10. Siblings

Ari's pov

It's been a few days since they left Philadelphia. It was the only home Ari had ever known but it is also the place where so many bad memories are buried. She will miss it but she is also glad that she left. So that I can have a new beginning, protect my loved ones instead of seeing them hurt to protect. Maybe if I had learned to fight earlier, mom could have been with me today, perhaps I could've saved her. She could've told me what she thought of my newly found half-brother who is in the tent, cooking dinner. But I didn't save her, instead, I froze up at the sight of a monster jumping at me and it cost my mother, her life.

We were camping on the outskirts of a town in a park. I stared at the tent we had pitched up. It looked like a tiny tent from the outside for one but it was surprisingly large on the inside. I decided then that it must be some kind of magic.

Over the last few days, Taz and I had pestered Percy with all kinds of questions about Camp Half-Blood and other demigods. He answered all our questions as best as he could but I noticed that he avoided telling us anything major about his experiences there. He also had this faraway dreamy look in his eyes when he thought we weren't looking. I may have known him for only a few days but I already felt like I could trust him and cared for him as a brother.

She could see that Taz also respected Percy and maybe even admired him. Taz had always been more closed off than others she had known. He had been hurt by someone. She could tell that much. She was glad they had found someone they could both trust. When they saw Percy, Ari had to admit, she was scared of him but now that they got know him a bit more, she knew that he wouldn't hurt them but rather he would do everything to protect them.

"Ari!" I heard a cry from the trees behind me. It sounded like Taz. I immediately ran towards the way the voice had come from. The woods got denser as I went deeper in. "Ari, come quick!" Another cry was heard.

I tripped on a rock and a shadow loomed over me and bellowed, "Half-Blood FOOD." I looked up and saw a burly monster with one eye. It was a cyclops. Mom had told me stories about the destruction they brought about. I shot up and headbutted him. The cyclops stumbled back a bit and I got up quickly turning to run back but a figure lying on the ground in the corner caught my eye. Taking advantage of my distraction, the cyclops hit my head with a rock. Black spots danced in my vision, the last I saw was a cloaked person jump between me and the cyclops before my head hit the ground.

Percy's pov

They all had simple jobs. Percy was going to make or summon dinner while Taz got some firewood from the nearby trees and Ari kept a lookout for monsters or even worse, interfering mortals.

Percy quickly summoned a feast fit for royalty for the three of us and went outside to call them in. When he got outside, however, it was deserted. No one was in sight. A metallic glint in the dark caught his eye. He went over to the rock and picked up Ari's sword. This worried him, Ari would not have left her sword like this unless...

Percy placed the sword back on the rock and started looking around for tracks. He found them, leading into the forest behind their campsite. Something about this whole situation seems fishy. He mentally cursed. He should not have left them alone, what if they're in danger. He ran silently through the forest following the tracks until he saw two figures ahead.

One figure was staring at something that he couldn't see clearly and the other abnormally huge figure sneaked up from behind and threw a rock at her. Percy could see that it was a female now, she fell unconscious, he took the opportunity and jumped between the two figures only to realize that the female was Ari and it was a cyclops he was facing.

Percy quickly drew riptide and slashed at him. The cyclops dodged it. He was stunned only for a second before the fight began again. It was a dance of slashing, dodging, and parrying. When at last, with a stab to his chest, the cyclops returned to Tartarus. Percy was surprised that the cyclops was able to last this long. Usually, cyclops do not fight this well trained. But he could ponder on that later. He quickly assessed the scene. Ari and Taz were both unconscious. Taz was wounded a bit more than Ari. His arm was bleeding while Ari only had a bleeding scratch on her head and a slight bump.

Percy swiftly carried them both back to the campsite, being careful of their injuries. A few of the apollo campers had taught him first aid. So, he tried his best to properly clean their wounds and bandage them. He laid them both down on a sleeping bag and sat on a foldable chair.

Percy heavily sighed. 'This would've been so much easier if we had one of the healers here,' he grumbled in his head.

Then as if a light bulb had lit in his head, an idea struck him. He could not believe he hadn't thought of this before. He was Lady Hestia's Champion. He can use the ability to heal too.

He grinned gleefully at himself before setting to work. He placed his hands on Taz's wounds as he had seen many healers do and concentrated on healing. All of a sudden, his hands glowed a warm orange and the wound began to itself but he also felt the use of this power taxing and draining his energy. After he was done with Taz, he placed a wet cloth on Ari's forehead. The water would help him heal her as the daughter of Poseidon.

After healing them both, Percy was exhausted. He decided it'd be best if he practiced this power more often than not. He also needed to teach both Ari and Taz to fight so that they can kill at least one monster as he knew two children of the Big Three would be attracting a lot of monster attention.

"Ugh." His sister groaned. "W-what happened?" she asked drowsily.

"You and Taz got captured by a cyclops while I made dinner," he recalled. "When I came to find you both, you were gone. I followed your tracks and found you getting hit with a rock by the cyclops, so I killed him. I brought both of you back here and patched up your injuries."

Ari blinked a few times, taking in the new information and examining her head with her hand seemingly finding no injuries," I don't have any injuries. How long was I unconscious?"

Percy nervously scratched the back of his neck. "You were only unconscious for two hours and I told you, I healed your injuries."

Ari still looked confused but must have decided to let it go when she turned to her other unconscious friends with a bandaged arm. "When will he wake up?" she asked worriedly.

"He should wake up in a couple of hours," he answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now, something like this could happen again since we are taking the long road to New York because of the monster in the cities."

Ari frowned," Then what will we do about it?"

Percy grinned and answered," I am going to teach you both how to properly fight, little sis."

From that day on, Percy started to teach them how to fight with a sword, and sometimes he also taught some basic hand-to-hand combat. They were good students. Ari definitely had the affinity for the sword, like Percy and Taz was pretty good with his duo of daggers. He also got to know much more about them. Ari was more trusting and extroverted while Taz was more suspicious, laying back to observe that to face head-on. Taz was also a huge nature lover.

They travelled during the day, staying out of cities as much as they can to not run into too many monsters or the ones that Percy was more concerned about, demigods and satyrs and they camped at night in a park or any other secluded area. It was a slow journey but he got to know his sister and come to care for Taz as a brother. He would not have traded this time for any other even if he would have to leave them at camp Half-Blood soon and hope that they don't believe the lies and rumours about him.

Speaking of Camp Half-Blood, tomorrow Percy should be able to mist travel them both to the entrance at camp and then mist travel himself back. He just didn't know how to break the news that he would not be coming with them. He picked on his food at dinner, lost in thought.

"Percy, is something wrong?" Percy looked up to see Taz frowning down on him. The kid had grown on him a lot. He contemplated whether, to tell the truth. In the end, he decided it'd be better if he just got it over with.

"Tomorrow, I am going to be dropping off both of you at Camp Half-Blood," he stated sadly.

Taz's frown only deepened," That's good, isn't it? No more monsters chasing us and all," he paused. "Wait a minute, what do you mean, you'll be dropping us off? What about you?"

"That is exactly what I meant. I can't come to camp with you and I don't know when I will be able to see you both again. It means that tomorrow we will have to say goodbye," Percy explained slowly.

He looked to his sister to gauge her reaction only to regret it. Her eyes were filled with tears. "But why can't you come to camp with us?" Taz choked out.

He took a deep breath and readied himself to tell his story. He told him of the previous wars, how after the second war, everyone distanced themselves from him and someone framed for various accusations. How he overheard the Olympian Council and their decision to exile him to Tartarus. A fate he ran away from. He left out his stay with the magicians and other quests of his. By the end, Taz's expression was sad and Ari had tears streaming down her face. He went over to her and pulled her into a one-arm hug.

"So, overall, I can't come with you, or else I might get caught and exiled to a place which I despise from the bottom of my heart. You also cannot tell anyone that I was the one to bring you to camp or they might try to interrogate you and you might seem suspicious to them," he stated.

Taz abruptly stood up and ran out of the tent. Ari tried to after him but Percy pulled her back and shook his head. "You stay here, I'll go after him." He ran out of the door without hearing her reply.

He found Taz sitting on a log on the edge of a creek with his head in his hands. "I'm sorry that I have to leave."

"It is not your fault.Everybody in my life just keeps leaving. I should be used to it by now," he said in a small voice.

Percy felt a wave of sadness for the vulnerable boy in front of him. "You have Ari with you though," he offered.

Taz groaned and lifted his face, his eyes were red as if he was crying. "Ari will eventually leave me too."

Guilt swarmed Percy, he pulled the smaller boy into a hug, "No she won't, she considers you her best friend, she won't leave. You are like my brother, Taz. I am not leaving you intentionally, though I will keep in touch in some way," he promised.

Taz buried his face in the chest of the man he had come to admire in the days of their travels together. They pulled apart but Percy still had an arm thrown across Taz's shoulder. Percy brought out two twin rings from his pocket and handed them to Taz.

Taz looked confused as to what he was supposed to do with them but he put them on in each hand nonetheless. "Twist the rings twice," Percy instructed.

Taz did so and in a flash, his twin daggers appeared in his hands. He marvelled at the daggers which had transformed from the rings. "To transform them to rings again, you only have to twist the bottom of either dagger."

He did so and the daggers rested on his hands in the form of rings once again. The boy smiled widely and hugged him again. Percy was shocked only for a minute before returning the hug. They broke apart, "Thank you".

"You're welcome," he smirked. They stood up and made their way back to the campsite. Ari was pacing nervously in front of the tent with her arms crossed. She embraced Taz as soon as she saw them come back. Taz pulls back and goes into the tent after assuring Ari that he was fine.

Percy had a small smile on his face. He stepped up to his sister pulled her away. "I wanted to give you something." He pulled a charm bracelet from his pocket with a sword charm on it. Ari raised a questioning brow but put it on anyway. "You have to twist the sword charm," he instructs.

Ari does so and it transforms into her mother's sword but feels more balanced than it did before. Her eyes started to water again but she quickly wiped them. "Thanks, "Ari says while twisting the sword in her hand. Then she put the sword's tip to his throat and threatened, "You'd better contact us from time to time or else I will come wherever you might be and kick butt."

Percy raised his hands in surrender and promised to keep in contact. She then transformed her sword back into a charm. Percy was grateful for Hephaestus's blessing which let him upgrade his siblings' weapons to have something to remember him by. Now he only wanted to find a place where he can be safe from the gods.