Sorry for being late folks, I have been going through a lot to write as often as I used to, but still I tried as much as I could.
discord. gg / vJtaaaygvq (Join my discord server for the updates guys, I'm not much active on the sites.)
Artemis' eyes scanned her surrounding, to see that nearly everyone was waiting for the spar Perseus had just issued with the son of Zeus. She couldn't lie to herself, her excitement was over the top at someone showing Heracles his place. That filth, who was technically her half-brother needed to be taken down his high horse.
After what he did to Zoe, she should've just smote him out of existence, but his destiny wasn't hers to alter.
Artemis knew that Heracles did what he did because he had no other choice, and needed to get past Ladon. But, the choice to trick Zoe and betray her at the end, that was his decision and fault. What was even worse, was that he refused to acknowledge his wrong.
Children of Zeus had terrible pride, the goddess of moon knew that better than anyone. But, the mark of a true hero depends on whether they conquers over their flaws, or let their flaws control them. Heracles, had taken the easy path and paved his path with betrayals and broken promises.
He deserved to be shown the truth.
"I"ll Read next," Artemis announced shaking out of her thoughts. Stretching her hands to take the book from Aphrodite, she flipped the page and read, MY DINNER GOES UP IN SMOKE
'Burnt offerings' Artemis thought to herself chuckling internally, liking how goofy and funny these chapter names were.
A small grunt made her turn her head towards him to see that Damon had turned over in his father's grasp and was about to fall off, she was quick to use a little magic to readjust them. Percy shot her a thankful smile as he adjusted Penelope better. The sight of her future husband cradling their children while they slept, it made her smile grow wider. She had always wanted to have children of her own, and now she had them.
How often she had wondered, what it would be like to be a mother? Sure, she had her huntress, whom she cared for as her own children, yet the yearning in her heart was still the same. Now, she knew that in some millennium her wish was going to come full, she'll have to wait for it. But, for now she can spend as much time as she could with her children.
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at... dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.
"Is that safe?" Hestia asked worried for the children. That thing with lava spraying did not sound safe at all to her.
"Don't worry Milady, that thing is really safe. Everyone loves that lava wall, specially the Satyrs and the children of Hermes," Connor said giving Hestia a warm smile. She was one of the goddess who was actually nice and kind to the demigods. He felt guilty that the goddess didn't get much recognition.
"Yeah that's because the satyrs have goat legs, and you runts have the god of speed and thieves as your father. You have advantage over the rest of us." Clarisse grunted, her pig eyes boring onto the soul of Connor. She tried to glare him to death. But, much to her dismay, everyone else started laughing at her.
"It doesn't matter if you win by a second or a mile, winning is winning." Damon commented in his sleep, against his father's chest. Bringing a wide smile to everyone's faces.
"Stultus..." Reyna commented, trying to look stern, but her smile betrayed her. "That kid watches so many movies that they have started to replay as dreams in his head. Really, this isn't the first time I've heard him murmuring in his sleep." She grumbled watching over her step-son. She saw Percy smirking and threatened him. "Wipe that smug smirk off your face, or I'm going to break some teeth."
Her glare made not only Percy, but multiple gods in the room gulp.
Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. "I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."
"Whatever."
"It wasn't my fault."
"Really?" Many yelled at once, as their heads turned towards him. Even his two daughters looked at him with raised eyebrows. How could that not have been his fault?
"What? How was I suppose to know, the water would blast up like that?" Percy defended himself, huffing as he saw the incredulous looks of everyone. It wasn't his fault that he didn't knew about his own powers.
When no one could give him a straight reply, he smiled triumphantly and looked at Artemis to start reading again.
She looked at me skeptically,
Athena interrupted the reading and turned to look at her daughter, her sharp gray eyes locked onto Annabeth's. "You have already figured it out, have you not?" She asked smiling.
Annabeth nodded, her own gray eyes shone as she explained, "Yes... But I didn't want to accept it."
"And why was that?: Poseidon asked leaning forward, why would she wouldn't want to accept that Percy was his child?
"Well, if Percy was your child, that meant that you broke your oath too. Also, I found him cute, and didn't want to accept him as one of your children, because of my mother's rivalry with you." Annabeth answered looking down, a little golden hue adoring her cheeks as her sister wives started snickering at her.
"Aww... You're so cute Beth, you fell in love with me so early?" Percy smiled widely at Annabeth, his sea-green eyes shining with mischievousness and love for his wife. He had felt the same when he sad seen her for the first time, even in his injured half conscious state, Annabeth had been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
"Shut-Up" Annabeth grumbled and looked at him straight in the eyes, "I also found you annoying, stupid and obnoxious." She kept naming different adverbs describing Percy, which only seemed to make his smirk go bigger. She slumped back against the couch when she saw that everyone else was chuckling or smiling amusedly at her.
Percy turned to the past gods, making sure his body was still, so that the sleeping kids on his embrace don't wake up. "She loves me," He told them smiling, and turned back to wink at Annabeth.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, not minding Percy's teasing a bit. It was the fruit of the many tortured years she had spent in longing for him. She didn't knew how the scrawny son of Poseidon got close to her so much, that living without him was something unthinkable. Their friendship/relationship, it was almost religious, they survived two wars and literal hell, with only faith in their heart.
'I do love you Seaweed-Brain, with all my heart and more,' she called out to him through mind message. She almost wanted to throw her knife at him, when she heard a cocky, 'I know,' from the other side.
and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.
Roars of laughter rang through the room as Percy's thoughts were read out. Making the god himself blush as his father looked at him incredulously.
"One with the plumbing," Leo, the Stolls, Apollo and Hermes outright fell to their back against the couch laughing. The five of them looked like their lungs might give out soon from the way they were laughing.
"Uncle P," Apollo said through his heavy breaths. "Are you sure, you don't have the domains of toilet."
Once again the five immature immortals went wheezing in laughter.
Both Poseidon and Percy resembled each other identically, blushing gold as their wives and children laughed at them.
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said. "Who?"
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."
"Excuse me?" Apollo interrupted, his laughing fit stop as he looked at Annabeth affronted, "My Oracle is an who, not a what." He huffed in annoyance at the sheer disrespect given to the Spirit of Delphi.
'Oh boy,' Percy thought to himself, nearly resisting the urge to snort as soon Apollo was going to be proven wrong. "Let's just wade ahead, and you will find out what happens Pollo."
Apollo nodded when he heard his brother in law. Still, the gut feeling he got told him that, he wasn't going to love what comes ahead. But, the god of Prophecy knew, he would have to wait to see what the future holds.
I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once. I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me...and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.
"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."
"Wow," Leo marveled, "Jealous much?" he asked in a teasing tone.
Annabeth blushed deep gold as she was put in the spot again, it seemed like the chapter was purposefully against her. "No I was not jealous," she defended herself.
"Even if she was it was justified, I hate those water spirits," Thalia grumbled, glaring towards the book.
"Why?" Amphitrite asked frowning, the naiads were part of her husband's domain. She was a spirit of the sea herself, a Nereid. What was Thalia's problem with water spirits?
"All of them always gather around in group whenever Percy is near them. Always finding some ways to flirt with him." Reyna replied, a hint of anger in her voice. She didn't like showing emotions in public, but what she hated more was the little sluts always parading around her husband, doing whatever they could to get his attention.
To be fair, they never had any chance either way. Despite a guy who had 9 wives, he was inherently loyal. He wouldn't even look at any other woman other than his wives sexually. No matter how much anyone tried.
Amphitrite nodded agreeing with Reyna. Those nature spirits tended to get a little too comfortable around her husband and son too. It was trouble trying to fend them away.
"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now." Annabeth frowned..."I think you know."
I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad. The sudden surge of power I got whenever my full name was called out. How the oceans always called me home.
Poseidon closed his eyes and felt the connection to the seas, his son was talking about. It was the same for every being of the seas, the oceans always called them home. Amphitrite, Triton, Kymopoleia, Rhodes, and Theseus all felt the same.
Annabeth looked at Percy with a raised eyebrow, she knew when they were kids, he never liked to be called by his full name. But he had never told anyone why, they had assumed that it was because of the bullying he probably got from other kids. But was that the reason? Or what he just said now, that he got a surge of power every time his full name was used.
Names had power, Annabeth knew that. But no mortal should get a feeling like that, even demigods. This was something unheard of. Looking ahead she caught the intense eyes of Athena, who was staring back at Annabeth with the same question in mind. Both of them nodded at each other, agreeing to pay attention to this more.
"God," I said. "Half-god."
"You knew it all along," Poseidon spoke softly, his eyes trained towards his future son. It made him smile when he saw Percy holding the twins in his arms with the utmost care. The twins' heads resting against his chest as he had wrapped them in his arms. He liked that Percy cared so much about his children. Something Poseidon tried to do too, but obviously failed to do with him.
"It was in your blood. The blood of a god, my blood runs through your vein. You knew you were different all along, just didn't want to accept it." Poseidon could always feel the power surge in his child the moment they were born, his blood running in their veins, calling the sea to their aid. It only grows stronger as they grow old.
The demigods in the room nodded, both the mortal and immortal ones. They had always known that they were different from the others. Their instincts, their nature it was different than any mortal, they were born to be warriors. They stood out differently than the others.
Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians." "That's . . . crazy."
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories?
"Run around and screwing other people's life." Travis suggested, "Cursing others, so that it comes back and screws them over again?" Connor took over from there. Both of their tone was joking, but their words were anything but.
Immediately the gods an offended look, "What do you mean by that?" Hera asked haughtily, did the half bloods had something to say about how they ruled? What did they knew about being in power? She refused to acknowledge that there was something wrong with their rule.
She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand, and found herself to be in the direct line of Thalia's glare. The goddess of electricity looked pretty intimidating as she stared at her 'step-mother,' with an absolute look of hatred.
"What they mean by that," Thalia spoke through gritted teeth, "Is that you all have ruled callously for millenniums and did atrocities in the name of justice, just because no one dared to question you. You have abused your powers and positions."
Most of the gods looked down in shame, trying to avoid the accusing glances of their children. No matter how much they wanted to deny it, none of their excuses seemed more than that- 'excuses.'
Obviously, Hera had no such sense and decided to push her luck. "We have done nothing of that sort, except for the others having bastards." She moved her eyes towards the demigods, her dislike for them clear in her eyes. "And we are gods, nature bends to our will, why must we care about such trivial things? Who are you to question us?"
Thalia was about to answer the Queen of heavens, when a loud yawn interrupted everyone. Turning towards the sounds, they found out the twins rubbing their eyes as Percy moved them back towards where Mrs. O'leary was resting. Both Sophia and Danae immediately doting after their siblings.
Percy stood up and cracked his neck in slow movements. His messy raven locks falling on top of his eyes as his body moved. His sea-green eyes turning gold slightly as he took a step forward. The front of his shirt was wet with the twins' drool, something they had inherited from their father, but Percy didn't seem to care about it much.
The scent of ocean filled up the room as he walked. He stood tall in the center of the throne room, every eyes trained on him.
"She's a goddess, an Olympian such as yourself, she has every right to question you." Percy spoke, his eyes trained on the goddess he liked the least. "And I am the god of justice, tell me Hera," He said her name in such disgust she flinched in shock. "What gave you the right, to rule as you have?"
Thankfully, Hera had enough sense to stay silent and not anger him.
He looked around the room, "Every one, Every Single one of you has done something that they shouldn't have and hundreds if not thousands suffered because of it." He shook his head in disappointment. "None of you can sit here, and say that you haven't done anything wrong. This reading is happening because you must see what you have done wrong."
"I'm not going to stand here and tell you all that I have done nothing wrong. I have killed, manipulated and destroyed when I needed to. But, I don't try to hide away from it. I know the kind of monster I am. Look back at your own shortcomings and acknowledge what you did."
His words left deep thoughts on everyone's mind. It was true, they had all done something they weren't proud of, something that hurt a lot of people. Something about Percy was making them dig deep within themselves and see what they had truly done. It still wasn't enough to convince most of the people to accept it.
Percy smiled as he walked back to his seat and sat down. Looking at them once again he said, "Or I will make you do it."
Everyone had a shiver run down their spine as they heard his casual threat.
Artemis started reading once she saw that everyone had understood Percy. She didn't want to admit it, but in her pride, she had some unimaginable atrocities too. She couldn't lie to herself. She understood that now.
They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"
"But those are just — " I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.
"Well he certainly didn't had to wait for two thousand years." Leo laughed, making everyone from the future laugh and nod along with him.
"Yeah Perce," Grover chuckled, "It only took you two decades to become a myth." He couldn't believe that the boy he was assigned to protect, had become the hero of legends. From being an unclaimed demigod to being the King of Demigods, his friend had grown up.
"Really? He's considered a legend?" Poseidon asked puffing his chest out, shooting a smirk towards Zeus. All these years they had heard him going on and on about his son Heracles and his exploits. Finally, he had the chance to boast on about his son.
As Percy was about op open his mouth and deny everything, Annabeth cut him off. "Yes, the children are always talking about him, they try to dress as him and sometimes play games pretending they are him. Percy has led wars, done things people thought was impossible. Every demigod wants to be him. He is their King, father, a brother, friend, for many."
Nearly everyone except Zeus, Hera, Ares and Heracles had smiles on their faces. They liked hearing about how Percy looked after their kids, and how much their children loved him.
Heracles was bristling with anger as he heard the exploits of Percy. But to hear that the son of Poseidon was considered a legend and the children looked up at him and tried to be like him. It angered him more than anything. Since, he was the hero everyone always had looked up to. He decided that he would have to show him his place when the spar started.
"But if all the kids here are half-gods — " "Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods... teaches American history."
"He's human."
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"
"Yeah.. That is extremely sexist." Artemis said raising her eyebrows at Percy. From what she had heard till now, Percy wasn't the kind to be a sexist. He was anything but.
Other goddesses in the room turned to Percy, to see what he had to say.
"I don't think so. In future, all the mentions about demigods in history was about the children of the male gods. It was a reasonable assumption," Percy defended himself, all his childhood he had heard stories of Heracles, Theseus, Orion, Perseus and others. The times a child of a goddess had came up was surprisingly low.
"And it isn't my fault that the self-proclaimed Princess was acting rude, and being anal about everything. She acted like I was the source of every one of her problems." Percy chuckled teasingly as Annabeth went beet red and threw a pillow at him, which he effortlessly dodged. Despite the fact that they were married now, she was his best friend first. It was his job to tease her every chance he got.
"Self-Proclaimed Princess?" Thalia repeated and slid down the couch laughing, "That fits you so well Annie," she had to catch her stomach to control her hysterical laugh. Even Rachel, Piper and Reyna were chuckling at Annabeth's misfortune.
After everyone had calmed down from the laughing, Annabeth mind messaged Percy. I'm sorry for how I treated you at the beginning Percy. She really felt ashamed at how she had acted at the beginning.
I know love, Percy replied back through mind message, you don't have to worry about it.
"Who's your mom, then?" "Cabin six." "Meaning?"
Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."
Okay, I thought. Why not? I had heard more shocking things today.
"Is she hot?" I cursed myself for speaking without thinking again.
Athena stared at Percy with wide eyes as her cheeks tinged gold. Did he really said that to her daughter the first time her name was mentioned? She thought it was a joke, but considering as it was read out from the book. All she could do was stare at Percy with wide eyes.
"Really?" She narrowed her eyes at him, ignoring the amused looks she was getting from the rest of the room. "That's the first thing that came in your head after hearing my name?" She asked, even though that last sentence had completely surprised her, it was still funny. It was funnier to see Percy sweat a little as he answered.
"It was my ADHD," The Prince of night replied, his own face sporting a blush from embarrassment. "The moment was really awkward with Annabeth still dripping wet from the toilet water, and my mind hates me. When I'm faced on a situation like that, it always picks out the stupidest things to say." He answered scratching the back of his neck. Ignoring as the rest of the room chuckled.
Sophia smiled seeing her parents interact like that. She liked hearing about her dad's adventures. He was always so powerful and intimidating, it was fun to see him start as a goofy and awkward kid. Don't get her wrong, her father still acted really childishly around the people he loved. Yet, hearing about him like this was even more fun.
"And my dad?" "Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."
"Except my mother. She knew."
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities." "My dad would have. He loved her."
Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.
"I am sure if what you all have said about her is true, than I loved her." Poseidon said, his voice incredibly soft as he spoke. It wasn't like he hadn't fallen in love with a mortal before. He had. But they were fragile, they always died.
Amphitrite looked down to stop the feelings churning inside her. She knew that her husband had fallen in love with mortals before. And the way the future kids talked about Sally, her bravery, courage and kindness. It was a guarantee that he fell for her. Still, it hurt the queen of seas a lot more than she cared to admit. She knew it wasn't Sally's fault, and she was not the one to blame. But that thought didn't help Amphitrite at all.
Poseidon saw the hurt look at his wife's eyes, and he slipped his hand on top of her. Entangling their fingers together, he gave her a squeeze of assurance. He might not remember all this, once it was all open. But, he was happy that in the future he made an oath to stay loyal to his wife forever.
Zeus wanted to comment that Poseidon shouldn't have revealed their existence to the mortal, that it endangered their existence. But, he knew better than to open his mouth this time.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."
"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"
Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always . . . Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."
The effervescent mood of the room immediately vanished as a dark look surrounded the second Titan war veterans. This line Annabeth had just said, this line was the cause of everything that had happened. Dozens of their own kin perished because they fought for the Titans. And why? Because the obstinately narcissistic immortals that ruled over them, thought it was better to leave them alone, to die.
The gods looked at Annabeth with narrowed eyes, offended at what she had just said. Some looked guilty but the most looked like they resented what was just said.
"We do not ignore you." Zeus said through gritted teeth. "We have better things to do than sit around and play with you."
If possible the room's mood darkened even more. Sound of lightning cracking at the sky could be heard, as the room was filled with the smell of ozone. Surprisingly, even Zeus looked shocked himself, as it was not him behind any of it. Turning their heads, their eyes landed on the goddess of electricity.
Thalia electric blue eyes had turned to complete electricity, as her murderous gaze was aimed at her father. "What better thing would that be father." she spat the word with such venom that multiple people recoiled. "To go down at the mortal world, find another piece of flesh and have your way with her? Whether she consents or not?"
Zeus couldn't believe how much hatred his own daughter was showing against him. The amount of disgust in her eyes was shocking. Is this how all his children saw him? But Thalia wasn't finished yet.
"What about after? Just leave her alone to deal with the consequences after you're done getting your pleasure from her. Leave your child alone to be hunted by monsters and gods who you have wronged?" She remembered running around for years, hiding from the monsters Hades had sent after her, being hunted like a dog.
Zeus was silent through the whole thing. He didn't know what she was talking about, but he understood that something had went wrong with her. He would have to wait and see what happens.
"It isn't just that, in camp we wait for months, even years for our godly parents to acknowledge us. But we get nothing, I was in the Hermes cabin for 5 years unclaimed. I knew who my father was, but still it took me years to be claimed." Chris Rodriguez was the one who spoke this time. He had been silent for a while, but this time he couldn't sit back and just listen.
"No," Chris said with finality, stopping his father's oncoming apology, after Hermes made a move to say something.
"I am not looking for an apology or to make you feel bad father. I know you try to claim as many children as you can, and that you're really busy." He took a deep breath calming his nerves. This was the first time he was speaking about how he felt, the rage, the pain of being ignored. "I am merely stating that something that takes only one second of your time could've changed my life for the better."
No one dared to speak, everyone listened somberly as the son of Hermes spoke.
Chris shot Clarisse a thankful smile as she squeezed his hand for assurance and turned back to his father and the gods once again. "There were children in the camp sacrificing meals and begging the fates that their parents give them a sign of recognition. They went out for dangerous and unnecessary quests, not many returned alive. All just to get their parent's recognition, to learn that their parents cared about them. But the great almighty gods of Olympus couldn't even take a minute out of their day to claim their children."
Tears ran through the eyes of the half-bloods as they heard him. They had all felt like that, the feeling of hopelessness being stuck inside a camp, knowing that their parents never cared about them.
The gods were silenced as they heard the thoughts of their children. Is this how their children felt all the time? Guilt seeped in on every inch of their heart. They couldn't blame the children for being hostile against them, this was how anger and resentment was born.
They were absent and horrible parents, the gods knew that. But this was them plain-fully ignoring the children. What had happened to them in the future?
"Do they still feel like that?" Hestia asked, her voice wavering as tears streamed from her eyes like waterfall. She was the goddess of home family, she had seen and heard the pleas of the demigods herself. She even tried to make her family understand the gravity of the matter to no avail. But to hear it all coming from the demigods themselves, it broke her heart. It seemed that her family has gotten worse as time flew.
"No," this time it was Katie Gardener who answered, "Ever since Percy became a god, things have been better. As their King and Queen, Percy Annabeth are always there to take care and look after the kids. Percy made sure that every cabin in the camp have immortal demigods, so the children always have someone to look after them and take care of them."
The gods all smiled and shot Percy thankful looks, which he didn't even try to acknowledge. His gaze was aimed at the walls of the throne room, his eyes blazing, seeming to get lost into the distance between the words that were just spoke.
After everything has calmed down Artemis started reading once again.
I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.
Perseus, Theseus and everyone from the future snorted. Like the thought of 'Gods behaving better,' amused them. Well, to them it really did. They had seen and heard the gods making the same mistakes over and over again. Never acknowledging their mistakes.
The gods were all silent, not speaking a word. It was too soon to even deny anything, they had just heard some minutes ago. Taking that no one had anything to say Artemis began to read once again.
"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"
"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a powerful force.
Demeter and Aphrodite made a noise of indignation as they both glared at Annabeth, meanwhile Katie and Piper raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean by 'not a powerful force?'" Aphrodite asked haughtily. Just because she didn't showcase her abilities like the others, didn't mean that she was any less powerful than the others.
"Do you thing Agriculture is not a powerful force, daughter of Athena?" Demeter asked, her voice firm and controlled. "With the wave of my hand every grain in the planet will shrivel up. Every being on this planet would die of starvation." She truly felt like the daughter of the Titan King.
Annabeth was about to apologize for her words, she didn't mean it like that, but still it sounded wrong. But, before she could do so, Percy interrupted.
"She didn't mean it like that," Percy spoke getting everyone's attention. "What she meant was to say that your children are always peaceful, unlike the rest. Due to the nature of you two's domains, your children don't attract monsters like the children of the rest of gods."
Annabeth smiled at her husband, remembering the reason for her unconditional love. While everyone listened to her words, and plans. Percy was the only one who truly understood her. No matter how many times they had fought as kids, and how often he annoyed her. He always understood her. Even when she didn't understand herself. Threading their fingers together, she rested her head on his shoulder. Just the simple gesture of her telling him, how much she loved him.
"Percy is right. When the satyrs are sent to pick up the demigods, they often get confused because your children don't have scent as powerful as the others. Demeter's children are often hidden by the scent of plants and flowers, and perfume with Aphrodite's. The monsters can't distinguish between them and demigods many often." Grover said defending his friend, and nodded back when Annabeth shot him a thankful smile.
The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world..."So monsters can't get in here?" Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"
"Practice fights. Practical jokes."
"Practical jokes?"
"Practical Jokes?" Many of the gods shouted at once, worried for their kids' safety. That didn't sound safe at all. Even Chiron himself looked worried for his future wards. Practice fights was one thing, but jokes always tend to get out of hands. It would be disastrous if a kid was unarmed and someone left a monster at them for 'joke.'
"Yeah... Some of us used to play jokes on each other with summoning a low level monster inside the camp. But after a particular instance," Travis' eyes flickered towards Percy for a second, before he continued, "We stopped those pranks."
The slight flicker towards Percy went unnoticed by many, but Poseidon caught it and internally groaned. Did every bad thing had to happen to his son? The book hadn't even started and Percy had almost died multiple times. What was going to happen now?
"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual... "Why did you come so young?"
She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."
"Wow Percy, nosy much?" Thalia commented poking him with her elbows, enjoying hearing about him. Of course she knew that he had no filters, he always did spoke whatever he had in mind. Sometimes getting in troubles because of it, but that was one of the reasons she loved him. He always spoke what he thought, and never held anything back. He was too bluntly honest.
Percy blushed as he heard her. Thinking about it, he shouldn't have poked into Annabeth's business after knowing her for just two seconds.
"Still, that was way too harsh Annabeth," Piper commented, her own face twitched into a teasing smile. She had always wanted to know just what her husband had done, to gain so much love and dedications from the other. Now, she could hear about everything. Also, every chance to tease Annabeth was a good chance.
"Yeah..." Annabeth sighed, her head still drooped at Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry Percy," she whispered against his ear.
"It's fine love," Percy said, "No need to stress about it now."
"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?" "It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."
"Unless?"
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time . . ."
Annabeth immediately winced as her own past words reached her ears now. She hadn't known how much Luke had changed back then. She could feel that he wasn't the same loving, caring person she had always admired. He had been left just the silhouette of the man he once was.
The years of bitterness had turned everything good inside him, and made him out to be a twisted and malicious person. Something, she didn't want to accept, something Percy kept reminding her. She still refused to acknowledge it.
Now everyone would hear about how naive she was.
Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.
"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff — " "Ambrosia."
"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice." Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"
"Well ... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"
She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."
"You had been to Olympus?" Perseus and Theseus asked in astonishment.
Getting an invite to the mountain of gods was something really big. Only the best of best were given the chance to ever visit Olympus. Only Heracles and a few others have been the one to visit the hall of gods.
Annabeth shrugged, seemingly not finding it that much important. "Chiron used to take us out on a trip to Olympus at every winter solstice, so that we can see the council meetings ourselves and see how the gods worked."
Seeing the shocked look from the Romans, the past demigods and gods, she needed to add something to that statement. "Which was nothing, all they did was sit in their thrones and argue like toddlers." She really enjoyed the laughter that echoed through the room at her words. After all, being married to Percy for so many years was going to leave some impression.
The Olympians had their mouth hung open as they heard her. Did they really behaved like that? Like a bunch of toddler? Seeing that almost everyone was agreeing with Annabeth, they all huffed and sat back.
Meanwhile Hestia and Hades looked down to hide their amused smiles.
"You've been to Olympus?"
"Some of us year-rounders — Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others — we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council." "But . . . how did you get there?"
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"
"Sure, cause they have billboards all around New York, advertising the location of Olympus." Clarisse snorted, taking every bit of joy as Annabeth turned gold from embarrassment. "Seriously Princess, all that reading and you still act as stupid as Prissy at times."
"Hey!" Percy shouted in indignation as every single one of his friends started laughing at his misfortune. Seriously, how much more was he going to get teased now?
Seeing as Annabeth was getting incredulous looks from everyone, Percy came to her defense, "And leave her alone, she had been in camp for so long, that she had forgotten that what was common knowledge for her, might not have been for others."
Annabeth smiled as Percy shifted his head to kiss her forehead, "Don't listen to their teasing Wise-Girl."
Their little show of emotion had a particular love goddess squealing at her couch. The love emitting from Percy and his wives had her particular giddy, and not only them. Every couple from the future had love and adoration radiating from them.
"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.
"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen.
"No," Athena sighed as her eyes widened in horror. Finally figuring out the connection between the book title and the event on Olympus that had Zeus and Poseidon fighting.
She turned to Annabeth and Percy, wishing that it was not true. But much to her dismay both the gods nodded, agreeing with her line of thought.
Zeus who had been paying attention now, seeing Athena's reaction figured out the connection too. The Lightening Thief. Someone had stolen his master bolt. He looked around the room and his eyes landed on Poseidon.
By now everyone had been notified of the weapon's theft, and they were all watching around in horror. The Master bolt's theft would unravel many dominoes, that they weren't ready to pick up as of now.
"Poseidon," Zeus drawled out the sea god's name through gritted teeth.
"Be careful of what you speak now brother." Poseidon himself replied haughtily, he didn't know what was happening in the future, but he knew that Zeus would blame him first. And he was in no mood to deal with his younger brother's bullshit at the moment. Not when he had heard about what his son went through, and what he will go through.
Percy could see that his father was going to lose control any moment, so he covered his children, the immortal demigods and the past demigods with a thick layer of protection spell. So, they don't get hurt.
Even after the warning Zeus refused to back down and glared at his brother intensely. His master bolt was at his hand as he the sky thundered and lightening flashed. "You must be the one who had stolen my bolt, to take away my thro..."
He couldn't complete his sentence as the Lord of the Seas slammed his trident hard against the marble floor making debris fly everywhere. The very throne room shook violently as an violent earthquake passed through the entire mountain. The gods all fall back as the shock wave sent everything flying.
Before they could even blink Poseidon was in front of Zeus in an instance, his trident pushed under the King of Gods' throat. His whole body glowed in an ethereal green aura as his trident buzzed with power, making the lesser immortals in the room cower. "I do not like to be called a thief, little brother." He said and went back to his seat.
The future people could only watch in shock as Poseidon lost control. This was the temperament of the Sea god they had heard about. The temper that made the entire earth shake at his rage. The reason the Romans feared him so much. In his anger Poseidon had leveled islands, and brought the worst of the hurricanes to shore. There was a reason people feared the sea, cause as gentle as beautiful as it could be, it was also violent and dangerous.
This was where Percy had inherited his temper from. The temper that made many immortals cower even when he was just a demigod.
As Annabeth waved her hand and fixed the throne room, Zeus stood up and watched Poseidon in horror. They had fought before, but never had Poseidon downright attacked him before. He could feel his chest paining from the explosion of the blast, as it had hit him center. For the first time in a very long while, Zeus felt afraid of Poseidon.
Not speaking anything else, he moved to his seat and sat down, still looking fearful of the sea god, and keeping a cautious look at him.
Seeing as the event had already been passed, Percy lifted the protection spell from the others and turned towards Artemis, "Let's read ahead."
And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."
"Yeah... Percy knowing something is as absurd as dolphins flying in the sky," Reyna joked, which was very unexpected of her as she always acted disciplined and strict. But it did elevated the mood of the room as the people from future laughed at the shocked god, who was looking at his wife open mouthed.
"Hey... I know things too," Percy defended back, but no one looked like they believed him. So, he just huffed in silence, ignoring the Annabeth chuckling against his shoulder.
Though everyone could tell he was not offended by the shine on his sea green eyes, as he looked at Reyna dearly.
The sinister haze that was still hovering over Poseidon's aura lifted off as he smiled seeing his son happy. His mood completely changing in the span of seconds. Very much like the sea he commanded, the sea god's emotions changed in instance too. Another trait Percy had inherited from his father.
I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions... She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.
Athena raised her eyebrows impressed at the deduction. Percy's perception always taking her by surprise. It was usual with her children to draw battle plans in their mind and analyzing every place they were in, but still, the fact that Percy could tell it with just a glance was astonishing.
"I hate how you haven't even known me for more than a few hours and still you can decipher every single move or expression of mine, better than anyone." Annabeth huffed, but she didn't seem particularly mad about it. It was one of the things she liked about him, he could always understand her better than everyone. But still, a girl has to have some secrets.
Hades kept a emotionless mask but Persephone could sense the unease of her husband. The boy was turning out to be really perceptive of everything, if it continued, and he ventured into the underworld. Which by now they were sure he was going to do. He could reveal secrets her husband had kept hidden for millennia.
Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.
"That's us," Travis and Connor shouted at unison. Both of their faces having the same mischievous smiles the book had just mentioned.
Hermes smiled proudly hearing his children's description. They took after their father after all.
Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn... "Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store." I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.
"No child of Hermes would ever lie about stealing," The brother commented again, almost offended. Even if Luke would turn out to be a betrayed, he was still a son of Hermes. Stealing was something they all enjoy, even if it was something as simple stealing toiletries
Hermes smiled at his sons' antics and wondered again, why wasn't Luke here?
I said, "Thanks."
"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?" "I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."
"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."
Hermes frowned along with the other gods, not liking what Luke had just said right now in the book. That didn't come of as something a demigod should say.
"Why is he saying that?" The messenger god asked worried.
"Well I might be pulling at straws here, but it might be the parents being absent all our life, and only contacting us, when they need something from us. The constant feeling of abandonment that our parents don't care about us. The knowledge that the moment we step out of camp, we will be hunted like dogs by the monsters. The fact that the mortals don't understand us, and we are treated as an outcast in the mortal world. Then again, it's just me." Percy commented and went back to playing with Annabeth's curl.
The silence in the throne room was so heavy that it burdened the gods' shoulder. Percy's words made everyone in the room with a child flinch, at the bluntness of them. No parent liked hearing that their children thought of them like that. The truth in that statement was hard to hear.
The demigods all looked down, this was exactly how they feel, like their parents don't care about them. That their existence was a mistake of a god's fling, and they didn't matter to them.
Percy's words brought forth a torrent of emotions. Tugging at the roots of the thrones the gods were sitting upon, the thrones that were made up of lies and negligence. Hiding away from the responsibilities they had as a parent to care, as a god to provide. The shame they felt wash over them was something that made them not able to look their children in the eyes.
Artemis left the others to soak on their own shame as she enjoyed their guilty looks. This was one of the reasons she had hated her family, they went out of their way to have fun with the mortals and have kids. But never acknowledged their children, or their pain. She had many hunters who once used to be demigods, and she had heard all their heartbreaks and the saddened tale of how they felt.
She tried making her family see reason of the way they acted and how their negligence affected the kids, but to her dismay, it was to no avail. So, she enjoyed this moment to her heart's content before starting reading once again.
The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.
"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked... "The wing-footed messenger guy."
Loud laughter echoed through the room as Apollo clutched his stomach tight and fell off his seat laughing. His chortling igniting the spark in the room, as everyone else started laughing too.
Hermes raised an amused eyebrow at Percy, "Wing-footed messenger guy?" He couldn't even stop his own chuckling, he had been called many things in his immortal life, but this one was new.
Percy shrugged, not feeling ashamed even a bit, "It's way nicer than the other times I have described a god."
Hermes laughed, enjoying the jovial mood of the room. He would enjoy seeing what the son of Poseidon comes up with for the rest of his family.
"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."
I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.
"Oh he definitely did," Thalia muttered, her eyes narrowed at the book. Annabeth wouldn't have recognized it, but Thalia did. She had spent time with Luke, and knew how he worked.
Even if he hated his father, Luke was a son of Hermes, God of Trickery, Teller of lies. He was planting the seeds of doubt inside Percy's mind, so in time, he can come off as his savior and save him. By offering the chance to go against the gods. Luke had always been crafty, but this was something else.
"You ever meet your dad?" I asked. "Once." I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't... After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."
"Hypocrite," Clarisse snarled gaining the attention of the others but she could care less about them. She was disgusted by the hypocrisy of Luke's statement, while he himself had led many of his siblings astray. People he was suppose to look after, little kids who were innocent and just wanted someone to care for them. Luke had gained their trust, promised them a better life and then send them to their slaughter.
Chris, his own brother, even him Luke hadn't spared. Sending him to implore the dark caverns of the labyrinth. A place where untold dangers and the worst of monsters resided. He didn't take care of his family back then, instead he surrendered himself to his anger and resentment and sent his family to their deaths.
A red aura had surrounded her, as the daughter of war was reminded of what her boyfriend had gone through. She still remembered his screams of pain and fear, the labyrinth taking apart his mind slowly by slowly. It was the most helpless she had ever felt.
The blood-lust of Ares was seeping out of her to others, making them shudder as they felt her pure rage. Their own emotions started acting up and they felt a bubble of anger ignite in them like hot lava. Even Ares himself looked shocked by his daughter's rage.
"Clarisse," A firm voice called out, searing through the crowd to the daughter of Ares' ears. Whipping her head around, Clarisse's eyes met Percy's. "Calm down," He said sternly, and Clarisse listened. This wasn't the voice of her friend, but her King, even the irrational part of her obeyed her king.
The people of the room sighed in relief as they felt their emotions return to normal. But, everyone was vary of the daughter of Ares now.
Seeing as the room was tense Travis decided to help out, "Anyways, it sounds better when Percy says it."
Everyone from the future immediately smiled and started muttering their approval the same. Bringing many gods to smile as they heard about how much Percy cared for everyone.
He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older... "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth . . . twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"
Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."
"Don't we all," The demigods muttered at once. For years prophecies had fucked up their life. Sending them onto dangerous quest, prophesying deaths and destruction. They were all tired of it.
"I take offense to that," Apollo cut off their groans of displease. Prophecies came under his domain, he didn't liked people badmouthing one of his domains.
"And why is that Apollo?" Rachel asked looking him straight in the eyes. She too shared the domain with him in the future, but even she was tired of it, the constant visions of everything. The morbid future that always flashed in front of her eyes, knowing the fate of someone, but not being able to change it. Cause Destiny needed to run it's course.
Apollo looked at everyone, his face uncharacteristically emotionless, "Prophecies are vital for the future, they are how the fates carry out their will. A prophecy is meant to warn about the future and help you prepare for it, so that the plans of the fates can be set in motion."
He looked onto the downcast faces of the demigods and he could guess what they had gone through. Everyone of them had the signs of a veteran, people who have seen death and destruction from their own eyes, people who had been in war. He knew what they felt, the dread of your life hanging on a prophecy. But it was how the world worked. He couldn't change that.
"I know that the prophecies are not always good. That they sometimes are so dark, you want nothing more to do than just run away and hide. Hide away from the responsibilities shoved upon your shoulders. But they always find you, no one can stay hidden away from their fate forever. Destiny is Inevitable." Apollo explained as best as he could.
Taking his words by heart the room was silent, only the crackles of the hearth could be heard. There was undeniable truth in the word of the Sun god.
"So, do we have no free will?" Castor, the son of Dionysus asked. Remembering the fate of his brother who had died on the battle of the labyrinth. Did he had no choice of his own, and died just cause the fates wanted him to?
"What do you mean?" Apollo asked softly, wanting to understand what the immortal demigod meant clearly.
"If the fates have woven our destiny already and have planned everything, do we not get a choice? Do we just follow along what they decide?" Castor clarified. Words not easily coming out of his mouth as he choked on sobs remembering his brother's demise.
"It's not as simple as that, dear boy." The son of Leto smiled apologetically, guessing by the behavior of him that he had lost someone close to him.
The demigods, and some of the gods leaned forward to hear what Apollo had to say. Even to the most of them, the work of fates was confusing.
"Fates weave possible futures for you, but it is by your free will, your choice that you reach to the end destined for you." Apollo explained but seeing as everyone still looked confused he elucidated, "Your fate is decided but how you reach there is up to your choice. Both fate and free will exist together. You can't have it without the other. Your fate decides that you will suffer, how much? It is decided by your free will."
"If a person has a disease and they are destined to die from that disease, they can take multiple treatments and medications to prolong their life. But at the end, they will perish from that disease. It was their choices that made their life span longer, but they always catch up to their fate."
Slowly the looks of understand passed along the faces of the demigods and gods, their thoughts much serene from the explanation. It all made sense to them now.
Artemis and Athena were shocked to hear him, but a smile adorned both of their faces. Artemis had forgotten that even with his goofy persona, Apollo was still the god of Knowledge. Athena was fascinated to learn something new, while she was jealous that Apollo knew something she didn't. It didn't matter to her at the grand scheme of things, she was just happy to learn something new.
Apollo turned to the god of fate, to see if he had explained everything clearly. He could see the pride in Percy's eyes and the slight nod of appreciation, telling him that he had done well.
Artemis turned the page and continued reading, the smile still lingering at her face.
"What do you mean?"
His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else... Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until . . . somebody special came to the camp."
"Somebody special?"
"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."
"Is that why you had said, 'he's the one?'" Aphrodite asked disappointed, she had thought it was love at first sight.
"It was," Annabeth nodded, "But here, he made it sound like I was a naive girl." She couldn't believe she had not seen the signs of how much Luke had changed.
Percy's hand draped across her waist, gliding against her soft skin as Annabeth instinctively shifted close to him, sighing at his touch. She could feel his warm break on her neck as he whispered, "Don't worry Beth, you wanted to get out of the camp so you believed that it would happen soon, that doesn't makes you naive."
His voice so close to her ears, still send shivers down her spine. Specially when he planted a kiss at the back of her ears and sat back again. She dropped her head to his chest and enjoyed hearing the story with the mix of Percy's heartbeat.
The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.
Every sea deity in the room smirked as they heard that. "That is the sea in you. Everything related to sea, you already know. It's on your blood. " Poseidon told his son.
"Great power you have there Perce, recognizing conch shells." Leo joked, making those around him laugh along with him.
Triton was about to speak something but Percy started first, "Don't think of a conch shell as an ordinary thing Leo." He warned, "It's my brother's symbol of power, he uses it to announce his arrival and calm the waves he has been given the duty of. But in a fight, when Triton blows his conch shell, it terrorizes even giants who flees away in fear that a mighty beast has arrived."
"It can't be used as an weapon, but that doesn't mean that a conch shell is powerless." He said and turned to nod at Triton, who nodded back in appreciation.
Poseidon and Amphitrite smiled widely seeing their children get along, while Leo muttered a quick apology to Triton.
Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"
The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard... but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.
The hunters and Artemis all smiled at the mention of their cabin.
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow... In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.
Pan smiled hearing about the satyrs, nymphs and naiads, happy that they all had a place among the demigods. The demigods of this time, they never assorted much with the nature spirits. They thought of them beneath them and only talked to them when they needed something. To hear about them sitting together with the others, eating with them like equals. It warmed his heart.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub... I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.
Hermes growled as he turned to the rest of the gods, anger stretched upon his face clearly. "Because of your carelessness, now my children have to suffer..." He didn't say anything but did throw them a last look of disgust.
I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys... Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"
Apollo summoned a chalice of nectar and raised it in the air dramatically, "To us." He said and gulped down the nectar.
The demigods smiled, enjoying the sight of gods acting as normal beings, instead of all powerful beings.
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples... The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. I took a cautious sip. Perfect.
I drank a toast to my mother.
She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday . . .
The mothers in the room sighed in content at the love Percy had for his mother. Percy was only 12, and still ready to descend into the underworld to save his mother. The feeling behind that statement was so deep it left the goddesses yearning for a relationship like that with their children.
Hestia smiled softly hearing that, she figured that Percy had inherited more than just Poseidon's looks and powers. He had inherited Poseidon's nature too, it was in the sea god's nature to protect his loved ones, and to fight fate over it. Though she figured that Sally's nurturing had a huge impact too on the man Percy became.
Persephone smiled widely as her husband grumbled about the boy descending into the underworld, but she also knew her husband better than anyone. He respected the fact that the boy loved his mother very much.
"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.
I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up... Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."
"Wait Really?" Leo asked surprised, he had never heard something like that before. Why would the gods like the smell of burnt food?
"Not really," Hestia smiled, "It's the sacrifice, it gives us a sudden surge of power, cause it means people still believe in us."
The demigods nodded as that made a lot of sense. They had never known why they did it, and shrugged it off as tradition.
It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wild flowers... "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."
"Peter Johnson?" Athena asked raising her eyebrow towards Percy. So far, he was the only one new in the camper that had shown up. Who was this Peter person?
"That's what Dionysus liked to do. He purposefully used to call us by wrong names," Percy replied with a roll of his eyes at the wine god's antics.
Dionysus himself grunted in response, that seemed like something he would do alright. He was being forced into staying in that wretched camp, he would have to find some source of fun.
"Real mature," Artemis muttered and went back to the reading.
Chiron murmured something. "Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that... I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.
Every demigod in the room smiled hearing that. That was how they all felt, the camp was their home. Sure, it gets tiring sometime staying inside cooped up. Still, the people inside were their family, someone they could die for and the camp itself was important to them.
A place where they all were accepted despite their flaws, a place where others understood what they went through. A place where they felt safe, Home.
Even some of the gods smiled, thankful that their children had a place like that.
Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed... I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.
The reading was barely finished when Percy stood up to address the anticipating crowd. "This has been a long session. All demigods are free to stretch and relax themselves for some time. The spar will commence afterword."
The gods and demigods nodded and started filing out of the room. It had been a tiring day for all of them. With the revelations and reality they faced today. The truth being shown to them was something that had most of them emotionally drained. They needed all the break they could get.
Some stayed back while the others went out to talk or observe their kid. Enjoying what little time they could get with them. Hermes and his sons started taking bets on the spar, 'never lose an opportunity to hustle,' that was the motto of the father and sons.
Apollo looked around and saw Percy's wives huddled together at the couches, not looking very eager to move. His eyes searched for the god of fate but he couldn't find him. Thinking that was luck was on his side he got ready to flash away.
"Don't tell me you were trying to avoid me Apollo," The unmistakable voice of his brother in law called out. Making him turn around and smile widely.
"You see..." Apollo started but couldn't think of an excuse, and he couldn't lie, since he was the god of truth. Turning back he laughed and said, "You caught me."
Percy was smiling but Apollo could tell that the god was dead serious. There was no way he could avoid the topic they were about to discuss. He sighed miserably, "Let's go." The god of fate nodded and soon both of them vanished into a flash of light.
Cold air stung Apollo's cheek as they were flashed to a cliff side, looking down he could see the sea, waves lapping at the shore. Behind him was a forest so dense it looked like sunlight barely entered there. Turning around he faced the sober look of Perseus, the mischief gone from his eyes.
"Tell me the truth brother, how are you?" Percy asked, his voiced laced with concern for his brother in law.
Apollo looked down, how was he? It had been almost a millennia since someone had asked him that. Most just waved him and his problems away, cause he was one of the happy god on Olympus. But wasn't that all just a facade? A well planned emotional mask plastered so others don't realize the pain he was in?
"It was manageable before, but now, with us reading about our future, the visions are getting constant, it's getting worse." He replied earnestly, what else could he do but not tell him? He was the god of truth, he literally couldn't lie even if he wanted to.
"I can't take away your pain completely brother, but I can help lessen it for the time I'm here." Percy touched Apollo's forehead, making him feel like a surge of energy wash through him. His aura glowed stronger for a second and than it subsided.
"This won't do much, but it will help with managing the visions better. As long as I am here, you won't have to be in pain. But, once I return it will go back to normal," He told him and watched as the sun god's eyes grew wide.
"Thank you," Apollo said and shook his hand.
"No need," Percy smiled back at him.
"So, how are you enjoying being a god?" Apollo asked as both of them looked towards the oceans.
"It's frustrating at times and really peaceful at other." Apollo nodded at Percy's reply, that was how he felt sometimes too.
Line-Break
A figure could be seen standing at the edge of Olympus, looking down the mountain towards the world that was stopped in time. His windswept hair hovering over his eyes to cover the silent and stormy look on them.
"Percy?" A melodious voice called out, making him turn his head towards the owner of the voice.
"Yes my love?" Percy replied to his wife.
Annabeth smiled hearing that, no matter how much years pass by, she would never get tired of hearing that. "Everyone is ready for the spar."
Percy smiled and stepped to her side, his arm extended for hers to loop with. A smile anticipating the fight in his face, "Let's begin shall we?"