A/N: I never know how to write these author notes.

I don't know how often I'm going to be updating this fic because I'm kind of just winging it and I have no solid plans for it, but here's another chapter while I'm free. I don't have a specific pairing in mind for Percy and I have no idea how I'm going to make this work but don't worry, I will make it work. For now, the next couple of chapters (including this one) can be considered kind of filler. It'll be Percy getting some new allies, which will set up his entrance into the fray of things.

Hope you enjoy it, I guess.

I don't own Percy Jackson.

The morning after his first night in the palace, he was rudely awakened by his teacher. Percy's rather large bedroom was filled with the sounds of clanging courtesy of Hermes smashing a wooden spoon into the bottom end of a metal pot repeatedly, telling him to get up.

Percy was sent into the shower by a rather chipper Hermes, and the god's mood did not change the slightest bit despite the hate-filled glare that the demigod had sent his way.

Hermes told him to meet him downstairs in the living room once he was done showering and told him that there was a whole batch of new clothes in Percy's closet that he could choose from.

After following his teacher's instructions, Percy had donned a plain white shirt that hung off his thin frame and some black shorts that were his size. He shuffled his way down the stairs to see Hermes shrugging on the coat of a rather expensive looking suit and leather shoes with wings fluttering idly on them.

"I've got some errands to run today, kid, but I was thinking that I could get you started on the basic knowledge a demigod needs in our world over some breakfast. While I'm gone, I want you to read the books I got you. They're on your desk, and they're about some demigod stuff that I don't want to waste my valuable time on. Capiche?" Hermes said, buttoning the cuffs on his white button-down shirt.

Seeing Percy nod, Hermes gestured to one of the stools at the kitchen island. "Sit down and listen up."

The god had begun by telling him about how their entire pantheon came to be; about the all-powerful Chaos, who created them all; about Gaia and her siblings, who ruled the world before the Olympians did; about how Kronos, the father of the Big Three and a couple of other Olympians, ate his children.

Hermes then started to tell him about the Olympians in general, starting from Zeus and going down the line from there. He'd tell Percy about their domains, their powers, and what they were known for. He'd also mention some famous "mortal" children related to the Olympian he was talking about, and add in a few stories about the gods he talked about. He secretly enjoyed the look of wonder and interest the boy had as he spoke, but he'd never let another soul know that.

Percy grinned as Hermes began to talk about how he had stolen Apollo's cattle when he was a baby, but the god's phone buzzed. Frowning, Hermes took out his phone and quickly read the message flashing on the screen. He sighed, "Alright Percy, hopefully, we'll continue this tonight. I've got to run. Your old uncle Hades wants some stuff delivered to his place for his wife and I know better than to be late. I've got a reputation to keep after all."

"Is it even possible for you to be late?" Percy asked, finishing up his breakfast of eggs and bacon.

"Eh," Hermes shrugged with a grin as he began to leave his palace, walking backward as he continued to talk to Percy. "It hasn't happened yet. And it won't happen anytime soon if I can help it."

With a wave, Hermes turned and began to jog lightly. Percy's eyes then widened, and he called out to Hermes. "Hey, Hermes, wait! I can't-"

The slow pace that the god set did not last, and soon enough, he was a blur as he left the palace, closing the front door behind him.

Percy gave a small sigh. "I can't read," he finished lamely.

Shaking his head, Percy stood and rubbed his belly. He felt pretty full from all the food, and he hadn't felt full in a long time. He dumped his plate and utensils in the sink and chugged his orange juice before heading upstairs to his room.

Hermes had shown Percy his new bedroom in the god's palace the night before, and the kid was impressed at its size. It was much larger than his bedroom in his old apartment and definitely cleaner. He could actually see the floor, for one, and saw that it was a dark kind of wood. The ceiling and walls were a warm shade of brown and the lights weren't bright and painful to look at. A queen-sized bed with plain white sheets and pillows sat at the center of the wall furthest from the door. Two nightstands flanked the bed and each had a lamp on top of them. An entire wall was dedicated to different corkboards and whiteboards that were blank, and the wall opposite that had a full-body mirror and a dresser. The door to the bathroom was also on that wall.

All in all, Percy was extremely happy to have a room to himself, especially one so large. He didn't mind that the room lacked windows, knowing full well that his presence on Olympus wasn't exactly legal.

Percy had thanked the god profusely, but Hermes had waved him off and told him to get some rest.

Dragging himself from his thoughts and his eyes over to his desk, Percy found that he did indeed have two books stacked neatly on top of each other. He made his way over to them and pulled out the swivel chair so he could sit.

Holding the two books up to his eye level, he blinked when the Latin on the cover began to shimmer and that for once, he could read the titles. He saw that one book was about the various monsters that could be found around the world and after a quick glance inside, found detailed diagrams on their anatomies and analysis on their weaknesses. The other book was a book about all the gods, both major and minor, entitled "Deities for Dummies". The first page of the book was a family tree of the gods, and Percy found that there was a lot of reproduction between siblings. He winced and gagged.

Deciding to read up on the people he had the most questions about first, Percy grabbed the book about the gods and pushed his chair back. He made his way to his bed where he started to read.

The more Percy read, the more he realized how true Hermes' words were; gods were crazy and powerful. They were crazy powerful. Even some of those considered minor gods had a large stake in how people lived their lives; Morpheus, the god of sleep, Persephone, the queen of the underworld, Thanatos, the personification of death, and Pan, the god of the Wild. He also snorted seeing Pan was Hermes' son.

He continued to read until he heard Hermes call his name from downstairs. He closed his book after noting the page he last read and made his way downstairs, seeing Hermes shrugging off his coat.

"Hey. What've you been up to?" Hermes asked, crashing down onto the couch with a sigh. He didn't look particularly tired, but then again, Percy wondered if a god could ever truly be tired.

"Reading one of the books you gave me. Is it true that you traded a flute in for a sword from Apollo?" Percy asked, settling in across from the man.

"Yes, I did," Hermes grinned. "I'm not too bad with a sword if I do say so myself. I'm planning on teaching you how to use one once I get you finished up with all the boring knowledge stuff."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why do I need to know all of that stuff before I can start training? If I really am that kid in the prophecy, shouldn't I be training as much as I can?"

Hermes sighed. "How old are you kid?"

"I'm 11."

"You have 5 years kid. There's no rush. And besides, look at you. If Zeus or your old man decided to blow a light breeze your way, you'd fly off like a sheet of paper. I need to get some meat into you before I start your training. You could just end up hurting yourself with that kind of body going through my kind of training." Hermes said, picking his teeth as he stared at the ceiling.

"I mean...can't I start early?" Percy tried again. The drawings in the book he read were, to his young mind, downright cool. He couldn't help wanting to be a hero with his sword impaled in a monster.

"Even if you knew how to use a sword, if you don't know how to use your brain, you're as good as dead, Percy," Hermes said seriously, meeting the boy's eyes for a second before he resumed staring at the ceiling.

Percy hummed in reply, giving up on the topic. simply thinking back on what he read once more. After a moment, Percy tilted his head. "Hey, Hermes?"

The god hummed in a questioning tone.

"What exactly does your blessing do for me?" Percy asked. All he had seen was the change in his eyes and even that wasn't too impressive.

"Well, to put it into simpler words, my blessing you is just me giving you the abilities my children have, but to a lesser extent. If you were to use the powers I blessed you with, which I will elaborate on in a moment, up against the powers of one of my genuine kids, you would lose." Hermes said. He slowly shifted himself up to sit on the couch so that he could talk to Percy while making eye contact.

"When I blessed you, I basically gave you the whole shtick I have going for me and my kids," Hermes said, untying his shoelaces as he talked. "Not to toot my own horn, but if you did read that book well, then you would know that my domain covers a bunch of stuff involved in many different aspects of life. That is why they call me a jack of all trades, and that's something my kids are called too. You following so far?"

Seeing Percy nod, Hermes continued. "With my blessing, your athleticism is boosted. If you're in any way athletic even without my blessing, then you're in for a treat. Aside from that, you'll be able to pick locks like it's second nature to you. Touching a lock will give you an idea of what the lock's made of, and you'll be able to sense if it's trapped or tampered with in any way. With enough practice, you'll be able to unlock most things with your mind. You can manipulate money to an extent, and you'll know off-the-bat if any currency in your hands is fake or not. You can summon some metals and gems, but you won't be anywhere near as good as children of Hades are at it. "

Percy's eyebrows raised in surprise at the idea of being able to go anywhere he wanted to in the mortal world with lockpicking abilities and money for days. He told himself he wouldn't abuse it, of course, but it was a great power to have.

Hermes gave a smirk seeing Percy's reaction but continued on with his explanation. "You'll be able to steal things without people noticing, too. As I am the god of thieves, thievery will come to you easily, I'm sure. It'll just need some practice."

"Wow," Percy mumbled. "That's...a lot."

"And there's a bunch more stuff that my blessing will help in, but you can read that in the books. I'm hungry." Hermes shrugged, tossing his now loose shoes over his shoulder. They fluttered on their own, landing safely on the ground.

"Now, come on, kid," Hermes urged, slowly getting to his feet. "Time for dinner. I expect you to learn how to cook because I don't have the time to keep cooking for you, you hear me?"

Percy nodded, and the two made their way to the kitchen, where Percy asked about Hermes' day and the god would oblige him with stories.

That had been a month ago, and that had been Percy's routine every day since. He'd wake up, have breakfast and lectures with Hermes, have his own time to study, then talk to Hermes at night. By the end of that month, he had learned all Hermes wanted him to learn by heart; the demigod was by no means book smart but the fact that he could actually read and that he found the books interesting had given him enough drive to remember what he read.

He had also filled out a bit more over the month thanks to Hermes' feeding him consistently. He wasn't anywhere near the healthy-looking but he no longer looked like a walking sack of bones and that was enough for him.

Percy had just walked downstairs, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as Hermes placed their breakfast on the counter. He shuffled over to the kitchen with a yawn and sat down.

"Morning, kid," Hermes said, sipping on his coffee as he settled into a chair himself.

"Mmm." Percy hummed back. The god chuckled.

Hermes placed his coffee on the counter and helped himself to "Since you're in no mood to talk yet, I think I should tell you about what we'll be doing now that you've read everything I've given you. For the next few months, we'll start-"

All of a sudden, the front door slammed open with a bang, revealing a grinning man with bronze skin, long blonde hair tied up in a bun, and eyes that seemed to glow and pulse. He wore a loose gold toga that showcased his eight-pack abs, and a golden bow was strung behind his back.

Hermes paled. Apollo had just barged into his palace.

"Hey, Hermes! Where in the Hades have you..." Apollo trailed off, seeing the young boy with dark hair and green eyes seated in Hermes' kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal. Said boy's chewing had slowed but did not stop.

Apollo blinked, a second passed, and immediately, the sun god began to scream, pointing his fingers at Hermes and Percy. "Oy! That's a kid! Hermes, you have a kid in your palace and on Olympus! What the hell is a kid doing in your palace and on Olympus?"

Hermes had immediately tackled the sun god to the ground and struggled to both pin his flailing arms down and cover his still yelling mouth. Hermes grunted, "Percy get the door!"

The demigod immediately dropped his bowl onto the counter and rushed to slam the door shut, clicking the locks closed. He turned and watched the two gods on the ground, utterly confused and bewildered.

"Hermes, what are you-"

"Shut up Apollo and let me explain!"

"But it's illegal-"

"Apollo!"

"But-"

"Apollo!"

The god on the ground continued to protest, and Hermes groaned, raising his voice over his brother's so Percy could hear him. "Grab me a rag from the kitchen!"

Percy nodded and jogged off into the kitchen, coming back with a damp rag that smelled like milk. Hermes suspected he had cleaned up his spilled cereal but did not comment.

Once Apollo opened his mouth wide enough, he stuck the rag in between the man's teeth and held the rag around his mouth tight, effectively reducing his yelling to garbled sounds.

After a few seconds of trying to beat the milk rag, Apollo had resorted to glaring at Hermes, who stared back at him with his own glare. Percy looked between them, eyes showing just how lost he was.

"Are all gods as childish as you two?" Percy asked, scratching his cheek. He was ignored, much to his annoyance.

"I'll explain myself to you, Apollo, but you need to calm down and keep an open mind. I'm telling you that once you hear about what happened, you'll understand why the kid is here. I'm going to remove the rag from your mouth now, but if I see you about to scream again, I'll gag you again. Are we clear?" Hermes said, hoping his brother would agree. He was a strong god but Apollo was probably the strongest among the younger half of the Olympians.

Apollo continued to glare for a couple of seconds, but closed his eyes and sighed. He nodded slowly.

Hermes sighed in relief and pulled the rag out the god's mouth, getting off his brother to dust off his knees. Apollo's face was twisted in disgust. "Was that milk in the rag?"

Both gods turned to Percy with raised brows, but the boy was pointedly looking at the ceiling and not making eye contact.

With a sigh, Hermes gestured to the living room. "So," he said, "let's get this party started shall we?"

Percy snorted softly, shook his head, and made his way to the living room. Both gods watched him for a moment before Apollo sighed and muttered, "this is not the type of party I'm used to." He then followed the boy to the living room, and Hermes followed him.

Hermes sat on the couch beside Percy while the boy stared at Apollo curiously. The god stared back from across the coffee table.

"Well," Hermes cleared his throat, knocking both demigod and god out of their thoughts and causing them to look at him. "I think introductions are in order. Percy, that's Apollo, the god of the sun, music, and a bunch of other stuff that I'm sure you already know. Apollo, this is Percy Jackson, my student."

Percy gave a hesitant wave and Apollo nodded back, then turned his gaze to his brother. "Student? Hermes, you know we're not allowed to meddle in the lives of our kids. Dad's words, not mine. The kid can't be here."

Despite the rather strange circumstances of their meeting, Hermes gave a smirk. "He's not my son, Apollo."

Apollo raised an eyebrow, then a look of realization came upon his features. His eyes widened. "Hermes, you're doing that with him? He's a child! And he's not even a girl!"

Hermes stared back in utter confusion before a look of realization came upon his face as well. "No, Apollo! He's not my son, but he's not...that either! What is your problem?"

Percy, however, was too young to know any better and looked between the two of them quietly. He spoke up, "I'm not what?"

Both gods gave 'eep's and jumped a bit. "Nothing!" Hermes and Apollo said much too quickly.

Percy continued to be lost.

Sighing, Hermes leaned back on the couch, massaging his forehead. He gestured to Percy, "Kid, tell him your story. I'd tell it myself but he'll have an easier time knowing whether you're lying or not than if I were to tell it."

"Yeah," Apollo nodded, "that would be great." Seeing Percy's questioning look, Apollo chuckled and tapped his own nose. "I'm the god of truth, kid. I can tell if people lie to me. It just takes me a bit longer to tell depending on the person."

"Oh! Right." Percy mumbled, looking embarrassed at having forgotten what he read about the god. He shifted in his seat slightly, then cleared his throat. He began to tell the story of the night Hermes found him a month ago; about how his stepfather had gotten so drunk, he flew into a rage and killed his mother, and would've killed him too; about how Hermes beat the man up in a matter of seconds; about how he faked his death in the world below.

Apollo had listened quietly, nodding after most of Percy's statements, showing that he understood and knew he wasn't lying. He had grinned at his brother when he heard about Hermes' battering of the man and scowled at the sad look in the demigod's eyes at the mention of his mother.

After Percy finished, the three remained relatively silent for a few minutes. At some point during the boy's story, Hermes placed his hand on Percy's shoulder and stayed there. The boy was staring at his hands quietly. Apollo was the first to speak up.

"I get why you think Percy here needs help, Hermes...but I don't understand why you needed to bring him here," Apollo said, leaning back to regard his brother curiously.

"It's because of his father, Apollo. If he was just another demigod, I would've sent him off to the camp, but Percy's got a bit of a situation," Hermes replied, crossing his arms. He frowned at the thought of Percy on his own in the world.

"What do you mean? Who's his dad?"

"Just look at the eyes, Apollo. Isn't it obvious?"

Obliging his brother, Apollo gave Percy a once-over and stared at his eyes, his own widening a moment later. "Poseidon? But the pact..."

"Exactly," Hermes sighed, rubbing his head again. "Uncle P broke his pact, too, just like dad. Except he won't actively try to kill Thalia Grace out of anger."

"But dad wouldn't do the same for Percy," Apollo finished his brother's thought process, a grim look on his face. He shook his head, his hate for his father flaring up once again. The man was a bastard.

Apollo and Hermes both shared a look that they always shared whenever their father had done something wrong. His deeds throughout history had almost always involved him being forceful in situations where it was clear that things were better left alone, especially when it came to women. His actions were way past what was morally acceptable when it came to the children of his brothers, and the two brothers had hated it when they were forced to accept the fact that he tried to kill Hades' two children.

Hermes nodded at Apollo's words. "I didn't want his death on my conscience." He shrugged, trying to end the conversation there. He didn't want Apollo to go where he felt the conversation was about to go, because Apollo would want to get involved. Hermes knew by heart that if Apollo wanted to get involved, then there would be trouble.

Percy frowned, "but what about the prophec-hmf!" Hermes had slapped his hand over Percy's mouth, staring at Apollo with a nervous look on his face.

Apollo stared for a moment before he jumped up, his eyes wide as he pointed at Percy. "The Great Prophecy! I knew I was forgetting something!"

Hermes groaned, sending a half-hearted glare Percy's way, who continued to look lost.

"You wanted to train the child of the prophecy!" Apollo said, his voice conveying his understanding. "I get it now!"

"Yes, yes, I did. And I don't want you involved in it at all, Apollo." Hermes sent a fierce glare his way, not bothering Apollo in the slightest.

"He'll need all the help he can get, Hermes, you know that. Besides, I'm amazing. He could learn a thing or two from me and it'll take a bit of the load off your shoulders. It's a win-win for everybody!" Apollo reasoned, grinning wildly.

Hermes shook his head, "I know you can help, Apollo. You're a powerful god. I just don't want him picking up some of your...other habits." He gave a pointed look at his brother, who looked clueless.

"What are you talking about?"

Hermes sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Hey," Percy spoke up, prompting the two gods to finally look his way. "If Apollo wants to train me too, then isn't it up to me whether or not to accept?"

Hermes gave a hesitant nod, and Apollo grinned at the kid. "That's what I like to hear kid! You're turning out to be my favorite demigod!"

Percy hesitated at the god's excitement and glanced at Hermes, "am I gonna be okay?" He mouthed to the god.

Hermes did not reply.

"That settles it then! From now on, Percy, you will also be trained by me, Apollo, the god of the sun!" Said god gave him a megawatt smile that Percy had to shield his eyes from.

In his head, he wondered what he had gotten himself into. All he wanted was to eat some cereal.

In the weeks that followed, Percy juggled his training between Hermes and Apollo.

Hermes had adjusted most of his schedules in order to make time for Percy's training. He had started Percy off with basic endurance training, having him clear the entire living room of furniture manually and start jogging around the large room until the boy was heaving on the ground, which usually took a while due to his rather hiked up athleticism. He had given Percy a new diet to follow as well and fed him healthier stuff that would help him grow stronger physically. The god reasoned that demigod powers were "fine and dandy" but were extremely taxing to use. He didn't want Percy to depend solely on his demigod abilities and end up paying the price for it in a battle, and the boy agreed wholeheartedly.

In addition to that, he began to teach Percy how to use the powers of a child of Hermes. He taught Percy the basics of manipulating the mist, and the boy had shown promise in his summoning of metals and gems by being able to summon a decent amount before growing tired. Percy also picked up lockpicking incredibly quickly, having practiced on his own door, and the other doors around the palace that Hermes had modified himself. Percy had also accidentally discovered that he could move like a blur jut like the god of thieves could while he was running from Apollo one night and had tried to use it tap into the power again to no avail. Hermes had promised to teach him how to use the power when he deemed the demigod ready, and knowing that Hermes was both intelligent and stubborn, Percy simply gave in.

Apollo had pitched in on Percy's training by starting to teach him how to defend himself from attacks. The god had wanted to teach the demigod how to fight, but his brother wanted to give it more time, and so he acquiesced. He had started out their first day by telling Percy about different weapons and found that the kid already knew most monsters by heart, which made his job much easier. They talked about the best tactics to stall the monsters or defend against them should the need arise, and the next day, Apollo had started firing off arrows at Percy at a slow pace. Over time, Percy was able to dodge most of whatever Apollo threw his way with ease due to his diligence and surprising unpredictability in the heat of the moment. Though Apollo had yet to go anywhere near his full speed at firing his bow at the boy, the god was proud of his "favorite demigod".

Percy had also ended up finding family in the two gods in the form of strange uncles. Hermes, the intelligent and sarcastic one who more often than not was either asleep or working, was Percy's go-to whenever he had a question on his mind or a topic he wanted to discuss. Apollo was the fun one that came around to mess with him and/or Hermes, though Percy had learned very quickly not to retaliate or beat the man too badly at cards, as the god was extremely vindictive and did not take kindly to being the loser in any situation.

Percy was glad that he had found people who cared for him, even if they drove him into the ground with the training that they claimed was still light for a demigod. The boy had flipped them both off when they said that, much to their amusement.

On one such day, Percy was lounging in the living room with Apollo as Hermes talked about what had happened in the throne room that day.

"Zeus turned Thalia Grace into a tree. A tree." Hermes said, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to ease the pain.

"She was about to die..." Apollo said, shrugging as he tossed a ball at Percy, who caught it and tossed it back.

"Thalia's his daughter right?" Percy piped up, catching and throwing the ball without paying much attention to it.

Hermes hummed, "Yeah. And she's a tree now." He shook his head and pulled out his phone and scanned the messages. "I mean, she's his daughter. I would've expected more than that."

"Why would you consider more? Don't tell me you expected dad to actually help one of his kids." Apollo snorted as he said this, making a rather fantastic catch as Percy tossed the ball high enough for him to actually exert effort. "Oy! Watch the throws!"

"Sorry," Percy said to Apollo, then turned to Hermes. "So what kind of tree is she? Like a birch? Or oak?"

"Pine tree, I think."

"Eh, not bad."

"Not bad?" Hermes said, scowling. "The guy could've done way more than turn her into a tree anyway! I mean, for crying out loud, she was in line to be the child of the prophecy!"

All three had stopped and paused at what Hermes had said, blinking. The ball that was already mid-air bounced off Apollo's head, but he didn't seem to even feel it. His golden eyes snapped onto Percy, whose eyes were wide with realization. Hermes looked grim, but a determined glint was in his eyes.

"Thalia was older than Percy wasn't she?" Apollo mumbled, his brows slowly furrowing as glanced between Hermes and Percy. Seeing his brother nod, the god of the sun stood and groaned, beginning to pace.

Percy was silent, but he stared right at Hermes, who stared right back.

"Percy is now in line to be the child of the prophecy," Hermes said, his voice low.

Percy looked away and tried to shake the strange feeling building in his gut.

"Looks like I'll need to up my training then, huh?" Percy joked, but there was no humor in his tone.

Especially after Apollo had told him that he would most likely die fulfilling the prophecy a week ago.

Apollo was now lightly smacking his head on a nearby wall, Hermes was massaging his temples, and Percy was wringing his hands.

Somehow, Percy felt as if things were about to get a lot harder for him.