Guest who had a major problem with Aaron being gay... are you really having a problem with this when Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hypnos, Hercules and so many others are openly bisexual and have had many male lovers? When there is literal a god of Homosexual love? Please kindly get over yourself, being gay is not a product of abuse nor is it a sign of being predatory.

Dinner was delicious as always, Aaron felt pretty pleased with himself, having eaten more healthy stuff and giving a nice sacrifice to his Goddess. It was a weird thing, honoring and calling someone his Goddess, but he really felt an attachment to Hecate no matter how small it really was. She was real, he knew her kids, and she had helped him in a tangible way. That was more then most demigods could say about their parents, as sad as that was. More then he could say about his own.

A rare excitement seemed to fill the Demigods as dinner reached a close. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and they all stood at their tables. Aaron, knowing he would never participate in Capture the flag, lacking the power or skill to really compete on a fair level, decided to walk over to his brother. They shared excitement, though Aaron's was more filled the excitement of watching the battle and learning from it.

Campers yelled and cheered the blonde girl, Annabeth, and her siblings carried in a beautiful flag. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, the children of Ares ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"Are those the flags?" Percy's voice was hard to hear as he spoke to Luke.

"Yeah." The handsome son of Hermes spoke up.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said. "But often."

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?"

He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

There was something wrong about his look, something that enraged Aaron and filled him with the urge to hit something. It was a look that bullies had so often when they had their victim in the right place, it reminded him of Gabe already. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

His tone was too telling and so Aaron pulled his brother aside. " Be careful, I don't trust him or Annabeth." Something bothered him about Luke, a feeling he couldn't shake. "Don't let them control everything you do, think on your feet but also don't feel afraid to run, kay? Your still new at this Percy, they have years of training."

Percy nodded, a mix of offense and pride in his eyes. "I'd never run... but I'll try to be safe, kay?"

"That's all I ask."

With that, Aaron followed the Centaur Chiron up onto the closest hill where the could watch the match. In an instant, to his surprise, an image of the entire forest but from above appeared all from a glorious sudden rainbow that just appeared from no where. Turning to Chiron, he watched the man smirk and wink at him.

"Being friends with Iris has a lot of perks. She creates this map so I can see the field better."

"Nice... so... thank you for letting me sit this out." He sighed, ignoring the trickle of pointless shame in his heart. "I know that I'd get in the way at this point."

Chiron's smirk turned into a soft sigh. "Your magic would be a useful tool, or it will be. Perhaps in the future you could join in?"

"Maybe."

"The Hunters of Artemis do sometimes and many of them are as Mortal as you are, or they were." His smile become encouraging and warm. "If you manage to craft your own magic you could become a real threat on the battle field."

Oddly that wasn't too uplifting. "Honestly while I want to be able to fight, I think I want to be a healer more. I mean with magic I could help them actually fight longer and keep them alive. I like taking care of others, I wanted to be a nurse one day you know... maybe I can be a magical nurse or doctor here?"

Chiron's eyes were wide, and filled with pride. "So few beyond the children of Apollo ever consider healing. I would be honored to have another healer here. You have the right temperament for it, certainly... Beside, with that as your major focus you can integrate better. I know you are having trouble."

That was one way of putting it, nicer then saying his children were bullies. "That'd be nice... "

"Now let's watch, I have a feeling this is going to be very interesting."

And so they settled down and focused on the magical screen.

For the first twenty or so minutes no much happened, the kids got into position then started moving away in mass... nothing really stuck out but naturally Aaron found Percy's position. He also saw the fast moving group marching towards his position by the river at incredible speeds. In the blur of forms, Aaron recognized Clarisse clearly, a red glare covered something in her hands.

"Chiron... is that..." He tried to keep his voice calm, but he knew that some serious beat down was going to happen.

The Centaur looked livid. "Yes it is, Annabeth's plan no doubt... she and I will be having a chat." Almost immediately he pulled Aaron the ground, throwing him onto his back. He hurried towards the forest. "Someone will get hurt and that will be a punishment I am happy to deliver." His words were tight, like iron and he seemed quite monstrous in the moment.

The group of people finally broke into the area where Percy was standing guard, with a racious yell they charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. The image focused on Percy and he watched as his brother managed to sidestep the first kid's swing. They surrounded him, and Clarisse thrust at him with her massive glowing spear. His shield deflected the point, but something happened and he watched Percy cringe back with eyes widening with fear.

"What the... is her spear magical?"

Chiron grunted. " Electrically charged, a gift from her father."

Another Ares guy slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of his sword and he hit the dirt to the laughter of the others. Somehow Percy managed to get to his feet. He actually raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew, lighting up the night with it's power. Rage filled Aaron and he felt the urge to beat Clarisse bloody. This wasn't a game, this was outright assault. With the water so close she could electrocute Percy entirely, son of a sea god or not. He may have disliked the campers, but this pushed his dislike to something approaching hate. Why would they try and maim someone who's only crime was self defense?

Gods he hated abusers.

Two of them came at Percy, charging wildly. Thankfully and foolishly Percy backed up toward the creek, failing to raise his shield as Clarisse's spear stuck him straight in the ribs.

"He'd be dead if that connected." His own words were odd, light but filled with a steel he never heard. He actually saw them, and felt the magic in them as he passively drew on the magic in his coin. Had they been near it would not have been good, that much was clear.

Then on of the son's of Ares did something unforgivable. He slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

His blood dripped down and Aaron actually growled. Despite his temperance, he still watched the fight, and eventually watched as Percy decimated the other kids with a series of smooth, slick movements. Then, with a move that made Aaron all but crow with pleasure, he snapped Clarisse's spear like a twig.

"Good for him, powerful she may be but she deserved that." His own words were easing up as his anger faded, and pride and worry came in from Percy's performance. "He really is the child of Poseidon."

'''

Soft and powerful, Aaron's words were like hammer throws to Chiron who turned to see a sad worried light in Aaron's eyes. "He's going to suffer because of that oath, isn't he?"

"More then likely."

Finally, after several minutes Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn at his side, proudly ending the game just as he watched the Ares' flag shimmer as it turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. He couldn't help but feel smug, knowing it would be a serious blow to those children of Ares who had attacked Percy.

"Step out of the water, Percy." Annabeth's words cast a cold wash over Chiron and he sighed as he shared a sad look with Aaron as they realized that Annabeth discovered what they both already had.

"What-" Percy's words were confused, almost muted by the godlike power in his words.

"Just do it." When the boy almost fell over, no longer connected to the power of the water, he had to be steadied by Annabeth who cursed. "Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..." She didn't seem to sense the disrespect in her words, how close she could have been to being smited.

Then a powerful, familiar growl pierced the air and Chiron went into attack mode. His arms went to his bow automatically only to find that he had left it with another so he could focus on healing, and so he searched the woods, using eyes and ears to focus on everything hoping to fire before it launched. "Stand ready! My bow!"

He saw it, a particularly large black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. A hellhound, radiating Underworld power.

It was looking straight at Percy.

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"

His beloved Daughter, to his horror, attempted to protect Percy with her body but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her just his bow met his hands, and dozen's of arrows left their bows. Aaron, who had apparently torn a bow from a younger Son of Apollo after all but vaulting from his back, launched his own arrow, adding perfectly to the near forty shots that landed in the beast felling it instantly.

It was too late and he saw the horrifying cuts on Percy's body.

"PERCY!" Aaron charged his step brother just as Chiron trotted up to the boy.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp." His words barely left his lips before Clarisse yelled.

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" She may have said more, and he may have scolded her but Aaron was there decking her hard enough to actually lift her from the ground, her magic launching her more then ten feet away.

Then, without waiting or gloating, he grabbed Percy and literally threw him into the water where everyone watched as the wound on his chest began closing up. Some of the campers gasped, and Chiron just sighed.

"Look, I-I don't know why," Percy said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."

"Ignore them, they don't matter just focus on healing." Aaron's face was white, but there was an odd focus to it, something that most healers took years to develop. A Natural ability to mute their emotions. A useful tool for the boy's future.

"Percy," Annabeth, ever the pointer out of the obvious, said while pointing above Percy's. "Um ..."

Percy looked up just in time to see the fading hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

Every one kneeled bar Aaron, who didn't seemed to care as he worried over his brother.

"My father?

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

:::

Aaron felt sort of smug, as everyone kneeled towards Percy. He had figured out, before all of them, Percy's origins. What made it better was that most of them had been rude to Percy and now they were kneeling towards him. It wasn't as satisfying as if they were bowing to Aaron personally but it was a victory he would accept none the less. He disliked most of the demigods, so seeing them like that was a rush.

Still, as much as he was happy, he still had a bone to pick with Annabeth and Clarisse, one who caused the attack and the other that led it. He would do nothing for now, his knocking Clarisse out with the bulk of his magic was hard enough and satisfying enough to deal with the desire to hurt people for their stupidity. Soon though, he would do his best to get back at them as they deserved. That was, if Chiron did not punish them. He had a feeling they weren't going to get punished, he just had that feeling that he couldn't quite place that told him that.

Maybe it was Hecate, maybe it was intuition... didn't really matter. He would find a way to punish them for their cruelty...

One way, or another.