"Surprise!" Athena said, smiling. "Happy Birthday little one."

"Utyke Toki'hemeria!" Triton corrected her, kneeling down to press a kiss on my forehead, despite my squirming.

I pretended to be surprised, and they bought it. "Wow! Thank you!"

Hermes winked at me, "Surprise kiddo, bet you didn't see that one coming!"

I giggled at mom's unimpressed look as she stood behind him. "Yes, very surprising," She commented dryly. "Not like his birthday is the same day every year."

Tempted as I was to admit that Hermes had ruined the surprise already and watch as Athena hit him and Triton growled like some sort of brooding shark, I decided it was better not to snitch. "Still a surprise to see presents!" I cooed innocently, making my eyes as big and round as possible, taking full advantage of the fact that they see me as a little kid.

Athena immediately patted my head, and passed me a wrapped gift.

"It's soft," I stated, searching for the tape to open it.

"Yes it is," Athena smiled. "There's no tape, just rip it."

I did, and gasped at what appeared from the pretty wrapping. A blanket!

The grey and turquoise knitted blanket, obviously handmade, and big enough to wrap even a cyclops into a blanket burrito!

"I put some of my magic in while I knitted," Athena smiled proudly. "It'll keep you warm and there's minor healing energy in it."

"It's so big!" I exclaimed, immediately throwing the blanket over my head to become a blanket ghost.

She laughed, "It's magic, Percy, just will it to shrink."

I don't know why I was skeptical, especially since it's a goddess that's giving it to me, but it worked. And; cause Hermes taught me to take full advantage of any possible technicality; I shrank it down to the size of a post-it note, threw it into the air, and willed it to become a big enough blanket to cover us all.

"Damn it Hermes," Triton immediately grumbled. "Why'd you teach him so well?"

I just laughed at the four adults struggling to shrink the giant blanket working as a net.

Hermes laughed and high-fived me. "It's just a harmless bit of fun, you grouch, get that stick out your-" "-HERMES!" Mom yelled, glaring at him. "You will mind your language or you will be grounded, don't think I don't know it was you who taught Percy to swear!"

Hermes pouted and Triton looked rather smug. Athena just glared at them both.

I quickly run to hug Athena around the waist, saying a lively "Thank you!" as I tuck my new blanket into my pocket.

Despite Hermes' quick insistence that his present should be next, Mom stepped in with a glare and a gift.

"A cookbook," she told me, smiling with pride at my awe. "Recipes that go all the way back to your great-grandmother, though copied: you're not getting your hands on the original recipes until you marry."

I grinned stupidly as I flipped through the pages, Encebollado, Ceviche, Empanadas, Feijoada, even Churros were included in the book.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried, throwing myself at mom, making her stumble back at the force of my hug.

"You're welcome," she chuckled, ruffling my hair.

"Now, it's my turn!" Hermes announced, and handed me a… diary?

"A diary?" I asked, opening and flicking through the empty pages of the leather bound book.

"A journal," he corrected. "And not just any journal: a journal only you can read! You can write whatever you want in there and it'll appear as nonsense to everyone else- even me! It never runs out of pages too."

"Awesome!" I said, already thinking about putting down all my plans into it, especially the secret projects like to recreate Ariadne's String and avoiding becoming a god.

Hermes gave a mock-whisper of "You can even draw or glue in things and we'll never know," that Triton and Athena both hit him upside the head for, though I have no idea why.

"Thanks," I thanked him, laughing as he rubbed his head and muttered about annoying family.

"Now my gift," Triton said, and offered me the oyster shell in his hand.

My eyes went wide as I took in the contents of the oyster. A bracelet.

My bracelet, the bracelet I wore everyday since I turned 33, a heirloom from Memeter.

"That bracelet used to be Tethys', our Memeter's. My Meter had it, and then I, and then Pallas. It's your turn to wear it." Triton said, and knelt down in front of me to put the bracelet on my wrist. The string of freshwater pearls wrapped around my wrist perfectly, and the rose gold clasp was engraved with the symbol of water.

I clutched my wrist to my chest and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

Triton pressed a kiss to my forehead, "It's yours by inheritance, don't thank me for it."

I smiled, watching the pearls shimmer iridescence.

oOo

"Hermes no."

"Hermes yes."

This has been going on for a few minutes, and I have no idea what they were even debating on.

"Percy agrees with me!" Hermes gestured at me.

"Percy has no idea what you're talking about," I point out.

Athena rubbed her temples, "Hermes wants to take you to Crete himself, and Triton and I agree that he shouldn't."

I stared at her, puzzled. "What's wrong with Hermes taking me and meeting you there?"

"Because unlike the rest of us gods, Hermes flies everywhere." Triton explained, "Just so quickly everyone thinks he's flashing places."

Hermes grinned, "One time I flew through a thunderstorm and didn't notice, and showed up to deliver a message drenched- Apollo yelled at me for an hour and made me wear his cloak as if I could get sick."

I laughed, "Yeah, I agree. Can't I go with Hermes?"

Mom lifted a brow, "As long as you don't get accidentally dropped halfway across the Atlantic, sure."

"Yes!" Hermes and I immediately cheered.

Mom shook her head, "I swear you too are more like brothers, than Percy and Triton- no offence dear, you parent him more."

Triton nodded, "Oh no, I agree with you, Percy nearly called me Pater several times." I blushed horribly at his comment, he said he wouldn't tell!

"Glad you said that," Hermes grinned. "Cause I have some adoption papers that just need your signature Sally…"

Mom blinked at the paperwork in his hand, and I had to slap a hand over my mouth to stop from giggling outloud; I know where this is gonna go and I think this is a lovely birthday present.

"Hermes, this is paperwork to adopt you?" Mom asked, baffled.

"Yes."

"Do you have a copy?" Triton muttered, looking at Hermes in askance.

"No." She immediately countered. "Hermes, you are millennia older than me, and I'm pretty sure Olympus will find out about this."

Hermes didn't even hesitate to change form, appearing as a bright-eyed, smirking 16 year old, still holding the adoption paperwork. "I'm the god of paperwork, they'll never notice unless I let them. Besides, my dad has over twenty children, he keeps mixing 'Pol and I up, and I think he'll be grateful in general for you taking charge of at least one of us."

"Your mothe-" "She's dead."

I blinked at that. What? I thought- she was a goddess, right? How can a goddess die?

Hermes shuffled his feet, and I saw how Athena also looked away. "My mom, Maia, she was the eldest of the Pleiades, and when Orion decided to pursue them to- to… well, to hurt them I suppose... Father made them into a constellation. But, he didn't free them, they're still there, and now Orion is a constellation too, forever chasing them. And with the losing faith, and the forgotten memory… Mom found it easier to fall asleep and put her fate into Chaos's hands rather than spend the rest of eternity being chased- terrified."

I was horrified. That's a terrible fate, I could never- I-

"Oh Hermes," Mom cried, pulling him into a hug. "Of course I'll sign the papers, but only if you're certain."

"I am," He smiled at her.

"Then so am I." I watched as mom signed the bottom of the papers, clearly stating that she now has two sons.

"Yes!" I ran and nearly bowled Hermes over in my excitement. "This is great!"

"Good present?" He whispered in my ear as he hugged me back. "The best," I whispered back. "For us both."

Mom looked a bit shocked that she did that, but was smiling.

"I'll take Percy to Crete now, Sally. You can go with Triton and Athena." Hermes said, and she nodded.

"Hold on kiddo," He warned, and I just clung onto my piggy back tighter.

oOo

Flying is… indescribable.

Wind through your hair, clouds soft on your skin, the view below you: Awesome.

Not Awesome? The heights, oh gods, the height from which you can fall.

"Isn't this fun?" Hermes laughed, his fluttering shoes taking us down for a lower sweep over Italy.

"Yes!" I said, "I have so much adrenaline right now!" I whooped, as we took a loop around the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"Ha!" He said, and we were back over the Mediterranian, heading for Crete. "Just wait until you're old enough for your own pair of winged shoes- I'll take you racing over the Himalayas!"

Landing back down on Crete didn't mean my heart calmed down, and I was grinning stupidly as mom fussed over mine and Hermes' messy hair "-This is why I always have curls, they're never not messy-" and Triton doubled checked that we weren't somehow hit by lightning like the overdramatic mother hen he is.

"Can we do that again on the way back?" I asked.

"No!" "Hells yeah!" "Never."

I blinked at the answers, "Was that a yes or a no?"

Mom put her hand on my shoulder, "That was a no."

I pouted, but quickly got distracted by some ruins. "Is that the Palace of Knossos?"

"Yes it is," Athena replied, happy to distract me. "One of the oldest places in Greece, established in 2,000 bce, back when the Kronides just took over."

"Wow!" I gaped, "That's old."

"Older than me," Triton agreed, an appreciative tone in his voice. "Though only by less than a decade."

"You're old," I shot back, and dodged his swipe. "Why you little-!"

"Percy!" Mom laughed, "Respect your elders!"

"Sally!" Triton gave her a look of pure betrayal, and I broke down giggling.

"He's not wrong, Tri," Athena said, with an impish grin.

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

Athena snickered, and I took the opportunity to come out of hiding from behind mom and run into the ruins' walkway. "I wanna try to find the Labyrinth!"

"Wait!" "Percy!" "Don't you dare!" They yelled, quickly running after me.

oOo

While the Palace of Knossos does have a rather impressive sewer system that can be mistaken for a Labyrinth, it wasn't actually a maze, but, there was a cave system named the Gortyn caves just 20 miles away from the Palace, that were theorised as the actual Labyrinth.

I crossed my arms, "So, am I wrong?"

Athena and Triton made eye-contact, clearly neither wanting to admit my theory was right.

"Yeah, you're correct."

"Hermes!"

"What?" He held up his hands innocently, "He was going to get it right anyways!"

Athena sighed, "Yes, there is an entrance to the Labyrinth under the Palace; that was Pasiphae's and Daedalus' entrance. The official and original entrance is in the Gortyn caves, where the guards would lead the sacrifices into the Altar Chamber in the middle of the caves where they would open the secret entrance for the True Labyrinth. In that way, even if the sacrifices lived or tried to escape, they would still get lost in the caves."

I frowned, "That's cruel."

"Yes, why do you think Hermes and I helped your brother, Theseus, escape? He couldn't do it on his own." Athena said, patting my head.

I stepped away from her hand, and gave her my biggest seal eyes. "So, can we visit the caves?"

"No!" Every adult immediately yelled.

"But it's my birthday!" I protested.

"Percy, I met you when you got lost at the bottom of the Atlantic, no." Triton stressed.

"Wait, you met how?" Mom asked.

Dammit. Uh, shoot, how do I-?

"Can we go home for cake now?" I asked.

Mom frowned down at me, "This subject is in no way dropped, but yes, we can."

"At least there's cake with my grounding," I muttered, and Hermes laughed.

A/N

Happy New Year! Hey, you guys wanna know a fun fact? So, back when I started writing this story, I had never talked/communicated/nothing with the Author of the work that inspired this, but we started talking a bit ever since I first posted, and now we're girlfriends! Nani is wonderful, they're my best friend and my soulmate, and this A/N is a special shout-out to her!

Now, onto story stuff, this is the last pre-canon chapter! Percy starts Yancy next chapter, woo! Thank you so much for sticking around while I've written pre-canon, I know it gets rather tedious at times, but I'm so glad so many of you have found the wait to be worth it! We've got a great starter for canon with Percy and Hermes' brotherly relationship, Athena's fussing, Triton's overprotective nature, and Sally's freedom and independence, and I'm so happy to start writing all the other canon characters and their interactions with this changed Percy!

Lore/Translations:

Utyke Toki'hemeria= Happy Birthday
Memeter= Grandmother
Pater= Father
Pleiades= daughters of Atlas, sisters of the Hesperides
Kronides= Children of Kronos