The Beginning:

Chapter 9:

When the contractions first started, Percy was asked to leave by Hagno.

Really, she was quite rude about it.

The nymph- naiad, really- was the oldest of the nine trusted with Zeus's upbringing (except Percy had gone and got himself roped in as well, so ten? But he wasn't a nymph…) and she was definitely the most unimpressed by him.

Despite Rhea's word being law, as far as most nymphs were concerned, and Rhea assuring them that Percy was the best person for the job, Hagno had quickly concluded that Percy had no clue what in Zeus's name he was doing.

Which, fair. He did have no idea. This entire "take care of child" thing was Rhea's fault. He had just been roped in by her puppy dog eyes.

It was this derision though, that lead to Percy quickly learning that despite her face being the picture of the otherworldly beauty that marked all nymphs, Hagno had personality of an old southern grandma and she took no shit.

Obviously, she was his favourite. Even if the current conversation did not seem to be going well for Team Percy.

Hagno snorts, her hair pulled with a small piece of leather as she glares at him. "No, I don't need you to fetch anything. I just need you to not be in my way when I actually pull my weight around here."

The 'unlike you' goes unsaid, but heavily implied.

"I mean, are you sure? Because I could boil the linens or-" Percy wrings his hands and feels like withering slightly at the look at her face, which could probably scare Medusa at this point.

Not that Medusa was alive, yet. Geeze.

"I'm sure," Hagno says icily, her eyes exasperated as she quickly checked over her shoulder at Rhea, who was being tended to by at least four other nymphs. Where the others went, Percy doesn't know. "We already have more than enough hands for everything without you messing it up."

Percy bites his lip. "Alright. But-"

"No." She says with bite, looking for all the world like she'd rather be anywhere but here. "I will send someone to get you when the young lord is born. No sooner, no later. Until then, stay out."

The words are said harshly, but Percy thinks that maybe they aren't said unkindly. They are united in their worry, after all, but Percy is functionally useless in this environment whereas Hagno isn't.

If he was being honest with himself, he probably was being a bit much. The Infant Mortality Rate in Ancient Greece had been horrible, but Zeus was immortal. And so was Rhea. Percy was pretty sure that fact was the statistical outlier.

Hagno sighs, and Percy glances at her out of the corner of his eye. "Go, kid." She says, rolling her eyes. "There's nothing you could do here, anyway."

He nods.

"Alright, just… be careful."

Hagno gives him a flat look. "Our Queen is a Titaness. What exactly do you think is going to happen?" Her lips flatten into an exasperated line. "Honestly, men." With those final words, she clambers back through the entrance of the cave again, although not before giving him a rough hand gesture that Percy took to mean: Shoo!

It's a little on the nose, but Percy can't bring himself to feel that annoyed about her attitude. If more people in the world were like her, things probably would get done a lot faster.

Although maybe the world would be a bit scarier, as well.

Hagno gives him flashbacks of Artemis, after all.

After being unceremoniously shoved out of the cave that had been his home for the last three says, Percy whittled away the hours by using his newfound knowledge of the island to his advantage, wondering about the scenery in silence.

There wasn't very much happening, because of how very young the world was, but now that Percy knew the reason, his nerves were a little better.

At least, he doesn't accidently attack a tree that rustles too loudly.

It was the small victories.

Eventually, Percy decided to make himself easier to find by heading back to the river where he had first meet Rhea.

He had been making shapes in the water to amuse himself when he felt a presence approach him, and found himself face to face with, (surprise surprise) another Nymph.

Not a naiad though- a tree dryad.

With dark green eyes, glossy black hair, and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, she was (like everyone had had met so far in the past- it was kind of unfair) supermodel gorgeous.

Percy raises an eyebrow, and she giggles cheerfully before darting out and, with no regard for personal space, grabs his elbow with a familiarity that surprises him.

He had met a few of the nymphs before (including Hagno) but the tree dryad was a new face.

"I'm Neda!" She says happily as she drags him in the general direction of the cave. He gets the feeling that patience isn't one of her strengths. "You're Percy, right? Dark hair, dreamy green eyes- you gotta be him!"

Percy feels himself flush. "Uh, yeah. That's me. Why-?"

Neda grins at him from over her shoulder. "Hagno, that meany, said to come get you! We have to go- the young lord has been born!"

"Wait," Percy says, struggling slightly at her fast past- she almost reminded him of a young child, with her simplistic way of speaking and cheerful attitude, and the comparison wasn't made better by the generally smaller statue of a dryad. "Zeu- I mean, the young lord has been born? Why do we need to go now, then?"

There is a genuine surprise in the question, and Neda looks surprised as well. "Our lady wanted you to be the first to see him." She says simply, "And her family might have sensed the presence of a newborn by now, right? So, we need to be quick."

"Rhea asked for me?" Percy says, taken off guard, but he picks up his pace. If Rhea was determined to do something, he had learnt it was better to try and get out of her way then contest her.

Neda huffs and brakes out into a slight jog to counter his longer stride. She nods viciously. "Yeah! That's why we need to go!"

Percy, personally, hadn't been quite sure how much these nymphs had understood about the circumstances surrounding Zeus's birth, but at Neda's tone (bright but understanding) a sense of admiration comes over him.

It probably wasn't easy to be committing treason against the King of the universe, after all. And they had none of the experience Percy had had either.

Despite this, the dryad is still grins like a lunatic as the mountain draws closer on the horizon (and maybe Percy should of chosen a closer place, but sue him, he didn't know) and Percy raises and eyebrow as he catches his breath.

"You look like a manic," Percy says, smiling slightly.

Neda was around the only person who he had met in this time who seemed at least a little bit young (even if it was weird to think of it like that) and he had to admit he enjoyed it. It was a breath of fresh air.

The dryad laughs, her chuckles sounding like leaves rustling as she replies with a grin. "Of course! A new lord is being born, and I-we- have been chosen to help our lady throughout it! We are being blessed, no matter the circumstances."

She momentarily stops from where she had been perpetually moving, gasping. "Oh! What do you think his favourite fruit will be? Or what colours will his eyes be? Do you think I can sing to him? What about-?"

Percy blinked, before snorting slightly. He forgotten the more "groupie" aspect of Nymphs, it seemed. They were worthy of respect, but this one seemed a tad ditsy. Or maybe that was just her youth.

"I don't know." Percy interrupts the word vomit when he sees the chance. "Maybe you'll get to ask him yourself."

Neda practically glows, and she looks like Christmas had come early. "Do you think our lady would let me?"

Percy shrugged. "I see no reason why not." She squeals, and Percy laughs as she grabs his hand, pulling him along with more apparent urgency than before.

Her happiness was infectious, and it was an innocent joy that Percy hadn't seem much of recently. He hadn't had much time to get to know all nine of the nymphs gathered, but silently he made up his mind to fix that.

It seemed like they'd be spending a lot of time together, anyway.

Notes:

Read and Review! This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but I couldn't decide how to make two parts of the section meet, before realising that I could literally just split in two and have two chapters instead of one. This one is about introducing the characters that Percy is gonna be spending a lot of his time around. I'll try and introduce a few more of the nymphs, but yeah. I hope you like them :)