I Don't Own Percy Jackson

"Holy fuck he is hot" Ok, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say as Apollo arrived, burning away the snow around us from burn heat... But it was also very accurate, like, seriously, I think I just realized I have a type. Hot, buff, and blonde are... it's a list of things I'm going to be keeping in mind for no particular reason. Apollo beamed at me, kind of literally, the sun sort of bent around him giving him a frankly beautiful background glow that highlighted literally all the right features.

"Why thank you little lady" And my buzz has been killed.

"I'm a guy" He blinked, looked lower than my face... and then smirked as his eyes returned back up to mine.

"Cool" And it's back, fucking hell... He went to ignoring the mortals, as he moved over to talk to his sister, the two chatted for a bit while Thalia nudged me in the gut as I glanced over at her, only to get a smirk.

"Hot huh?" I just grinned.

"Literally and metaphorically, two for one deal" That got a laugh from her and a pat on the back while Percy spoke up.

"Wait what?" We both just gave him the same pitying look and he looked even more confused, it was adorable.

Still, now I'm wondering just how hot Artemis would be if she went into a proper grown up form... Fuck now I'm imagining things...

Twin... things...

I'm going to actively stop thinking now, I feel like that would be for the best, Adriel is pretending to puke at my thoughts right now.

Anyways Apollo just made a haiku, it was hilarious. Though given just how horrible it was, I didn't blame everyone else's reactions in groaning in what sounded like literal agony, seriously, I think I made a similar sound when I pushed myself off a spike made of darkness.

Afterwards, Artemis, after a headed argument about who was older, which was also kind of funny, gestured to us, explaining we were also going to need a ride and we were heading to Camp Half-Blood, as Apollo looked over and smiled wide.

"Ah, of course, explains the dudes. Let's see here, Thalia, heard about you, Zeus's kid, used to be a tree, which sucks! I used to know this girl who became a tree you know? It was once a-" I think he was about to go into another haiku, when Artemis spoke up.

"Brother." Tt was with a strong warning tone that he just chuckled.

"Yeah yeah, next we got the girly boy one who thinks I'm hot, I remember voting to not kill you, I think I made the right choice" I smiled, he grinned back.

"Thanks, I usually appreciate when people try to not have me killed, it happens a lot" He just chuckled.

"I know the feeling, though gotta say, don't like your aura, to dark for my liking" I just shrugged, Nyx's blood was active in me, and that meant I was literally a part of the all crushing darkness that existed in every corner of existence itself, and Apollo is literally made of light, I doubt that felt good to be around. Still, after that, he turned, looking over at Percy. He then did that ominous not saying anything to be vague thing after saying Percy's name.

Moving on from there, we all piled up into the sun bus, which was pretty funny when you think about it, and now Apollo was trying to get one of us to drive. Normally this would be Thalia's place, which would lead to all us nearly dying... but I was here now, and driving sounded awesome so I moved my way as Nico asked to drive and said quickly.

"What about me?" He hummed, staring at me, after answering Thalia's question about her age, and right before he could tell her to drive.

"Bit young, do you know how to work a stick" ...Do I? Uh...

"Sure!" He squinted at me, before giving a laugh, as I was suddenly moved into the drivers seat, a massive smile on my face as I revved the engine loudly and then procced to cackle as I felt the muscle memory and knowledge flood to the surface, remembering everything I needed to about driving a stick shift. Percy paled, badly, looking ready to ask to be let out and to walk the week's journey back down to Camp, speaking up with her concerns.

"Um, are we sure this is the best idea?" Apollo just waved his hand to dismiss the idea.

"Of course, he's hardly going to blast out of the sky the sun! It would take at least a day to make another one of these things, and his daughter's here, nothing to worry about! Now, just pull back on the wheel, and apply some gas, speed equals heat, so take it slow before giving it some power, it's a short trip so don't worry"

"So floor it?" He blinked before shaking his head.

"No, not flo-"

"Flooring it!" I floored it, and cackled like a mad man as the entire thing lurched as we shot into the air. Apollo looked slightly concerned, and there was a lot of screaming, but I've flown an airplane in a crash landing, and apparently knew how to drive a car, after a moment, I managed to get the thing back under control as we soon were cruising at a mild... eight hundred miles an hour, damn, the mileage on this thing is sick! And damn if it didn't handle perfectly!

Percy looked a bit sick, Thalia had a death grip on the chairs, and half the hunters looked murderous, but I was beaming like mad, and Apollo was giving me a smile back.

"Well color me impressed, I figured a newbie would take a bit longer to get this under control. Nice"

"I've flown a plane before, this is pretty similar, although that time it was during a crash and I nearly broke every bone in my body, was minutes from death, then had to kill five wind spirits, before waiting on a deserted strip of land in the middle of no where"

"Oh, is that all? Well, you're a natural! Probably get it from your mom" Nike? Well, she does have wings, she's probably one of the few Gods out there that can fly in the traditional sense. Nyx is the same actually... Holy fucking shit, could I have wings some day? That would be so fucking cool! Flying would be so badass!

"Have you met her? I've been meaning to, but she lives up on Olympus and I haven't managed to find a way up there yet without getting myself killed" Apollo snorted.

"You can head up any time really, just don't expect a warm welcome from any god you come across, and don't think about entering the court, but there is more up there than just us twelve, and we aren't allowed to kill you" Huh... That's a fair point, "And I have met your mom, she's pretty terrifying... you remind me of her" I turned and gave him a massive smile, he pretended like he didn't shudder, it was hot...Fuck, I need to get that under control. I think I'm hitting a second puberty over here.

Maybe light just attracts darkness? Is that what happened with Nico and Will? If so, I should stay away from the Apollo cabin, they all are kind of hot already, and I already have a schedule to keep. Then again, I already think I'm surrounded by hot people, the only good part of it, is I'm not related at all to any of them since my bloodline is almost completely removed from everyone in camp.

I actually think I might be more related to Zoe than anyone else in the bus since both our families are mostly titans.

"Hey, how much do you like this car?" Apollo shrugged.

"It's a bit boring having to do this, but I hardly ever actually have to drive it, I can just move it without being present, but the ride is nice so it's relaxing to just burn a year or two just constantly moving around the world, haven't had the time for that in ages though, so I jumped at the chance to come riding in to save my precious little sister from whatever thing was bothering her in style"

Interesting...

Anyways, past that, it was barely minutes before we were over Camp Half Blood, and while I was very interested in seeing if I could recreate my last crazy plane landing, but this time get more style points on the dismount, I sadly didn't, and just parked us normally... May have destroyed a few trees, but it was surprisingly easy to land, and while Apollo was getting himself out, while the others also piled out, and didn't notice when I nicked the air freshener of the rear view mirror.

It was of a sun with sunglasses on with a big smile. I used search as we piled out of the chariot.

[Piece of the Sun Chariot
A small insignificant piece of the chariot that brings the sun around the world, driven by Apollo himself, carrying a spark of power from Helios, the God of the Sun.
When mana is channeled into this piece of the Sun Chariot the user is granted one of the following effect:
-The ability to warp and generate beams of powerful sunlight.
-The ability to generate a spark of fire that can be directed and grown by the person channeling the mana.
-A change in the chariot piece to be something else
The intensity of these effects are based on the amount of mana channeled and level of control of the user

Rank: S]

Interesting... This gives me both a decent pyro and photokinesis option, not bad at all...

I loaded off the bus, as I watched as everyone was already moving about, as I made to move away as well when a hand clasped onto my shoulder, as I turned and looked innocently up at Apollo, who was giving me a raised eyebrow... Right, maybe just nicking something was a bit to obvious.

"Yes?" He continued to look at me, just for a moment, staring into my eyes, before I could see a twinkling interest in them, before he grinned. Glancing up just to make sure no one was watching us, before turning back to look at me.

"I'm the God of Prophecies you know? I know the future better than just about any other god, it gets a bit... hard to read with you, but it's not impossible. You'll be doing some very important things in the future, most of which I don't really care about, but you will have something of an important role when my sister is saved. Every future shows me that, and you'll be doing something very important. It's because of that, that I won't have that little trinket in your hand burn your entire body to a crisp, keep it, you'll be needing it soon" I blinked before grinning up at him.

"Thanks" He just smirked.

"I wouldn't say that just yet, you'll have quite the life ahead of you, and from what I'm seeing, that part of my ride isn't going to be helping you much in the, soon to be long, short run. But! I'm behind schedule and the Fates get moody when I give to many spoilers... Though I have a feeling with you that wouldn't be much of a problem for long" And then he was gone, as I blinked and looked around, only to hear the sound of the chariot revving up, as I turned and watched as it, back in it's sports mode, shot into the sky at a blazing speed.

Interesting... Anyways, the Sun Piece was pretty sick, but I didn't have a skill for it, it came from the item, so I won't be getting any bonuses from my skills on being able to control the effects of the Sun Piece, but I also have over one hundred points in Control, that should be more than enough for most things, I won't be as fluid with it as my shadows, but it'd probably be comparable to my control over water, I'd say closer to wind, but I actually have very good control over my spells that use Spirit over Mana.

I've actually managed to get that spell down to just one incantation, just a quick word and then bam! I mean, it drains the Spirit like nothing else, but the power magnitude is so low, it's like... flipping a light switch instead of fixing the circuit breaker, it's faster and easier. Actually, not the best example, but basically, because there so little power in Spirit compared to Mana, controlling it was much, much, easier.

So yeah, long story short, ironically, I probably can control the fire about as well as I can water, the light however is no where near comparable to the dark in terms of my control.

With that in mind, I pumped about five thousand mana into the Sun Chariot, and forced it into becoming a new shape, I didn't know how much it would take, so I overcompensated, just in case, I'll have to experiment with it over time to figure it out how to work it properly.

Anyways, it worked, as I watched as the cartoon sun trinket shifted and changed until it was a perfect match for the moonstone that Artemis had given me, this time though, it already had a perfect little notch to hang on my necklace and instead of a white that pulsed out silver, it was a fiery yellow that has fire and orange flickers, I thought the thing was damn badass, as I attached it and moved on.

Well, I did stop for a moment to hold out my hand and watch as just above the palm, a flicker of fire appeared in it, just for a second before vanishing as I winced and cursed a bit as I shook my hand in annoyance. Fuck, that stung... Right, good reminder, I can make and control the fire I generate now, but I am not in fact immune to it. Helpful to know for the future.

I should start looking into getting immunities to stuff at some point. Fire was pretty high on the list now.

I wonder how easy it would be to make potions? I remember reading something about that in all those occult books, just their boosts were pretty minor and not all that worth the effort for a normal person to do... But I have access to a hell of a lot more materials... Thoughts for later.

Everyone had already moved off and around, the hunters were in their cabin, Percy the same, Nico was getting that video explanation that I actual never got to see. I should ask about it at some point. Grover was off somewhere, and from what I was hearing, Thalia was walking around and telling everyone about a capture the flag game that was going to happen tomorrow. That was cool, probably not fair, but the Hunters were all bad ass... on the other hand, the camp's side had me, Thalia, and Percy...

It'll be fun.

I just sighed and moved around, back already to camp after a quest from a god, from the bus ride from the literal sun, that I drove... and not a single camper was talking to me... This fucking sucks.

How long does one murder have to be held against me?

It was genuinely annoying, and was beginning to piss me off more and more, but I was in a decent mood at the moment, so I ignored those thoughts, and just moved on. I had fire to work with, literally. I wasn't good with not knowing what I can do when I get it. Normally with my skills I have an inbuilt understanding of them, on some level, well, that level being level one. It still gave me an innate understanding of my own stuff.

I didn't have that here, I had no numbers or math to use to consult my understanding of what I was doing. That annoyed me more, numbers and using them to predict cause and effect was kind of my thing, so this time around I'll have to figure it out through actual trial and error to figure those numbers out with no help from my System, and try to not burn or blind myself in the mean time.

It'll be interesting at least.

Plus, what guy doesn't want to play at least some of the time? There was a reason within my first week of existence I committed grand arson.

It'll certainly help with my mood to burn some shit at least, so that's what I went and did.

It's not like it took a long time to recover my mana, normally I recover exactly one percent of all my power points, stamina, mana, spirit, per minute, for a fun total of one hundred minutes, which is so annoying. That's the baseline, but with my Styx boost, that gets cut down to a slightly less annoying twenty minutes.

So I'm going to see if I have enough control to make it look like I can juggle fire balls without burning my hands to a crisp. That'll freak so many people out. I wonder if I can get Percy's eyes to pop out of his head, or better yet, find a way to convince the Hephaestus cabin I'm actually a full blooded god of their dad and my mom... I could totally pull that off.

"What... the hell are you doing?" I blinked as the fire froze in the air, as I turned over and looked at Silena as she looked down at me from the hill she was on top of, and I was at the bottom of. I blinked again, because... she was talking to me. Then I recovered, pulling on an easy smile that was the fake-ist I've ever given and said with as much cheer I said everything with.

"Trying to figure out my juggle routine to be able to run away and join the circus. I figure I'm up there on the freak list they'd want attending. At least above a bearded lady, though I have considered that as an option as well" She smiled, but it vanished after a moment as she looked around, out over my head, before sighing.

"Nick..." I also sighed, I could feel just how deeply she was feeling just about everything with just that one word.

"We're going to have one of those serious talks aren't we? Could we not?" I could feel the way she frowned.

"Do you think it would be better if we didn't talk about it? About... all of it?" Ugh.

"I guess that's a no then... Not really, because if we do, and we move past this, then I'm going to get hurt again, and I don't think I'm dumb enough for the three strike rule"

"Wait... I'm going to hurt you? You- You ass!" I blinked and looked up at her as she stomped down the hill with righteous anger, I sighed, again. This was apparently happening then... Damn it. I let the fire vanish as I turned to look at her as she glared down at me from my sitting position. "You have no right to say I'm the one that hurt you, after what you did! You ki-" UGH!

"I killed her, yes! Would everyone just shut up about it!" She was stunned as I gritted my teeth, a wave, a big one at that, of annoyances and anger, and repressed feeling all boiled up high to the surface violently.

"Shut up about it? You murdered my sister!"

"Yes, I got your sister, who is responsible for more than a few deaths, to face her crimes. I'm so sorry!"

"I- She did nothing yet!"

"Yeah, because nothing speaks like poisoning Thalia's tree, giving Luke information on where the quest this summer was heading and what was happening, and nothing certainly sounds a whole hell of a lot like giving the information that killed the demigod who was on that quest! Why do you people seem to think she was innocent of anything? The death sentence has been given for lighter crimes"

"I- I didn't-" I scoffed, it didn't sound nice, and Silena flinched at it, good.

"Yeah, no shit, because no one asked, because my best friend called my a fucking psychopath in front of everyone, humiliated me in public, called me a freak, and then when I got mad about it about all of it, because everyone was looking and pointing at me like I was some psycho, for doing the right thing, and I then proceeded to have the entire camp scorn me for literal months for having a different opinion"

"I- I was upset! You can't just say because you thought I was wrong that means I should have reacted any different and think I've hurt you over and over!"

"Yeah, can't think of any other time when you did something to hurt me" She honestly looked confused, it hurt. "Seriously? Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"Fucking... The first time I left camp, I told you I was leaving, I told you exactly where I was going, and you hit me, told me I was stupid, wasting my time, that I was an irresponsible child, that I was going to get myself killed because I think I'm special. That's the last thing I had of this camp, of you, for over ten months, that's the first memory I had to pull on of this place when I was trekking through countries, fighting for my life, and who knows what hell else that I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to actually worry. You know I got impaled not to long ago? I spent three days on top of a mountain with a hole through my chest in agony, until I got enough strength to climb down it and then walk for miles just to catch a flight back to this damn camp, and you're the only person I told because I don't tell people when I nearly die. Here!"

With that I reached into my bag and pulled out the shirt, the one I was wearing, with two massive holes in it, covered in so much dried blood it looked more red than orange, Silena gasped, holding a hand to her mouth, as I balled it up and threw it at her, as I stood and said.

"I did something you refused to listen to my reasons for, I got shunned for it in the only place I can feel like I belong in any way, for doing the right thing, and I have been risking my life for this damn place for as long as I've known about it, and at every single fucking turn, I get hit in the face with something else for it. Most of all by you, so yeah, Silena, I'm not looking to have a serious talk that'll make you feel better. I'm not going to apologize or give you something so we can just repeat the cycle, I'm going to do what I need to do, and spend as much time I can outside of this damn place as possible"

She looked well past stunned, bordering on crying actually, it hurt my chest, because for all my big words, I got attached really fucking easy and I didn't just give up on people nearly as easy as I should once I decided I liked them. Hell, I knew Silena for less than five minutes before I decided I liked her enough to completely change my plans so she wouldn't have to suffer more than necessary. I mean, I fucked that one up, but the point stands.

It hurt to walk away, but I couldn't give a shit, I'm not some damn push over she can feel bad for or she wants to talk to to stop her from feeling bad. In fact I'm more than spiteful enough to hurt her right back for it. It was mean, and I wanted to go back to being friends with her, but I wasn't going to be the guy who just took my friend's abuse, I refused that more than anything. If she wanted to go back to how things were, then she was the one that had to work for it damn it.

So I walked away, needing a new distraction from life, which was annoying.

A lot of things were annoying me recently, but strangely I felt a bit better as well in a way, getting at least some of the shit off my chest felt nice.

But for right now, I think I want to finally answer one of the many questions I've had about myself for ages. I wanna pick a favorite color.

Everyone from the trip was sleeping, no doubt worn out by everything that happened, mentally and physically, but I wasn't like them, I didn't really get tired naturally. Sure i needed rest after a few days if I refused to sleep, and I certainly got a bit cranky, but it never impacted my mind in any real way. Gamer's Body wouldn't allow it. SO I was good, I'll take a nap in the afternoon until about night fall and I wouldn't have to worry about needing sleep for another two days.

I only did that because Nico showed up, way to much energy in his little bouncing form to try and get rest after everything he's learned, and I guess everyone he knew was asleep, so he went to me.

It was nice, I just talked to him about whatever I thought about, he thought it all was super cool, it was nice, to see that optimism in someone else for a change. And then the actually serious conversation started, it was surprising, but then again, I suppose that cynical and sharp side of Nico in the later books had to come from somewhere.

"Does Bianca not love me anymore?" I had just finished explaining just why you shouldn't apparently believe the charging at red thing for all bull monsters, when he asked, as I paused, glancing over to him, as he looked out at the lake. I sort of just brought him to mine and Percy's spot out of not knowing where else to talk to him without being around anyone else.

"She still loves you" He just pouted, pulling his knees up to his chest, stared moody out at the waters.

"Then why is she leaving to join Artemis? Am I not good enough?" I hummed at the question, it was pretty serious, I wasn't good at those, but I was good at being honest, so...

"She's barely two years older than you, and she's had to take care of you for as long as either of you remember right?" He blinked, his face scrunching up as he tried to think if what I said was a lie, eventually he gave up and shrugged.

"I guess?"

"Well then, she probably just wants to live a life outside of just being around you, and you should live a life that doesn't revolve around her. You two have been together forever, and it feels like the main thing you have is her, and you're scared of losing that. You aren't losing her Nico, she just wants to find her own path, and while it's a stupid path in my opinion, she gets to make her own choices outside of you. Just like how you can do the same" He pouted, but harder, and said.

"I don't get it" I laughed at that.

"Yeah, it's weird and stupid, just... She's not gone forever ok? Not even gone for a while, she can visit and you can visit her whenever you can manage. She just has a new role in life, and you get to have one as well, doing whatever you want, whenever you want. You're a very strong demigod Nico, so is your sister, you'll both be fine for the most part. I'll make sure of it" That seemed to perk him up a bit, and just like that the happy kid was back.

"That's right! You said you were there because our dad asked you to help us! Who is he? Is he cool, you said he was powerful right?" I just smiled and nodded, before, after a moment of thinking about it, held out my hand to him.

"He's one of the most powerful Nico, and he's really busy, a bit strict and mean at times, and it'll be hard to tell, but trust me when I say he loves you more than you know... Want me to show you what kind of cool powers you have looking ahead of you?" He gasped suddenly, looking very excited.

"Are you also his kid! Are we brothers!" His grin was infectious, as I felt my head tilt back as I laughed hard and long, before shaking my head.

"Nah, not by blood, I just happen to fall within the two lines. My Mom is Nike, she's the Goddess of victory, so I have a habit of picking up stuff I technically shouldn't know"

"Wait, than who is he! Come on! Tell me!" I made a humming sound, and he just pouted, before looking down at my hand, before reaching out and grabbing it.

I smirked, he let out a gasp, and we both fell into the shadows.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of the feeling, but this time it only lasted half a second, before we were out, appearing in front of the other side of the lake, as Nico jetted forwards, not knowing how to step out of the shadows yet, more like hurling himself, as my hand shot out, grabbing onto the scruff of his jacket as he let out a gasping sound as I moved him to stand on the shore bed, as he stumbled for a moment, grabbing onto my arm for support, before realizing just where he was, as he spun around, stars in his eyes, as he looked up at me.

"That was awesome! What was that! Why didn't you mention you could do it before!" I just laughed for a second before answering his questions.

"Shadow travel, most kids from the Underworld have some way of accessing it, I'm kind of taking the roundabout way of it, but you can do the same thing when you get enough strength and training"

"What! I can do that!"

"Sure, just with enough training, you'll be able to do just about anything your dad can do I reckon. You might be a bit weaker on the psychical side for it for a kid of your nature, but that's still stronger than most other demigods here. Bianca is the opposite way around, she's got all the strength but I doubt she'll be nearly as cool as you when it comes to the more magical side of your powers"

"Wait really? How do you know that?"

"Son of Nike stuff, I can kind of just feel potential in people and can make guess about what they'll be best at from there" Not a lie... technically.

"Cool! That's so awesome! But... Who's our dad?" I just huffed, before flicking him on the forehead, he yelped a bit and shot me a betrayed pout as I just smiled back.

"Think about it, super powerful god from the Underworld" He blinked, before.

"Hades! My dad is Hades!" He sounded so blown away that I just gave the kid a head pat, as he just shook his head, getting his hair to fly everywhere, before saying "Aw! He has his own figure, and it's the only one that I don't have!" I just huffed at that, before reaching into my bag and pulled something out I got ages back.

"Catch kid" He yelped as I tossed a gold and black colored statue to him, as he held it in his hands for a moment before half yelling.

"This is it! I mean, it's not but it looks the same!"

"I knew I'd be coming to get you at some point, so I had some friends of mine down under make that for you. I remember you loved the game, so I figured this would be a nice reminder of home" He blinked, the last word catching him off guard, as he looked up at me for a second, wide eyed, before looking back to the statue, before suddenly I blinked as two arms were wrapped around my sides as I just stared down at the kid for a moment, before shrugging and hugged him back.

I like hugs, they're nice, it really is too bad I don't get a lot of them.

"I never had a home before" He sounded almost mystified at the idea, I just laughed a bit, before saying.

"Well, now you have two, or you could just be like me and wander around whenever you feel like it, just have to be safe while you're doing it. If you want, I can start showing you a thing or two? So you can keep yourself safe at least" I could feel the way he was buzzing against my side, before suddenly he was trying to drag me off to the training ground he saw earlier, as I just laughed at his enthusiasm.

I think this was the most I've laughed in months. Nico, this version of him at least, was just so... Not pure, I could see the cracks there, the parts of him he bordered up with questions and curiosity so he wouldn't think about it. That darkness that was in him after Bianca's death wasn't new, it was just exposed and beaten until he could survive on his own by that ghost dude, where it became most of who he was.

I wasn't planning on letting that happen, and as far as I'm concerned, I've already done enough to fix his sister's death, but I was going to do more than that, I was going to save Nico, and make damn sure nothing went wrong on his sister's quest.

I'm invested in these two kid's lives, and I was damn sure I'll be making those lives are better than they were in the books.

Though the Fates will no doubt get into a real pissing contest about that, but I have a plan... Sort of, anything involving the fates in my experience is about fifty-fifty to go my way, and since they are the strongest force in existence, that I know of... I can't really do anything to stop them at the moment.

Anyways, I did some basic training with Nico, he was a bit clumsy with his sword, but he got the stances easily enough and like all demigods, was freakishly strong.

Though what was real wild was within the first hour he figured out how to move shadows. It was barely anything really, he could only move them around and stretch them on the ground, he wasn't making them rise into the air or were fast or durable enough to lash them at something, but considering he was two years younger than Percy, when Percy was first learning his powers, and I had to actively trick and force him into being able to use them... Nico was something else.

They came to the kid inherent easier than I've seen practically anyone else's powers. I give it a bit less than a year until he manages to catch up to my own current skill level, just as it stood, Big Three kids just didn't have to work nearly as hard as the rest of us plebeians to get where we wanted to be. I think I've adjusted to that mostly, because I wasn't as annoyed about it being Nico as I had been when Thalia and Percy showed off when they had no right to be as strong as fast.

Maybe it was just the fact I was still better than Nico with this element, and it might always stay that way, given I had darkness itself as my domain, while Nico from what I can tell just gets shadows, he can't really just create them or do as much as I can already from even where he was at the end of the books. And that level of power and control isn't something I can say about water with Percy, and wind with Thalia.

Anyways, things kept going, Nico got a solid grip on everything I showed him after a few times, and eventually he wore himself out enough to go to bed in the Hermes cabin. I let him, and just milled about for a while, before returning back there to.

Oh, but I did figure something out that was pretty cool to know.

My favorite color, it's blue for right now, mostly because of the lake. I really like the lake at this camp, though it'd be more accurate to say it's... cobalt blue than just any color of blue.

Cobalt... What a weird word...

I'mma take a nap.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean I'm not allowed to compete?" I said it with a bit of annoyance, and that's because I was annoyed, as Mr. D. looked down at me with mild amusement, the expression he always got when he was planning on doing something to piss me the hell off.

"The teams wouldn't be balanced, thirteen on both sides, so someone has to sit out. I figured you'd be the best for the choice" My eyebrow twitched violently.

"Only thirteen hunters are going to be playing? Last time I checked there's almost two dozen in that camp"

"Yes, and only thirteen have agreed to play"

"What are you playing at?"

"Hmm? Me, nothing of interest. Just figured this would be a good time while the little mortals around us fight for my entertainment" I huffed at that.

"Around us? You make it sounds like I'm like you" He raised an eyebrow before saying boredly, like he was explaining a topic he had to deal with before.

"Are you not? The average demigod has perhaps one or two minor traits from their parent. You have most of your mothers, everything from your grandmother, and just enough of your great grandmother to terrify Olympus. You might not have the raw strength of one yet, but you have the powers, domains, and to many blessing of other gods, to be considered just a boring old half-blood" I just... blinked, right, ok then... I'm not surprise surprised, but also... wow.

"So, what are you saying, I'm not a half-blood, more... a three-fifth's blood? Six-sevenths?" Dionysus huffed, looking annoyed at the idea.

"Half, quarter, or whatever you want to put to it, numbers do not matter. Half-blood is such a ridiculous term, demigod is much better, but no one listens to me on that. Bah, anyways, what portion of god you are does not matter, you could be the weakest 'half-blood' to live if you are without your parent's domain. And you could be the strongest if you have the fullest reaches of the strongest gods of it, like that Peter brat has. It does not matter how much god blood you have in your veins, it matters how active and powerful it is. And you, brat, have more than any other half-blood alive just for how many powerful beings you have suckered into powering the blood in you that should only be meager for who your mother is"

"Wow, really feeling the love" He let out a huff of almost twisted amusement at the idea.

"Of course, like you managed all who have gained through something like love, and not ambition and greed for something you want but can't yet have" I mean...

"I'd love to trade my tits out for a dick, does that count?"

"You know, you could have asked any one of us gods for the change, most could, with a snap of our fingers change your being into whatever we so chose" I huffed at that.

"No you can't" He side eyed me, looking close, staring like he was searching for something, before looking away.

"Interesting, you are right, I don't have that power, at least I wouldn't bother to use the power needed, it's more than even a proper blessing is worth, you're body would reject anything lower... How curious" I just nodded. I wasn't stupid, if I could have just bullied a god into it with just a bit of work, then I wouldn't be dealing with period cramps, moody swings, and the before mentioned tits. Gamer's Body wouldn't allow it, it would just see the change as a Status Effect of being under magic, and after a few nights of sleep, I would be back.

And sure, I could just not have that Perk negate the effect, but it wouldn't be... right, it would just be a mask, I didn't want to just look like a guy, I wanted to be a guy, on every level, and that wasn't some a god would give me, to much effort. I figured that out ages back during my stint with Lupa, where I had untethered access to ask any and all questions I could have about a god and just what they could do.

"I'm quite the curious guy"

"Of course, that's why your body can handle so much power in it at such a young age, most would probably have popped like a balloon with the amount of blessings and Domains, and conflicting magical presences are inside of you with that little spirit you have tagged along in your soul. Your form has a powerful habit of keeping itself in one contained piece. Your mother's design no doubt, she's a meddling woman, I can't imagine how horrid everyone's day is going to be be when you meet her"

I grinned at the idea, she sounded pretty cool to be honest, and she's saved my ass more than once at this point for never having the chance to meet her just yet. Which was honestly a shame to be honest, but apparently according to Apollo, I might have a chance soon given everything.

"So what are you saying? I'm like, a hop skip and a jump away from godhood? Cause that would be pretty cool" Dionysus merely snorted, like that idea was also amusing.

"Not in the slightest, you're certainly closer, while I doubt with everything attached to you, you're just mortal, you certainly aren't close to that level of power. Just... whenever it may happen that you could ascend, it'll be a lot easier than it would be for even someone like that Peter brat... And for that reason, you have a lot of power to give, and now you are burning with it, a piece of you now comes from the deepest pits of the Underworld, where more than just Darkness herself lives"

...Oh! I get it! I know what this is now, as I gave the God a grin, as he already began to look away as I said.

"You're telling me because you care! Or you're terrified that I'll be joining the other side, but either way, you don't want Time-boy to get his hands on all my fancy blood because that would dramatically power him up with how much divinity I have rolling around in me. I prefer to think it's because you care" His eyes flickered back to mine, looking offended at the very idea of it, but before I could continue to tease the god and see if he would kill me or not, a massive crash came from the woods, as both of us glanced over, but I was the only one that looked particularly interested in what was happening.

I pouted to myself at the sound, clearly they had already started without me, which was just rude. The game would be over in minutes, if it wasn't already. I was looking forwards to beating the shit out of the hunters, and see just how I stacked up against them.

Mostly Zoe, she seemed cool, and she was badass as fuck.

It really was too bad she was going to die and I didn't like her enough to deal with the fallout of keeping her from death.

"I should probably go before Percy and Thalia kill each other, or try to at least" Dionysus glanced at me before shrugging.

"I suppose there is nothing else to say, just keep my words in mind. Kronos isn't the only one with time" I wonder if I should be worried I've gotten what is basically three different warning from three different gods in under twenty-four hours.

...Eh, it'll probably be fine, what the worst that could happen?

With that in mind, the shadows around me leaped up and I was gone. The fun thing about Shadow Travel is I can go basically anywhere as long as I know the place I want to go to, it doesn't work with people though... but it does work with items or things someone has on their person that I know is there.

In this case, I was heading to the creek where Percy was, since he happened to have a coin I slipped on him earlier in his pocket, this time at least it's where I was going, as I slipped from the shadows, and stood in front of the two, both looking furious with each other.

And then lightning cracked down straight at Thalia, who jabbed at it with her spear, spiking it straight towards Percy. I couldn't be having that as I reached into a pocket and tossed out a bar of black iron, and watched as the blast of lightning sent the thing flying, but it did it's job, adsorbing and using the metal as a conductor to force it off it's path as the Stygian Iron was tossed straight into the woods at an explosive force, I just grinned.

That bar would be making more than a few lightning bullets in the future during my next trip down under, but for the mean time I spoke up, while clapping my hands together, draining both of all the Hate they were feeling as my mana draped into the air, and then into them.

"Stop! You can have the hissy fit back later, but I don't need you two killing yourselves right now. I doubt that would be of help to anyone" The two of them staggered, the feeling of their own emotions being ripped from them until nothing but clarity was left. Percy just blinked, before looking guilty, while Thalia turned to me, I could tell she was trying really hard to be irate, but I wasn't letting her.

"Don't mess with my emotions" I just smiled and shrugged, as Chiron marched over, looking on the edge of furious with the two, while managing to send me a small thankful look as I spoke up.

"Were they helping you at all? You can have them back in a minute, but for right now, I think we should focus on the mummy that's walking over to us right now" Everyone turned as one to look at said mummy. I never actually saw her before, but damn was she ugly, the lime green spirit locked inside of the dead body was twitching and spasming, like it was begging for anything nearby to help release it. It was kind of weird to watch, but everyone else was more attached to the sight of the body itself.

Which was understandable, it was gross as hell as it got closer, as Chiron gasped and moved to watch, speaking about how it should be impossible. But of course it wasn't, the Oracle just figured it was time for a nice Sunday scroll is all...

Is it Sunday? I haven't actually known what day of the week it is in about... ever actually. Weird...

Anyways the creepy dead lady walked over, just scrolling on by before stopping in front of everyone, all of who were locked in fear, I was just grinning, she looked gross, but damn if that wasn't an entrance. Then she spoke, it was like rusty metal in my head, I preferred Lupa's voice a lot compared to hers.

"I am the sprit of Delphi. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python"

Spooky, but I've literally spent weeks surrounded by dead people, and I literally had a dead person who used my soul as an AirBnB, so this wasn't that spooky. Still, nice humble brag for her sugar daddy, as she turned and looked directly at Zoe, her eyes glowing vibrant green, and asked her what she wanted.

Everything went as planned, Zoe asked how to help Artemis, who was already trapped at the moment, holding the sky or whatever, the Oracle then gave a prophecy, it was all spooky, talking about the demise of two of whoever went of the group of five. It was quite ominous, five out of five, in terms of presentation... And then instead of the Oracle sitting down and deactivating like a wind up toy, she turned to look at me.

"Approach, wondering and wandering soul, what do you ask?"

I blinked, honestly surprised at this turn of events, before grinning, and said.

"It's my turn now? Sweet, let's see... What will I be doing in the near future that everyone is so worried about?" Her eyes glowed an even brighter green than before as the smoke around her grew and grew, before-

"The child of Victory is at a judgement stand

To withstand the might of Fate's woven hand

A trial to seek loyalty of the mind

A body to break under the strength of the tide

And the strength of character to prove thy soul in time"

"Even more ominous, gotta love it. You do good work spooky lady" She didn't say anything more, but I could have sworn the wraps around her face bent up, like her decayed and broken jaw was trying to do something close to mimicking a smile. It was fucking terrifying, and cool to watch, as she moved over, sat on a rock, and stared out at the creek, her eyes dimming into pools of black, as the spirit in her stopped struggling, like it lost the willpower that got it this far.

Turning around, literally everyone was confused and a bit scared, and Chiron looked like he might just faint at any moment, clearly the idea of Fate and their hands doing anything with me in the near by area was terrifying the shit out of the horse man. Frankly I was a bit worried to, clearly my life was about to go through quite the difficult time, but I'll deal with it when it happens.

If I can survive the bipolar asshat that is Nyx, then I can survive the Fates... Hopefully, Apollo was really vague, but I'll figure it out as I go since there isn't really a way to plan around something now destined to happen. Even I'm not that good, and I like to think I'm fucking awesome most of the time at this sort of thing.

Still, I smiled, and turned to look at the campers and said.

"Not it on taking crusty here back to the attic" No one said anything, and I just pouted, no one was fun.

Everything moved pretty quickly after that, and soon I found myself in the big house, with all the other heads of the cabins, technically I don't count anymore, but I had a quest of my own to deal with, so I just waited around patiently as everyone spoke and talked about with each other. Everything went how I predicted, Percy got kicked from the group, he was going to go anyways because that's what Percy does, and the main party was Zeo, Bianca, Phoebe, Thalia, and Grover, who apparently didn't count as a boy.

I bet that wasn't just a bit emasculating. I actually could have demanded to go on with, apparently my body was all girls ever saw in the Hunters, which was even more emasculating, but I didn't bother, no point to it, I had my own shit going on, no doubt for what I'm going to be doing to deal with their quest, so I waited, let the time move on, before suddenly Dionysus spoke up, and said.

"Now, onto the other... matter. Nicolia over there has some stuff happening as well" As one, all eyes turned on me, and I had the distinct impression everyone had forgotten I was here, which was fair, I kind of have a habit of making sure I'm not noticed when I'm not actively looking for attention, something I picked up from the wolves I ran with.

"Thank you Dionysus, you've butchered my name even more than usual" He just tipped his head, like he was acknowledging and saying he was welcome to in the same motion, the ass. "As it stand... Eh, What'll happen will happen, I'll deal with it when it comes around"

I wasn't surprised some people had an issue with that, I mostly expected Percy to be the one to say something, maybe the Stoll Brothers, they were about as close as friends I had at camp at the moment with the whole, shunning thing. But it was Silena who spoke up.

"No way! You aren't just going to wonder around and wait until the Fates decide when to test you! That's what that was right? The Fates are going to through you through something, three things right? A test for your mind, body, and soul. And if you fail... You'll be judged, and... What if you aren't found with whatever they are looking for!" Percy glanced back at me, suddenly realizing the situation as well and said suddenly.

"I'll go with you, you're going to be traveling right? You never just stay around, and you have to do something to get the Fate's attention right? Something... something they aren't going to like, you can't do that here, and you'll need help" He had a gleam in his eyes, and I couldn't help but smile, heh, he was quite the smart cookie, for as much as no one gives him credit, he just put the pieces of the puzzle together.

I hadn't expected things to go like this, but I wasn't going to say no, as I said.

"I wouldn't mind the back up, I already know where I'm heading, it's... roughly in the same direction, I don't have the entire plan worked out yet, but I do know it's going to be pissing off a lot of people, the fates are just some of them. You ready for that?" Percy didn't even blink, I just confirmed what he wanted to know about this quest, and that's all he needed.

"I'm ready" I just smirked at him and said.

"Then I'm glad to have you along, no-" Before I could finish up my conversation, someone else spoke up, someone I hadn't expected at all.

"I going to come with you as well, normal quests are in threes" I paused and glanced to Silena, who honestly looked shocked about her own words as the rest of us. It wasn't exactly a secret Aphrodite kids weren't really the combat types, normally she did her best to get out of the combat lessons to work with things she wanted. I've only ever seen Silena with a weapon a few times, and most of them were because she had to. Not because she wanted to, she wasn't weak or anything, but she wasn't... focused on it, and even everything that's happened, with that I said to her...

My smile dropped, the temp of the room fell with it, to everyone else it was probably a sight, as I said with a tone that was barely ever used.

"Why?" She looked away, before taking in a long breath before saying.

"Because I want to, is that enough?" I thought about it, I thought about it for a long, long moment, and in the end, before I could hope to really think it through fully, I had spoken before I could think enough.

"Sure, seems like I have a party of my own, cool" I grinned, it felt fake, no one noticed, well, no one, Silena and Percy, the two people I got along best, who knew me the best, gave me a look, but they didn't say anything as Chiron coughed before saying.

"While this is very good, this is something we need to think about, for both parties, two quests at once..." Zoe spoke up quickly.

"There is no time in which thy should wait! Thy hunting party shall leave at first light" Chiron frowned, but he didn't have anything to that, so he turned to me, I just smiled.

"Sounds like a fun going away party, no reason to have to throw two" He sighed before finally nodding.

"At first light, Zoe and Nicolas's parties shall head west"

I just grinned, things were truly about to get interesting. I couldn't wait.

Fun chapter, long winded and a lot of conversations, but in the end it was good. Nick finally has a quest with a proper prophecy and everything so that's cool, we'll actually get to the notice for it next chapter, though the fact his first quest is literally challenging the Fates... I'm sure it'll be fine! For the time being we are on the way to proper derailment of canon soon, or at least as much as I'm going to be derailing it right away, so... instead of a sledgehammer imagine a mallet. It only took... well, a lot of words, but I think everyone can agree it's been fun to get here, I just had to slow the pace down a bit to be able to fit all the interactions in, that's not going to change in the next few chapters, but I'll make them fun all the same to read, and then afterwards, in the down time between the next book, I have an insane idea which will be fun to write out, but for the time being, I don't have much else to say at the moment to be honest. Soo... See ya.