet every opportunity to do so you refuse."
"Marriage is not freedom; I refuse to sell my rights away to some husband that doesn't care."
Kore threw her hands up. "Then choose your husband!"
I raised a single eyebrow at her, "Not all of us can plot to run away with a Kronide."
She frantically shushed me, "Mother might hear!" I laughed at her paranoia.
"And besides," She smirked. "My father has a new son. It'll be a good match."
I frowned, "I'm a sea nymph, Kore, he spends his days composing melodies of the sun- I don't think so."
"He's a musician, like your father! See, he'll like him."
I gave her a bland look, "The husband is for me, not my father. You know what? I think I am happy unmarried, Athena has vowed never to marry a man either."
Kore laughed, "Sure Pallas, maybe you and Athena can stay unmarried spinsters."
I poked my tongue out at her.
…
Deeper, Older, Ancient.
…
"Poseidon!" A man called, and I turned around.
The youthful face of a boy not quite yet a man greeted me, and he looked quite serious.
"Yes little brother?" I spoke playfully, trying to get him to relax.
His lips quirked, "I have the longest experience on this world, if anything I'm the eldest."
"I have a beard, your voice has barely stopped cracking, I believe I'm the elder."
"And I believe you two need to recognise that I'm the eldest," Hades appeared and slung an arm around my shoulders. "I am also the tallest."
"Tallest without the limp," I shot back, poking him in the ribs with a finger.
Zeus raised an eyebrow, " 'Don, that still makes you the shortest."
I paused. "...Shut up."
They burst into laughter, doubling over when they stopped long enough to see my pout. I joined them, laughing until my sides hurt.
"Oi!" Hera butted in, "Idiots!"
We turned to face her, and she frowned at us with her hands on her hips. "We still haven't finished this battle plan."
I rolled my eyes and ducked my brothers' arms. "Calm down. Hera, I was checking the portents last night, doing some divination, and I got a clear Sight. The Titans are going to attack at dawn, but they're going to leave their left flank open, if we can surprise them there, we can win."
Demeter's brows furrowed, "How are we going to do that?"
I smiled, "Hestia, how good are you with those fireballs?"
oOo
I woke up groggy, the words 'No Hera, if you combine yours and Hestia's home domains, your shield can be powerful' on my tongue.
I opened my eyes and immediately closed them. Stupid dreams, stupid confusion at my own identity, stupid sun being too bright.
A knock at my door made me groan. Stupid responsibilities.
"Percy?" Athena called. "Are you up? We have a UN meeting to get to."
With a vague wave of my hand, I pushed Gloussa off the table and let her open the door for Athena.
"My Lady, I believe Percy is sick." She told her, and I pulled the covers over my head in agreement.
"Percy, little one, let me feel your temperature." She asked, voice motherly. I popped my head out from under my blanket just long enough for her to feel my forehead, then curled back under.
"You have a fever," She frowned. "I'm… going to call Sally. I have no medical knowledge, especially with mortals and half-mortals- that's my brother."
"M'kay," I hummed, not particularly caring. At least I get more sleep now.
oOo
Athena sneezed.
Apollo peered at her, "Are you… sick?"
The response was immediate. "Shut up."
He lit up, "You are! What happened? Is it something that you caught? Are you cursed? Can I take samples?"
She glared at him and flipped her hair back, shifting to put her book down on the pile next to her. "Artemis is angry and she set your plague spirits on me."
Apollo laughed, jumping up to sit on the table, go-go boots swinging in the air. "What did you do?"
Athena wrinkled her nose, "She wants to get less involved with the Vietnam war, I told her that we're never going to win it and the only reason that Ares and I are still fighting is that it's stopping the communist spread, and she said that this War is hurting maidens- it dissolved from there."
Apollo's fingers toyed with the hem of his miniskirt. "She's got a point, wars hurt the youth, I've been talking to our Eastern allies and-"
Athena's glare made him switch subjects, "-and I'm going to get my medical kit to sort out the damage those plague spirits handed out. Goodness, did she do a number on you."
oOo
The image of Apollo dressed like Twiggy was still floating in my head when I woke up to Triton's gentle coaxing.
"Paidi mou, can you drink some of this please?" He held a drink bottle in front of me, and I sat up to guzzle what tasted like the weirdest mixture of sea water and mom's fresh cookies.
My confused face made Triton explain. "A mix of Nectar and Volcanic Sea-Water, much more effective than plain nectar on internal illness."
"I'm sick?" I asked, dazed. Maybe it's not just being sleepy that's got me so tired today.
"Yeah, you've got the flu, baby." Mom confirmed, and it's a testament of how sick I am that I didn't even notice her in the room.
"Oh."
"Your fever isn't very high, 99.6, but you're not leaving that bed today, got it?" Mom smiled down at me, "Triton and Athena are staying with you, and my boss said I can't call in unless your fever is over 101, but the phone has me on speed-dial and I'm leaving ibuprofen for you on the table, okay?"
"What?!" Triton immediately protested. "He's got a fever! He's sick! You can't just leave!"
"Mortals get sick like this all the time, Triton." Mom tried to soothe him, "It's the 21st century, the flu isn't deadly anymore."
Wrong thing to say.
"Deadly?" Athena hissed, "Fevers can boil brains! What if it spikes and we can't bring it down?"
Triton immediately agreed, "Yes! You can't just leave us!"
Mom looked amused, "If it spikes, then you can call me, otherwise, I suggest some good old-fashioned cuddles and fluids, maybe even a Disney movie."
Triton and Athena looked betrayed and panicked, like I could actually drop dead from the flu. Gods- so dramatic.
"Bye mom," I croaked.
"Bye baby," she pressed a kiss on my forehead.
oOo
Triton and Athena have been on a side of overprotective I've never seen before.
After convincing them that rest is the best medicine and that I wasn't going to simply stop breathing in my sleep, they'd let me breathe for a bit.
Well… other than the fact that Triton had me falling asleep on him so that he can instantly tell if I do start dying in my sleep. Overprotective, no wonder Pallas kept trying to wander off.
I whined and buried my face into Athena's neck, not bothering to protest the fact that she was carrying me like a baby. Stupid headache, stupid lightheadedness.
"Shh, what is it little one?" She crooned, checking my temperature again.
"Maybe we should give him nectar again?" Triton asked, and I fought the temptation to pout and agree.
"He's still pretty young, what if it starts to burn him up?" Athena immediately hissed back, worry spiking.
"True, where did Sally leave the ibuprofen?" He began searching the cupboards.
I rolled my eyes. "Table."
Athena pressed a kiss on my head, "Thanks little one."
Goodness, how do they cope when Mom and I aren't around?
oOo
"So, they are so hot that they can melt the flesh off bone just by getting near them?"
"Don't you dare!"
"I didn't say I was going to try to swim in it!"
"The fact that you just said it means you thought it."
"Spoilsport."
"I'm just making sure you don't die!"
"...Do you think you can cook food with it?"
"The fact that you're alive is a miracle."
oOo
Fever dreams are the worst.
I was barely able to get up and to the bathroom in time so that I didn't vomit everywhere, but the horrible aftertaste of acid brought tears to my eyes. I hate this, I hate being sick, I want mom.
"Don't call Sally!" Hermes hissed, and I blinked up at him, blurry through my tears.
When did he get here?
"He vomited, that's normal and expected, don't call Sally." He glares at Triton who is holding the phone, "We look after Percy first, and then we inform Sally what happened."
He turns to me and his face softens, "It's okay, kiddo, you're fine."
I sniffled, "I'm sorry."
He came forward and gently picked me up and put me on his hip, "You have nothing to be sorry about; kids get sick sometimes. How about we clean you up and we go watch a Disney movie, huh?"
I sniffled and nodded, letting him drop me into the tub and get the water running.
"Do you wanna hear about my day?" He offered, and I quickly accepted the distraction.
oOo
"-So now I've got twenty prayers from my cabin, all asking for help because Darla managed to throw a net down on top of the entire cabin while they slept, and they got tangled up and stuck." Hermes continued, making me giggle uncontrollably. "And Chiron doesn't know what to do, and I'm not very sure either! Anyways, Darla got claimed by Britomartis and I claimed Ari for her wonderful escape artist skills."
"Is that the last of your unclaimed children?" I asked, frowning at the thought of anyone being unclaimed.
Hermes looked taken aback, "Uh, well, no. I haven't claimed Chris yet, but he hasn't exactly shown much promise with his powers yet so-"
"Why does that matter?" I scowled, "He's your son."
Hermes blinked. "It encourages demigods to get better, claiming becomes a reward."
"It sounds like you don't care about your kids until they could be useful to you." I pointed out.
Triton nodded, and Hermes and Athena shared a confused look. "That's… not our intention."
"That's what every kid is going to think your intention is."
Uncle glanced to the side, sheepish. "Maybe I should claim Chris tomorrow, he's survived camp a whole year-"
"You should." I glared, unimpressed.
Then dissolved into a coughing fit. Stupid flu.
"How about we watch a Disney movie?" Athena quickly changed the subject.
"Hercules!" I quickly crowed, diving for the VHS.
All three gods groaned and tried to talk me out of it.
I had zero shame in playing the sick card.
oOo
"How's my baby been?" Mom cooed when she came home. "Hermes called and told me you threw up, but that your fever had gone down."
"Better!" I chirped, sipping my tea. "We watched Hercules!"
"Yeah, we watched Hercules." Athena echoed, looking mournful. My grin got brighter.
Mom tried and failed to hide her laugh at the three annoyed gods. "Did you watch anything else?"
"The Little Mermaid!"
She slapped a hand over her mouth. Triton glared at her.
"Do you want dinner?" She asked instead. "Soup? Noodles?"
"Chicken noodle soup?" I asked hopefully.
"Chicken noodle soup it is." She confirmed, "Go wash your hands and help set the table."
"Yes!" I cheered (and triggered a brief coughing bout), before running to do what she said.
"Percy, don't run, you might get dizzy again!" A high-strung Triton quickly followed at my heels, determined to stop me from fainting or dying or something else quickly implausible.
I love mom's soup, she only makes it for me when I'm down, and no fussy gods are going to stop me from having it!
(Even if I secretly enjoy their fussing.)
A/N
Hewwo! I've been... ugh... these past few days mentally, and yesterday I was gonna update but then I had Prizegiving assembly at school (I won first in spanish!) so I'm updating today. To those celebrating Turkey Day... I'm sorry, family arguments at the table suck,,, I'm not American so I don't have to deal with that.
So! Percy has more dreams, and if you're in the Discord Server, I let you guys know what foreshadowing I stuck in them, and if you're not: I really suggest you take a close look at Apollo in the 60s dream. Why? Cause I thought that was the best part of the chapter and none of you are gonna guess the single clue I left there. lmao. Go ahead and make guesses for the dreams, I love it when you guys do so! Percy also tells Hermes and Athena off for not claiming their children,,,, :)
