IMPLIED/REFERENCED SEXUAL ASSAULT
IMPLIED/REFERENCED CONSENSUAL SEXUAL CONTENT
Camp was... camp.
That's all he could say. It felt like coming home but it also felt like being in enemy territory. Though that may be from the sheer disgust that they all were radiating as the cabins looked like the ones that they had built, but the prejudice that flowed within the camp was sickening.
Cabin Ten was crying about broken nails, Cabin Seven was crying about broken guitar strings, Cabin Four was crying about squashed vegetables, Cabin Five was making people cry.
What did they walk into?
Percy thought they were doing better. Why was the dislike between the cabins necessary for fate?
He especially didn't like the way that they all seemingly treated the few titan kids that stayed there. Since they couldn't stay in a cabin, they had to stay in the big house because apparently the children were afraid that they were going to swallow them whole.
What kind of place was this?
Ariadne walked around the camp with a sneer on her face. Her eyes traced across the campers unnoticed as she followed the pull of the sea. "Gods," she groaned. Rachel and Annabeth looked in curiosity. Ariadne shook her head, "The Office, season 7, episode 19, minute 14:45." The two girls' brows furrowed as they tried to remember a detail about a show they hadn't seen in forever. The youngest of them smirked and quoted, "I should have burned this place down when I had the chance."
Percy winced then snorted at her words. If this was how it was going to turn out, he couldn't exactly blame her as the two them headed towards the sea line. They stood before the ocean's cabins before turning to the one that was clearly their father's. Images overlapped of a smaller cabin that was much too big for two kids [and much too big for the one that was going to reside there now].
It had been so long.
Percy suddenly tensed, noting that Ariadne didn't seem to notice anything wrong. His eyes trailed around them until he noticed the doors of what was Benny's cabin open.
His breath caught in his throat.
Even though they were as green as his own, he knew those eyes.
He knew that smile; even if the fangs were sharper than a killer shark.
He knew that hairstyle even if it had been years since he last saw it.
The door opened wider, and Percy could have cried.
"Hello," they stated. He knew that voice; softer than it ever had been. Ariadne spun around with wide eyes. He caught sight of the bracelet on her wrist. Her trident was still there, but— "Are you the visitors that Chiron informed us about?"
She walked forward, and they could sense the hair clip in her hair was not a typical accessory. It wasn't Stormbreaker. Percy had that one. "My name is Persia. I am the daughter of–"
"Benthesicyme," Percy finished. "We know. She's our sister." The girl dropped into a formal bow in front of them. They blinked at the switch, "My apologies, aunt and uncle." They shook their heads, lifting her from the bow, "Please. We're outside of the court. No need for all of that."
Ariadne gnawed at her lips before asking, "Is Persia your real name?" Their niece waved her hand side to side. "Mother named me Persia, but Father calls me Ariadne." They were too skilled to show how they flinched at that.
Percy swiped his tongue over his lips, hesitating before asking, "I'm kind of shocked that you're here. I would have thought Benny took you to sea." Persia shrugged, "Grandfather wants us to learn how to fight on land."
Thankfully, they were saved from saying anything more when JackJack came sprinting their way. The two of them smiled at him as he slowed to a stop beside them with Leo and Drew at his sides. Leo and Drew ducked behind Ariadne shyly when they caught sight of Persia. Even Jackjack hesitated, the boy looking between Persia and Ariadne suspiciously.
"How old are you," Percy questioned suddenly. She didn't look any older than 12, but if she was born at sea then– "I am 813 years old." The human equivalent would be 15.
"Wow, you don't look that old," Jackjack stared in confusion. The twins snorted. "She's a sea bred," Ariadne explained. "Born and raised at sea. She can live at sea for many years; almost as long as the gods." The children's eyes sparkled in excitement. "And no, you cannot live at sea. Drew and Leo, for one, you cannot breathe underwater and there's an entire ritual to go through. Percy, would you really leave your mother behind to stay at sea?"
The boy's eyes widened before he shook his head. Persia laughed, "It's okay. The sea isn't that much fun anyway."
Percy highly doubted that, but he guessed it came down to a matter of preference. The camp's conch shell blew for the switch of activities. Persia smiled at them, "I have to go. I have art class. It was nice meeting you."
They smiled as she took off towards the middle of camp before the twins shared looks.
[ "Do you think?"
"It can't be. I still have my weapons."
"She has your entire face. She has your name."
"I was not meant to be. She can't be me."
"She must be the closest fate could get."
"Or the farthest they could create."]
They say nothing else as Ariadne turns away, reaching down to swing Drew onto her hip. She takes Leo's in hers, and makes Jackjack hold on to her shirt.
She was such a mom.
Percy stifled his laugh as he pushed the door open. If it weren't for his sister at his back and her holding the kids, they would have doubled over as pain rocked their bodies. The sound of crashing waves echoed around them. It took them a moment to realize they were hearing it in their head and in the cabin.
A distorted voice like how television states that people hear underwater: All hail Perseus and Ariadne Jackson. Children of the Sea God.
The moment is over as quick as it happened. The two of them shake their heads before walking further into the cabin. It was definitely more spacious than before. There were stairs that one would see on a boat that led to the upper floors and slip and slide that led to the bottom floor.
They knew down there; there were a series of connecting tunnels that acted like water slides that spat them out into the sea.
They honestly couldn't wait for Tyson to be born. There was no way that they were leaving Jackjack to stay here by himself. Ariadne let the kids go to explore, casually leaning against the wall beside him to hide the expressions of pain.
[Ariadne sat beside Percy on the bed, carefully rewrapping the gauze around his body. Her eyes are glowing a golden blue. The straps of her tank top are sliding down her arms as she continuously curses Luke's family line and calls him an idiot for worrying her. The lyre imprint on her chest pulses with each breath she lets out. He wanted to comfort her, but he was just tired.
Tired of fighting all together. Annabeth was mad at him for saving her. Luke made her hold the weight of the sky and he was the bad guy for wishing the boy was dead. Couldn't she see that if he were dead then Kronos couldn't get to him anymore.
He snaps back into reality at a particularly harsh tug. Ariadne is glaring down at the bandages. He feels a little guilt for the way that her hair has the same patch in her strands like his except hers were slowly bleeding gold. He didn't forget when she slammed into him, hugging him fiercely because that was the most painful thing she had ever experienced and if he ever did anything as stupid as holding the sky again, she would make the underworld look like a vacation spot.
Memories shift until Ariadne is standing over a cliff, eyes vacant as she looks out at the water. Kronos appears behind her, walking slowly. Ariadne tenses as he stops time. The titan pulls at her clothes until she's standing in her underwear. Eyes burning in shame, she glares at him. He reaches for her, intent on making her his, but her eyes flash—not gold but a more powerful blue. The waves crash against the cliff, breaking the time spell, and she sinks happily into the water.
Percy was asleep in the cabin when Ariadne snuck out. Moving quietly across the camp, she taps the standard three knocks against Cabin 5 and Cabin 10. She leaves just as quickly as she arrived, feet taking her to a cave that would one day host the next oracle. Silena and Clarisse appear not too long after her. It takes only a second before the three of them are pressed tightly against the other. Ariande and Clarisse grind wetly against each other as Silena shoves her tongue down Ariadne's throat and rides against Clarisse's face.
The war was picking up in speed. Percy, and by extension, Ariadne would have to make a choice. And Greek Mythology isn't kind to those that have to choose. Paris, Midas, Athens...they don't know when they'd be able to have another moment like this.]
They come back into awareness sharply. Ariadne avoided Percy's eyes as she moved to the kids. He stops her before she could get too far, "Do you know why we're seeing this?" He doesn't comment on what he saw, but he was sure that the next time he laid his eyes on Kronos... he's going to make the titan wish for tartarus.
Ariadne shook her head, shrugging, "We're heading into our timeline now." She snorted, "The canon of our lines. We changed a lot though, and we've clearly made some wrong steps by pissing off Asteria's daughter. This might be more dangerous than what we went through. Maybe it's Ananke's way of letting us know that as long as we have each other we can overcome anything."
Percy smiled at her, "Yeah. I like that reasoning. Come on. Let's go see the rest of camp."
Rachel, Annabeth, and Ariadne wanted to throw up as they stood before Cabin 10. When the building had first been created, they did their best to infuse Aphrodite's essence into the building. Subtle colors that brought out the beauty in each design. In the pillars were two dove shaped signs and an all glass compartment that held a golden apple sitting elegantly on a pile of lettuce.
Now... It looked like a barbie doll dream house. Everything was pink and red. As if valentine's day decorators just threw up over everything. They couldn't even see the apples. The overwhelming scent of perfume and cologne wafting out of the room made them all gag. Annabeth was sure if they could just trapped it somewhere, they would have the perfect bomb.
"I am not taking my da–taking Drew or Silena in there," Ariadne exclaimed. "Where is Thalia? The damn scent alone is a hazard."
Rachel shrugged, eyeing the building as eagle-eyed as always, "It looks alright, kind of good in a way. The way that they blended the colors, I mean. It doesn't look too bad."
"I'd take the design from the first time around than this any day," Annabeth deadpanned. "I don't even think it's safe for them to be in there."
Ariadne grimaced, "By the seas, it's just as bad as the iodoform cabin 7 uses. I thought I was in the world's most golden hospital." She hated that. The few places she had been that belonged to Apollon in the previous timeline and in the current one never smelt like that. "It's like they're taking a trait from their parents and dialing it up to hundred instead of ten."
Rachel suddenly stiffened, "Do you–Do you think that it's a spell?" The girls paused before their eyes widened in realization. "A spell to keep us–them malleable. Keep them weak. This is a place to train them and keep them safe, but–" Ariadne and Annabeth stared each other in the eye, "It's also a prison."
Rachel nodded her head, eyes darting around, "It'd keep them content with the status quo. Getting worse and worse with each passing time. It's moving from a training camp to summer camp to just a camp of easy pickings."
Ariadne stared at the doors of cabin ten, "I won't be able to leave Castellan that much after this then. If that's really the plan, then that means the underground safe haven isn't all that safe. I'd need to concentrate on building Castellan's defenses. We have a labyrinth entrance there. I want to make sure nothing can get through it."
"We'd have to train them back up to standard," Annabeth pointed out. "And they're worse off than what they were before."
Percy walked up to them, overhearing their conversation, with his eyes narrowed, "The sea and the sky offspring can go to their respective realms to train. Especially anyone from the sea, time moves slower there. We can give them years of training in the span of months. We can only take a few of the sky offspring. Only the ones with an affinity for storms. We're taking all of cabin ten. They might be more Aphrodite than Palphian children but the sea is still within them. See if we can get the mages to skip the rituals and produce temporary ways for them to survive down there."
His sister smiled at him and he remembered her words, "You have always been equal to hope and strength for us all."
Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth's waist; his fiancée smiled amusingly at them all, "No longer shall we play by fate's rules. It was time to change the future for good."
"No going back. No doubling back. We end it now and we end it so it can never happen again," Percy declared.