Chiron had been the activities director of Camp Half-Blood ever since it opened. The old centaur had seen many students, with some of the most famous Greek Heroes being of his teaching. He had seen the child of all gods and was a master at deciphering the parent of each child. It didn't matter how old the child was, there were few key characteristics that every godly parent passed on to their child.
For example, each child of Ares was a mini psychopath, and each child of Aphrodite was very beautiful. The troublemakers were always the Hermes children and the Apollo kids hung out with everyone. After millennia of training young demigods, Chiron had become an expert at identifying godly parents.
However, the streak Chiron was so proud to hold was broken one day, when a mysterious baby appeared in the middle of camp.
The day started out as any average summer day. The campers all gathered to eat in the dining hall, he inspected every activity was fit for the heroes, so on and so forth. At around three in the afternoon, however, a young daughter of Aphrodite came running towards the old centaur.
"Chiron!" The girl yelled her mentors name
"Heather? What is the problem my dear?" Chiron asked the young girl with concern
"I was out with Scott, close to camp borders, and we found something. It was in a small bundle and we freaked out. You gotta come see!"
The centaur looked at the girl with great curiosity, but nodded and signaled her to show him the way. The you girl walked quickly through the woods, faster than he had seen any Aphrodite girl ever pass through the woods, until she came at a full stop.
"Scott! Where are you?" She yelled
The leaves from the left side of where the centaur and demigoddess were standing began to ruffle around. A young boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes came out from the bushes, looking around frantically.
"Heather, Chiron, take a look at this." Scott told them, returning once again to behind the bushes. A couple of seconds later, he came out from the bushes, but this time, the demigod son of Hermes was holding a bundle with his two arms.
Before Chiron could ask what the small bundle contained, a childlike cry was heard from it. Scott unwrapped the bundle, revealing a small baby.
"Well, it's safe to assume that it has godly blood flowing in his veins" Scott said after the surprise
"How do you know if it's a him?" Heather asked.
Scott looked down at the baby and nodded his head, "it's a boy, no doubt about that"
Chiron looked at the small baby with great curiosity. It had been long years since a baby was left in camp borders, and even longer since it radiates the amount of energy this baby had. And to make matters worse, the wise mentor had no clue what godly parent the baby had.
The baby had light brownish reddish hair and light green eyes, almost as if they were in constant motion. Everything else about the baby was the same as all other babies in the world, but usually the color of the eyes and scent of the child would give Chiron an idea of who the parent is. However, the child in Scott's arms was an enigma; it was a mystery that couldn't be solved for many years.
"What do we do with him?" Heather asked Chiron
"Let's go take him to the big house" Chiron decided
The three figures made way towards the big house, ignoring the questioning looks of the campers. Once they entered, they quickly laid the baby down on a soft surface on the floor so that it would not fall.
"So he had to stay here right?" Scott asked Chiron
The centaur nodded, "indeed, he will grow up immersed in the Greek World. He will grow up to be one of the best warriors in Greek history. There is something about him that tells me, he's the one"
The demigods looked at their mentor with their eyebrows scrunched, yet they did not question him any further. The group looked as the little baby boy rolled on the floor, smiling and laughing at the trio.
"We have to name him, don't we?" Heather asked
"How does Maximilian sound?" Scott proposed
"No. He's not a dog" The daughter of Aphrodite counterfeited
"Fine, then you decide on a name"
"How about Francisco?"
"How about we decide on a name that we can both say?" Scott grumbled
"Fine. Each of us get five veto's" Heather proposed
"Alright. You start"
"Hunter"
"Oh you want him to be a douche? Veto. Angel" Scott said
"Veto. Tanner"
"Veto. Elijah"
"Do you hate this baby? Veto" Heather scoffed "Chad"
"The frat guy name? Veto" Scott said "Keith"
"Ew veto. That's the most unattractive male name in existence" Heather gagged "Clayton"
"Veto. Cristian"
"You do realize that doesn't make sense right? So veto."
Just as Heather was going to propose another name, a flash of light forced the demigods to close their eyes. When they opened them, a paper was floating in mid air. Tentatively, Scott reached out and grabbed the paper, reading what was written on it.
"Well, what does it say?" Heather asked
"His name is Hector Carib Troy. Please take care of him, he would've been in danger if he stayed with his real parents. Chiron, train him as hard as you will, with no remorse whatsoever. Also, don't ever let him take off his necklace, it's the one thing that will keep him safe during the years to follow.
-The great Apollo, God of Prophecy, the Sun, Music, Poetry, Medicine, and much more
Ps. He is welcome to stay in my cabin"
Chiron looked at the little baby and picked him up.
"Well, you're just a little mystery aren't you Hector?" The baby laughed loudly and extended his arms at the two young demigods. "Seems like little Hector believes you two are his parents"
The son of Hermes blushed heavily while the daughter of Aphrodite simply picked up the baby from Chiron's hands. "Well I'm not your mommy Carib, but I will act just as one while I can, alright? We are going to have so much fun together. And Scott will help to, right Scott?"
"Of course, the baby will be my responsibility also" Scott said, touching the baby's hand with his finger and then letting the small hand grab it with all of its might.
As a new family was being formed, a new mother mourned the loss of her new child. She was being held by her husband, who tried to keep his tears at bay but failing at every attempt. It was the first baby of the couple, but due to political reasons, they could not raise their son.
On top of mount Olympus, in one of the Olympian palaces, am auburn haired goddess cried on the arms of her husband. The goddess had given birth in secret seven days prior, with only her brother and husband aiding in the process. Not only did she have to hide her pregnancy from the Olympians, but she also had to hide the fact that she was no longer a maiden from her hunters.
Artemis knew that in order to keep her hunters intact, she would have to tell them the whole truth. Marrying a man on an unknown island, breaking her oath for him, and even changing her whole perspective of men. When the goddess of the hunt was with her hunters she acted as if nothing had changed at all. She still turned boys into woodland critters, but it had decreased in frequency.
She had also decreased the time she spent with her hunters, using for an excuse that they 'had to develop hunting skills without the aid of a god'. As much of an obvious excuse that was, the hunters loyalty blinded them from what their mistress was doing behind their backs. Instead of spending all of her time with the hunt, the goddess had started to spend only 3 days a week with the hunt or when a special mission was issued.
The god Perseus had been claustrophobic the first few years on Olympus, but after being told that he could navigate the whole country (while making sure that he was not spotted by any God), the god of tides had become the happiest man ever. During the 1960's, the god had spotted a job as a lifeguard in the Florida beaches. He resided in Miami, living happily in a luxurious apartment and doing what he loved. Then, as the 1970's came and went, the city of Miami became much too violent for the peaceful persona of Perseus to bear.
It was the perfect timing also. With more women working outside of their homes, the demand for day cares grew exponentially. At first, people were reluctant to leave their kids alone with a man, but after seeing the happiness of the kids, the Day Care bloomed. Every kid that went to the day care came out being a better person. They learned they necessary values to be good people in the outside society, while also having the most fun.
Overall, Perseus life had been much better since he had left that dreaded island. He could finally have jobs that would directly deal with his domains, he had the opportunity to visit wherever he wanted in the world, and he had the most beautiful wife in existence, who he loved with all her heart.
Unfortunately, all good times come to an end. The day had come where he had to give up his son.
Perseus understood why he had given up his son, he really did. It was a sacrifice, something that would benefit everyone in the end. Still, that didn't mean that the process hurt less, it just meant that he understood why they had to do it.
"Did we have to leave him so soon? Could I have had my baby for a little while longer?" Artemis asked her husband
"If we had kept him any longer we would've put his life in danger. He's much safer down there in Camp Half-Blood." Perseus replied
Artemis put her hands on her face and began to panic. "We put our son in the spotlight. Now everyone will be able to see that he is different. What if they find out? What if one day he does something and then Zeus goes on and kills him? Or maybe-"
Perseus held on to his wife, "Artemis, relax. They won't find out that Carib is our son. I mean, let's be real here. Nobody besides Apollo remembers that I still exist, and people would actually believe that freaking Chaos would have a kid in Camp Half-Blood before you, so there's a slim chance that somebody will figure it all out. Besides, the best way to hide something is right beneath everyone's nose."
Artemis sighed "I know, and you're right. It's just that-"
"It hurts to give up the thing you love the most in the world"
Artemis nodded. "The only thing I was able to do was give him a name"
"That reminds me, why Hector?" Perseus asked
"He was my favorite hero in Troy. He was just, had great skills, and defended his family with honor." Artemis explained
"You do remember how he died right?"
"And what Achilles did to his body. I should've done something about that. I mean, watching it was just so..." Artemis struggled to find the right word
"Grotesque?"
"Yes, exactly" the couple stayed a moment in silence "why Carib?"
"Well Carib is short for Caribbean, which is a sea, and the sea has tides" Perseus explained
"So you just went for it. Here I was, not naming him something like Hunter, or Artem, or Archer. Meanwhile you basically announced 'hey, this is my child!' to everyone" Artemis said madly
"At least you're going to be able to see him. When you go with your hunters to camp Half-Blood, you will be able to see our son laugh, cry, and many other things. You will be able to talk to him if you do wish! But what about me? I just stay in the shadows, not able to tell my own son that I love him," tears started to fall from Perseus eyes.
Artemis kissed her husband lightly "I'm sorry Percy. I didn't think about that"
"Yeah, well"
Artemis pondered for a bit until she found a solution. "I got it"
"You got what?"
"A partial solution" she received a questioning look from her husband " I just remembered that gods can visit demigods in their dreams. You can visit Hector whenever you want, as long as he is sleeping"
"But he's not a demigod Arty. The only reason why he won't age as a god should is because of the necklace. It's the same reason why his ichor will be seen as blood. It's all optical illusions, it doesn't change the biology of our son"
Artemis unconsciously touched her chest, the exact place where the necklace had been for the past five hundred or more years. "Right, but it's the only thing we can do. What do we lose by trying?"
"Hope"
"Hope shmush. If you can't contact him, I'll make sure that he knows about you by whatever means that takes. If you can contact him, then you can talk to him yourself"
Perseus sighed and nodded his head "ok, I'll try to do it in a couple of years"
"Thank you. But don't wait too long, a lot of demigods grow up resenting their godly parents" Artemis said
"But he's not a demigod"
"You know what I meant" Artemis punched him playfully in the arm
The married couple sat together for the rest of the afternoon and night, watching their first son meet his new family. Even though they were young, the gods knew that the two demigods who had found Hector were to be trusted, and that they would take care of their baby as their own. Not only that, but Chiron would train their son to be the best warrior ever.
They knew that he would have great skills. The were also sure that their son would grow up to be one of the greatest heroes of Greek History. But for now, the young couple only focused on passing their first night without their baby by their side.
