"Triton-anax," Lady Amalpha began. "Ryujin-anax and Namaka-anass won't answer the call, without their aid we shall be vulnerable in the North Pacific Ocean."
"Namaka I understand, her people have been afraid to involve themselves in anything since Pearl Harbour, but why ever is Ryujin refusing his support?" He said, rubbing his temples.
"You know how the Kami are- they will refuse to support either side until Apollon-gi'ais says which side he is on." She responded, annoyed.
Triton sorely regrets never paying much attention to the other Pantheons other than what was required as the Heir to the Sea. He has no strong alliances other than to Yemoja and Tefnut, and Tefnut has been imprisoned with the rest of the Egyptian gods, and Yemoja was no war goddess- only a motherly protector, so her part of the war effort would be simply as a healer and a refuge for Mer refugees. Apollo and Hermes were the only ones that actively continued their relationships and contacts with their foreign allies in this modern age.
The sea is preparing to go to war: meetings are called, generals are coming out of retirement, soldiers are being trained, and sudden flocks of Mer are fleeing to the more neutral currents of the South. Zeus and Poseidon's little cold war of the past century seems to be finally warming, and Triton truly wishes it would not.
"And how soon can we expect Apollon-gi'ais to declare his side?" He asked, mentally preparing for the paperwork.
"Hermes-gi'ais declared his support for us this morning."
"So he shall be declaring his support no later than tomorrow at noon," He surmised. "That will mean that the Kami will declare their support within the week- if not before tomorrow evening."
"Yes 'Anax mou," Amalpha nodded.
"And the Norse and Egyptians?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"No further updates from the House of Life, though we've surprisingly received a message from Anubis-gi'des."
"Oh?"
"Yes, he says he supports our endeavors even though he may not physically do so."
Triton frowned. Anubis was a young god, adolescent in the eyes of his Pantheon, and he hasn't supported any wars in the past- what changed to make him support them now?
"And the Norse?"
"Odin-gi'bas says he is reserving judgement until he hears both sides of the story- with powerpoints- from both Zeus and Poseidon."
Triton wrinkled his nose, "We can assign a junior ambassador to do that and I will be acting as personal messenger to that."
"Very well 'Anax mou." She nodded, and gestured for a young servant to run that note to the ambassadors' office. "Anything else?"
Triton pushed himself up from behind his desk, "I shall be meeting my Teiso Hades."
She froze and eyed him, "'Anax mou, is that wise?"
"We need more allies," He said sternly. "Who better than my longest friend?"
She nodded, and left.
The cold war between the brothers had started with Zeus' bruised pride. Back at the start of World War 2, Hades' son, Mikhail, was a Nazi funded doctor trying to find a way to make The Mist a physical weapon under the guise of trying to invent a 'truth serum' for the Fuhrer. Zeus' son, Damien, worked as a British spy right up until he got captured by Nazis and ended up as Mikhail's new patient zero for his 'truth serum'. Mikhail panicked once he realised he had a demigod under his 'care' and asked for Xanther, Poseidon's son and his friend from Camp, to help Damien escape. Zeus' pride was bruised, and he made a comment about how if the new military planes attack the Sea, then Poseidon would be heavily wounded. One month later, Pearl Harbour happened. Zeus and Poseidon have been in a cold war since, and heavily suspicious of each other.
Hades has managed to avoid such suspicion, even when he silently stood with Poseidon the entire time.
Hades who has been silently not standing with either brother in the past week of chaos.
"Teiso," Triton called out as he arrived in the Underworld.
"Triton," He replied coolly.
Yes. Something is wrong.
"How has the Underworld been with the storms?" He asked.
Hades glares back. "I think you are very well aware of how the Underworld is."
Shoot, even the pleasantries are going wrong.
"Teiso, I will speak frankly. I have no idea what I have done to offend you."
Hades raised an eyebrow. "No? Then so will I. Not only is my brother's Bolt missing, so is my Helm. Now why is Poseidon the only one without his Symbol of Power taken, hm?"
Triton paled. Fuck. This isn't good, this isn't good at all. "Teiso, please, you know of our longstanding friendship. I swear to you, I had no idea."
"You had no idea of your father's son?"
Triton closed his eyes. He could never lie to Hades. "No. But Percy is innocent. I've personally been raising him- he's more my son than Pater's. He didn't do it."
Hades leaned back against his throne. "So who did?"
"I don't know."
They were in a stand-off. Tense as they knew that any wrong moves could lead to a millennia long friendship being broken.
"It's a set up."
"Persephone?" Hades turned to face his wife who had entered the room.
She smiled at him for a moment before turning serious again. "A war, coming out of nowhere, with just the right circumstances that all our old alliances are broken? Father has no idea who stole his Bolt, he is just pointing fingers. Hades, we have no idea what happened to your Helm, and Triton, I believe you. We're being set up."
Hades sighed, all aggression gone. "I apologise then Triton."
Triton nodded, walking forward. "I understand, I would have doubted myself too."
"Good." Persephone has her hands on her hips. "And you better recall Alecto from shadowing that poor boy."
"You what?!" Triton shrieked, hair suddenly turning gray in worry.
"She's on orders not to kill him," Hades tried to reassure him.
"That's not much better!" He yelled, furious. "You tell her to back down right now!"
Hades lifted his eyebrows, "Chaos, I forgot what you were like with Pallas. Calm down, the boy is fine."
"He better be."
Persephone came forward and put her hand on his arm. "Perhaps we can use Alecto's stationing to our advantage?"
Triton frowned and she continued. "Father would be expecting us to be suspicious of him too. Alecto can be his guard since none of us can actually go to him. She pretends that she's there to monitor him as a thief, and in actuality she kills all the monsters that Father tries to send after him- and he won't even notice something's wrong because you know how territorial the Erinyes are."
"It's a good plan," Hades points out. "And if the kid freaks out a bit and kills her, then I won't blame him, she needs to cool off in the pit for a bit."
"No matter what- she doesn't hurt him," Triton repeated.
"Goodness Triton, he'll be fine. Get your hair back to black and untwist your panties." Hades said.
Triton glared at him, but let his features return to their normal color.
oOo
Athena stood silently under the olive tree, eyes sharp as she watched tourists mill around her temple.
"Niece."
"Uncle."
She turned and saw the stoic face of Poseidon. "Thank you for coming."
He eyed her carefully. "What is this about?"
Her eyes flickered closed for barely a moment. "I want to bury the hatchet between us."
"Excuse me?" Poseidon nearly gaped at her.
Thousands of years and they had never apologised. Athena was far too prideful to ever claim it was her fault, and Poseidon was too loyal to his son to ever forgive her without his say.
"I've been speaking to Triton these past few years," She said. "It has not been easy, but we are learning to forgive each other."
"Forgive each other? You killed his daughter," Poseidon scoffed.
Athena's glare was icy. "Do you think I would have killed the only person I ever loved on purpose? It was my fault, yes, but I was also robbed of my only family- the only home I ever had- that same day."
Poseidon's eyes flickered to the Mediterranian Sea in the horizon. "You've met Perseus too, haven't you?"
She let a soft smile grace her usually stern face. "Yes. He has the same bad habit of wandering that Pallas had, and a surprising love of learning."
Poseidon swallowed and looked at her. "Perseus is special to me- don't you ever, ever, harm him. Do you understand?"
"I do." She smiled brightly, "Triton has already extracted an oath on the Styx from me for him. You don't have to worry about that."
"Good," He relaxed. "Good."
She looked out at the city that solidified their grudge, and held out a hand of reconciliation.
He took it.
oOo
Hermes landed on light feet, making his way towards his brother's temple.
Apollo has always been the staunchest of his supporters, no matter what he'd gotten himself into, and Hermes had always returned the favour. In fact, the brothers had been so close that Amaterasu once thought that they were the 'Greek Twins' and not Apollo and Artemis, and the first time Frey had met them he had mistaken them for a married couple. With their close domains that they often swapped and switched like candy, it's hard to imagine them taking different sides of an argument.
"Apollon? You home?" He called as he let himself in, shrugging off his jacket and leaving it on the back of a couch.
He made his way to the kitchen, where Apollon was probably making another herbal healing tea.
"Actually, dear, it's Apollo today," The purple clothed god responded, back turned to Hermes as he trimmed a basil plant.
Hermes paused as Mercury suddenly lurched to the forefront of his mind, but he pushed him back down. No, not now, not with this topic.
"Hey Apollo, surprised you're out with all this," He waved his hands vaguely.
He turns, tucking an auburn strand of hair behind his ear. "Father's lost bolt affects both sides of us, dear."
Apollo was dressed in a more formal academic wear, if not for the fact that he'd obviously gotten comfortable. Purple button up with sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms, and his red-brown hair was ruffled. Black slacks and vest, but barefoot and with his collar unbuttoned. A small silver ring with a pair of wings on it, hanging from a celestial bronze chain necklace, was exposed on his chest, and Hermes thought of his own small sun pendant- tucked close to his heart.
Hermes smiled nervously, moving forward to take the basil plant from his hands and putting it back on the windowsill. "Yes, that's something I have to talk to you about."
"Oh?" He raised a perfectly done eyebrow, "Was it you or one of your children who stole it? No, no, don't answer, that'll just incriminate you. Well, I can talk to the Kami about-"
"No!" Hermes quickly grabbed Apollo's hands, "It's not. It's something different."
"Ah, so it's the fact that the accused is the kid you took on as a protege?"
Hermes paled, "What?"
Apollo frowned, tilting his head in concern. "It's alright, nobody else knows, but you didn't truly expect that I wouldn't notice the fact that you were raising a kid yourself?"
"Uh," Hermes blushed.
Apollo chuckled. "You kept disappearing and I heard from a Keruki that you had a kid trailing your deliveries, plus I'm the God of Prophecy and Knowledge."
"Oh."
"And the kid has the adorable habit of waving good morning to my sun chariot."
"Wha-? Perseus!"
Apollo let out a laugh, bending over to hide his smile in Hermes' shoulder. "Don't punish the kid- it's nice to be remembered in that way. Most of my kids are too old to do that still, though Will has adorably insisted on calling me 'Daddy sun' and saying good morning and good night like that."
Hermes lips twitched into a grin. "Yeah, Percy has a habit of being thoughtful like that. Athena and I made a scrapbook of him, I should show you the picture from his first sacrifice, they're adorable."
Apollo leaned back against the kitchen counter, smiling brightly, blue-grey eyes shining. "I'd love to see them. Well, if this entire talk was just about Perseus, then you have my answer: I'll be supporting him and Poseidon, them- and you- will be completely innocent in my votes."
Hermes smiled, he took Apollo's hands that he still held in his own, and raised them to his mouth for a soft kiss. "Thank you."
"You never have to thank me, dear." Apollo insisted, "Now, I can tell you're overworked. I'll take your search shift today, and you are staying right here and relaxing. Understand?"
Hermes nodded, and stepped back. "Mind if I take a nap? Haven't slept in two months."
Apollo frowned, "You know my bed is always open to you. I'll take a relaxing tea up to you in a second."
Hermes smiled, and disappeared through the door.
oOo
I truly never wanted to be a halfblood, but I will admit that the life I have as one is not something I'd ever trade away.
I stared out the yellow school bus' windows, watching the scenery pass by. In a bus full of troubled kids, I was probably the only mislabelled 'Troubled kid.' Sorta.
Am I a Troubled Kid? Yes. Am I a troubled kid? No.
I'm just a kid whose side of the story is always ignored for everyone elses, and that's probably the reason why the Principal of Yancy Academy had me on probation.
How was I supposed to know that it was against the school rules to climb the Gym walls to retrieve the basketball that got stuck on the ceiling? I was fine, and so was the ball!
Anyways, I'm on probation, and that's the only reason I hadn't decked Nancy Bobofit yet.
I yanked a distracted Grover to the side, meaning that Nancy's sandwich that she was throwing at his head went wide, and then spat several choice Greek swears at her.
Grover choked, "Did you just call her a bull-fucker?"
"If the shoe fits," I replied, still glaring at her. She sat down, cowed.
I turned back to him, where he was staring at me bewildered. "How much longer? I want to see the Egyptology section." I whined, trying to get him to shift focus.
He bought it, and rolled his eyes. I've asked that question probably twenty times already on this trip. "The bus is literally pulling into the parking bay."
"Good," I said, shifting to look out the window and see the Museum. "I hate field trips, but I love the museum."
I heard Grover mutter something about Owls, but paid him no mind.
oOo
Chiron, or Mr Brunner as he was being called, led the Museum tour with Mrs Dodds.
He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.
I don't want to invoke the wrath of a monster who has been strangely behaved (she hasn't eaten me yet, that is) for the past few months, so I didn't say anything against her.
Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"
It came out louder than I meant it to.
The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.
"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"
I smiled sweetly, "Could you speak up a bit sir? I can't hear you over everyone else."
He frowned, "Right. Yes, if all of you could be quiet please, you are being very loud." He told off the class.
"And Mr Jackson," He turned back to me. Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"
I squinted at the picture, and was happy to see it was a familiar one. "It's the Titan, Kronos, eating his children."
"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."
"When he overthrew his own father, he was told a prophecy that his own children would overthrow him too. To prevent this, he ate them. He ate his eldest five children, but when it came to his youngest, Zeus, he was tricked into a rock instead while Zeus was raised in secret. When he was grown, he tricked his father into vomiting his children back up-" "-ew!" A girl cried out, "-and so the Titanmanchy began." I finished.
Mr Brunner smiled proudly, "Full credit Mr Jackson!"
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
"Busted," Grover muttered.
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.
At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears... Or horse ears… Can horses hear better than humans?
I smiled at the question, knowing what answer he wanted but I refused to give. "Life Lessons? Morals? How to deal with self-fulfilling prophecies that our vengeful fathers might give us?"
He looked disappointed even as other kids snickered. "I suppose that is a decent enough answer. Very well, time for lunch! Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.
I quickly followed, not wanting to be cornered into one of his famous 'I expect more from you' talks he gives to all his students when they get something wrong- that guilt trip is worse than seeing Triton look disappointed when I lose a spar.
The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.
Zeus' mood has been getting worse and worse since the Winter Solstice, and I can only assume they still haven't found his Master Bolt, or he'd have calmed.
Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. For a monster with senses sharper than any mortal being, she was surprisingly blind at half the stuff her students did under her care.
Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. Only way to get peace and quiet, and no idiots with footballs tripping over you all the time.
I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. If everything hadn't started going wrong- I could. Hermes would cover for me and mom would hug me. Athena would scold me for escaping school, and then immediately get into an argument with Triton about me going to a school in the Sea. I miss my family.
Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.
I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.
"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. I hate her.
It was stupid, I know it was, but one second I was sitting down, the next I was standing up and she was in the fountain. My hand was around the pendant Triton gave me, ready to transform it into my spear.
I froze, horrified at my own actions. Did I push her? Or did the water grab her? Shoot, I'm in so much trouble.
Mrs Dodds appeared beside us.
So this is the limit until the strangely behaved monster attacks. Great.
As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—"
Skyloving dishonorable bull lover of a- "Come with me, Mr Jackson."
Great. Just… perfect.
"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."
I paused and stared at him. What is he doing? I know satyrs are supposed to be demigod protectors, but Grover hasn't exactly been doing that job at all since we met, and I'm pretty sure I can kill her much faster than he can.
She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.
"But—"
"You—will—stay—here."
Grover looked at me desperately.
"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."
"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."
Nancy Bobofit smirked.
I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.
Oh come on! You're not even hiding that you're a monster! Seriously, and Chiron is seeing none of this?!
I cursed my luck to Pontus and back as I followed her up the stairs into the museum.
I followed her deep into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.
Except for us, the gallery was empty.
Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Oh no, she was literally growling. And I still don't know what kind of monster she is.
"Could you be any more subtle, godling?" She growled at me.
Wait, what?
"Huh?"
She stalked forward towards me. "The gods are watching, The King knows who you are now. He saw you at the fountain."
Oh, Oedipus Rex! I did manipulate the water like an absolute idiot.
...Wait.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked her, frowning.
She snarled and snapped, "My lord sent me to keep up appearances. At first he thought you stole his Helm, but it seems not. If I am here, other monsters will not attack, and the gods think my master is suspicious of you."
Hades. I knew that Triton and him had a longstanding friendship, and I was suddenly very grateful for my brother.
"Now what?" I asked her.
She smiled, a horrible thing with too-sharp teeth. "We continue appearances." Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings.
Oh. She's one of the Erinyes.
She lunged.
I stepped back, yelping as I ducked her claws. Okay, I'm certain that Triton doesn't know about this part in the plan!
Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.
I caught it, ducking Mrs Dodds' claws at the same time that the pen became a sword.
Why couldn't Chiron come and fight her himself? The gig most certainly is up and I would rather like the immortal centaur to help me!
Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.
She snarled, "Die, honey!" And she flew straight at me.
I did the only thing I could do. I swung the sword.
Here's the thing about being very well educated on killing monsters but have never actually killed one yourself. Nobody tells you that monsters turn into sandcastles in powerfans, and next thing you know you are covered in more golden dust than Minos at the beach.
I was alone.
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.
Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.
Oh. So this is the Mist in action.
I went back outside.
It had started to rain.
Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."
I said, "Who?"
"Our teacher. Duh!"
Can the Mist make up a whole new teacher from nothing? I was expecting to be asked if I saw her get helicoptered away or something, not have a brand new teacher appear from nowhere.
Thunder boomed overhead.
I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.
I went over to him.
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."
"Uh, sir?" I asked nervously.
"Yes, Mr Jackson?"
"Shouldn't I call my mom? You know, cause of the monster attack? She told me I have to do so when it happens, it means she has to enroll me in Camp." I lied to him, hoping beyond hope that the lie Hermes told me to follow will hold up.
Chiron gaped at me for a second, then nodded as if he should have expected this. "Of course, I can ring her for you and we can talk through your options. Though I will admit I would prefer for you to wait until Summer to join the camp, but sometimes the monster attacks do get in the way of that."
He paused, assessing me. "If you could please fetch Grover, he was your assigned satyr protector."
"Sure, Chiron," I smiled innocently, just to be cheeky.
If I'm going to be shoved into a war, I'm going to be snarky about it.
Lore/Translation:
'Anax= Crown Prince
'Anass= Crown Princess
'Gi'Ais=Prince from Land
'Gi'Des= Lord from Land
'Gi'Bas=King from Land
Teiso=Uncle
A/N
CANON TIME BABEY! This is a super long chapter cause I refused to separate the godly pov and the field trip, but don't worry the other chapters won't be short either. I'm trying to update all my fics before I go on holiday again, so to all of you guys waiting for my Swallow my Pride and Sunshowers update, I'm working on both of those today and tomorrow and will be updating them asap!
Triton manages the sea and Hades, Athena buries the hatchet with Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo are Hermes and Apollo, and Percy purposefully kills his teacher and starts playing a game with Chiron! Okay so, I had that Hermes and Apollo scene written down for weeks and I'm so glad to finally post it! Also, I have a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, so everyone keep your eyes peeled for those! I rewrote the WW2 stuff cause uh, that was ~*problematic*~, so now you guys got Mikhail the doc who just wanted funding, Damien the himbo british spy that wishes he stayed home that day, and Xanther the all-american ww2 hero that came out of a propaganda piece.
