Younger kids with an older self. kids with no younger self. The Seven.
Normal talking, telepathy
Sadly, I do not and probably never will own Percy Jackson and associates. I really, really wish I did, though.
"Dinner first." Hestia said, appearing beside her, and taking off with Luke before she could argue.
"Hey!" Thalia protested anyway, growling more about her prey being taken. The Seven wisely decided to get Luke out of range before she turned on him, even though he hadn't technically done anything yet.
"Come on, the faster you eat, the sooner you can let him have it." Nico was the only one brave enough to get her attention while the rest of the group quietly made their escape.
"Oh, I'll be having a talk with him." She promised.
"Come on." Percy appeared on her other side.
Thalia was silent all during dinner, alternating between scowling at Luke and grumpily answering the others when they spoke with her. She was so angry she was literally sparking.
"Thalia, come on. I know you're angry, but glaring a hole in his head isn't going to help." Will pointed out to the angry daughter of Zeus. "Letting off sparks is just going to get somebody hurt." He jerked away from his silverware with a yelp when a small lightning bolt hit it.
She glanced at it, growled, and stalked out of the room to find somewhere she could unleash her frustration without hurting anybody.
The others sighed. "This is going to take a while." Annabeth muttered.
"You want to deal with it?" Nico asked warily, watching the door his cousin disappeared through.
"Why me?" She demanded.
"Because you are the least likely to get fried, and the least likely to say something that will set her off again. Otherwise I would volunteer Percy." The Son of Hades pointed out.
"I don't think she's going to calm down until she gets to yell at Luke." Percy stopped the impending argument. Nico was right, though. Annabeth was probably the only one that could talk to Thalia when she was this worked up without getting zapped or yelled at. Percy would just make the whole thing worse just by standing there. They may have been cousins, and they may love each other like siblings, but boy could they fight.
"Then I say we just let her have him." Annabeth wasn't about to get between Thalia and the current object of her rage. She wasn't stupid or crazy.
"We are." They turned around to see Percy standing behind them with a small smirk on his face. "I think a couple of the others are standing watch to make sure she doesn't actually kill him." He shrugged and moved away. When they looked over, they noticed that Luke wasn't there anymore, and a few of the Seven were also gone.
"Of all the things to say!" Thalia yelled at Luke. "Of all the things, Luke!"
"I said I was sorry! What more do you want?" Luke tried to defend himself.
"After everything we went through together. After everything we sacrificed for her, after everything I sacrificed for you! And you have the nerve to throw that in her face? As if none of it meant anything to you." She demanded. "All you had to say about poisoning me was 'so what'?"
"I was trying to protect her!" Luke finally snapped. "My word, Thalia! I knew what Camp was up against! I knew what kind of armies Kronos was amassing! I was trying to bring her over to what I was sure was going to be the winning side! If you knew what Kronos had planned for the demigods who fought against us..." He shook his head and turned away.
"What? What did he have planned for us?" Thalia demanded.
"You remember that den we stumbled across in Chicago?" He asked after a few minutes of staring out the window.
"Yeah? What about it?" She did not feel bad about what they did to the people in charge or freeing those women. She'd enjoyed watching the animals be carried out on stretchers after she was done with them. According to the news, the arrest of that group had led to a much larger bust when the main trafficking ring was rooted out.
"What Kronos had planned for all of you would have made those people seem like saints, and that house seem like a five-star resort." Luke said, turning to face her again. "And the leaders of camp would have been his personal playthings. If they survived the war itself, but that would have been the nice thing about him being in charge, he could just have their spirits brought back from the Underworld. Annabeth was already emerging as a camp leader. She would have been safer at my side." No matter what he had to say to get her on his side, even if it left a bad taste in his mouth. He should have guessed that Percy's sense of loyalty would rub off on her.
Of course, this was all before he knew about the plan for him to become the living vessel for Kronos.
"I thought you didn't know all his plans." Thalia said, suspicious.
"I didn't. That's one plan he didn't keep secret from me. I thought he was being generous, and giving me a chance to get the people I cared about on my side. Now I know that it was just another way for him to see me suffer. He knew that she wouldn't join me, and knowing what was waiting for her when we won..." He sank down on a couch nearby.
"You supported him, knowing what he was planning for us? Gods, Luke!" Thalia exclaimed.
"I know! Ok?" Luke shook his head and stepped away again. "I am well aware of how... how idiotic I was! I was just so angry and- everything was more then justifiable as being a consequence of war, even that. Even sacrificing Chris to that godforsaken maze didn't seem so bad because it was war, and sacrifices are a part of war."
Thalia was quiet for a few minutes. Then she sat down heavily beside him. After a few minutes of silence, the door inched open and one of the Seven standing guard outside peeked in, probably concerned by the sudden silence. Once she saw that Thalia had not actually killed Luke, she drew back and closed the door again.
"I'm sorry. For everything I did and said, for everything I didn't do and say." Luke finally said. "I'm sorry. I- I don't know what else to tell you, but that I'm sorry."
Thalia looked at him and sighed. All she could think about right now was all the times she or Luke threw themselves in front of a coming sword, barely blocking it being grazed by it, to protect little Annabeth who had not yet learned to fight. All the nights the two of them went hungry because three mouths was harder to gather enough food for then two, and Annabeth was so much smaller then they were, and not yet used to going hungry. That moment on the hillside when she yelled at them to run, to get to the Big House while she held them off. Struggling to reach the campers she could see running to her aid, falling before they could get there. Annabeth screaming for her as Luke dragged her away.
"You are my brother. No matter how angry I get, that's not going to change. That doesn't mean I'm not going to knock you around when you said something especially stupid." She cracked a grin, making him huff a laugh and hold his arms open slightly in invitation. She accepted it, and sighed.
It seemed like all the two of them had ever done was try to protect their little sister.
"Percy. We have some time for training tonight if you wish." Triton said, coming up behind his half-brother.
"Sure." Percy finished his drink, kissed Annabeth on the cheek, and stood to follow. After he left, the rest of the demigods started splitting up to do their own thing for the night, as well. Some headed to the training arena, some went to further explore the palace and gardens, others headed to the pool that the Seven had found a few days ago.
"Annabeth, lets walk." Sally invited her sons girlfriend. Annabeth smiled and joined the woman in wandering towards the gardens. "Leo tells me that the Argo will be ready to leave in a few days." Well, a few days once they finished these books.
"Yeah, we just need to finish gathering a few more supplies and head west to pick up Percy, Hazel, and Frank." At least, they were assuming that Hazel and Frank were the last two of the Seven. "And try to foster some good relations with a group that we have never gotten along with." Annabeth snorted and shook her head, hoping that they could pull that off.
"How bad did it get? Before the camps were separated and forced to forget about each other?" Sally asked, curious.
"The American Civil War? Yeah, that was actually between the Greek and Roman Camps. It just bled through to the mortals, like most of our conflicts seem to." Annabeth shook her head.
"Oh wow." Sally said, blinking. She'd known, of course, that WWII was largely between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon along with their children, but the civil war, too? "You guys need to stop fighting amongst yourselves." She said. They caused a lot of damage when they did.
"Yeah, tell that to the gods." Annabeth advised. "Especially Ares." He was the one that tried to start WWIII a few years ago, after all. "Anyway, we leave a few days after this reading. Why?"
"Oh, I just wondered if you could take something with you, is all. It can wait until we return, though." Sally shrugged.
"I can take it now." Annabeth disagreed. She could put it with all her other stuff that she was gathering.
"It's back at the apartment." Sally smiled apologetically. "Although, maybe I can put something bigger together while we're here." She thought out loud to herself.
"Can I help?"
"Of course you can." Sally threw an arm over her future daughter-in-law's shoulders and started walking back to her and Paul's room.
Before anyone else could leave the Dining Room, Zeus called a meeting in the Throne Room, and demanded Chiron present himself.
The gods glanced at each other while Chiron sighed tiredly, he had a feeling he knew what this was going to be about.
"What now?" Aphrodite sighed, not wanting to deal with another of Zeus's tantrums tonight.
Zeus glared at Chiron. "That makes at least two traitors coming from camp." He growled. "Even more if what Hermes' traitor son says is true about getting recruits from your camp and spies."
"Oh dear." Hestia said to herself quietly, realizing that her brother was about to lay the blame entirely on Chiron's shoulders. "It is not Chiron's fault. In fact, he is the parental figure many of them wish that their own parents were." She said sternly, standing up from her seat by the hearth.
"Exactly! He is their mentor. They betrayed us on his watch!" Zeus glared at her.
"You really don't see it." She shook her head in disappointment. "You can go, Chiron. Please ensure the children go to bed at a decent time." She smiled at him. She had a feeling they were going to be here for a while, although she also knew that she didn't need to tell him how to handle his students.
Chiron bowed to her and, ignoring the protests from Zeus, left the throne room. He knew full well that he was not at fault for any of his students leaving camp or joining Olympus's enemies. He did everything he could to bridge the gap between the demigods and their parents. He also knew how bitter many of them were, despite his best efforts. (He also knew that the vast majority of the demigods that would have joined Kronos would have been Unclaimed or those that were never even brought to camp. There were many more demigods in the world then he ever actually saw.) No, if any of them turned their backs on Olympus, it wasn't because of anything he had or had not done.
He sighed. He was going to have to work harder in the coming years to keep his camp and his students from fracturing, although he was hopeful that maybe now things could begin to change. How long that change would last, he wasn't sure. He was going to use this chance, though.
Once Chiron was gone, Hestia turned on Zeus again. "Chiron is not to blame for our children turning on us. The one to blame is you." She glared at every single Olympian that ignored their children. She left out those that she knew cared and made the effort to show it, however paltry those efforts may sometimes have seemed to the children. "Your apathy and high-handed ways towards children have caused them to resent us. Is it any surprise that they would take the first chance given to them to rebel and attempt to overthrow us? Is it any surprise that they would join our enemies?"
Those that agreed with her were nodding. The apathetic ones looked uncomfortable for having their failings and consequences thrown in their faces, but otherwise they remained indifferent.
"We have a chance to show these children that we do care, and to fix this. I will not let you throw it away!" Hestia finished with a glare before turning and sauntering out. Everyone else quickly flashed out after her, not wanting to hear Zeus complain anymore, while Zeus fumed.
For the second time in a week everybody watched and listened as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled from the Throne Room while the King threw a temper tantrum.
"Hey, Triton?" Percy asked, blocking a slash.
"Yeah?" Triton grunted as he was pushed back. His brother was an amazing swordsman, even before he started training with Poseidon over the last few days. He seemed to get better with every spar.
"I was thinking about getting Annabeth something, I was wondering if you could help me." Percy stepped back, signaling a break in the match. He'd been thinking about this ever since older-Percy's comment about there being worse things out there.
"Sure, what?" Triton asked, curious.
"Well, there's some stuff going on right now, and I don't know what my older self has gone through, or if I can change things enough that I don't have to go through the same, and I don't want to leave things um- I want to get a promise ring. Not an engagement ring, I don't think either of us are ready for that yet, but I want to get something that- you know?" He was struggling with voicing exactly what he wanted to say to Annabeth with the ring.
Triton looked at him. "I think I can help with that. Come on, let's go see what we can do." He sheathed his sword and dragged Percy towards Poseidon's room where he knew they could have some privacy. "Now, do you have an idea what you want it to look like?" He asked once they were inside.
"I know I want it to be us." Percy said slowly. "I want there to be some of what we've been through, too."
"Alright, I think we can come up with something." Triton said slowly, and started manipulating some water to form the general shape of the ring, as they started playing with it.
When Poseidon and Amphitrite entered two hours later, the boys had finished their design, which Triton held out to his father. "For Annabeth?" He asked, admiring it. Now all they had to do was give it to Hephaestus or Tyson to actually make. It would be rather difficult for Annabeth to wear it when it was made of water, it would burst whenever he was away from her or his focus was being taken up by something, like a fight.
"Promise ring. There's... Just a lot going on right now." Percy shrugged. He knew that Annabeth knew how he felt, but...
"I approve. She is good for you, I think." Poseidon gave his blessing with a smile before turning his attention to the ring. "Very nice." He complimented it.
It was going to be made of Celestial Bronze, with a small ruby set. They planned to have Ancient Greek script carved into the sides with the names of some of the places they'd been and general events in their lives. The ruby was set to be in the shape of an owl holding a small trident.
"A ruby?" Amphitrite asked. Most mortal women were given diamonds.
"Its her birthstone, for July." That and he thought diamonds were overdone. A ruby would be just as durable as any diamond, so that wasn't going to be a problem.
"I think she'll love it." His step-mother smiled and offered to take it to Hephaestus. She could hold the water while he made a sketch or committed the design to memory.
"While she takes that over, lets work on your mist-travel some more." Poseidon ordered, and cleared the room with a wave of his hand. Percy grimaced, but stepped into the center of the room. This was the ability he was having the most trouble with, even though the rest of his water powers came so easily (once he knew about it). For this, though, he had to literally dissolve his own body and think about moving from place to place. Poseidon was determined that he learn it, though, preferably without multiple illegal entries to other countries (like China, coughNicocough).
Percy was having some problem with the whole 'having to dissolve' part. One part of him knew that it would be fine, they were his powers, his to control. A larger part of him (the part that was scared of losing control) was terrified of not being able to reform afterward.
"Relax, Percy." Poseidon advised, and started talking him through it again.
"There you got it!" Triton cheered with Percy when Percy traveled from one end of the room to the other. Percy was still too young and inexperienced to start learning this, he needed to develop the rest of his powers more first or he really could dissolve himself and never come back, but with actual training he would get there a lot sooner than Percy did.
"It took me a long time to figure it out, even with Nico's help." Percy said from the doorway. Shadow- and Mist-travel were just different enough that it was a struggle for Nico to teach him. Percy blinked at them, wondering when his other two selves had come in the room, but decided it wasn't important.
"Any visits to China?" Percy asked with a smirk.
Percy huffed a laugh. "No, India. That was an interesting week." The Hindi Pantheon had not been pleased with his presence. He'd gotten the impression that they got along with Olympus about as well as the Greeks and Romans had before the Giant War.
"I bet." Triton muttered. The British Empire, when it was the Heart of the West, had done their very best to wipe out Hinduism and they had never forgiven Olympus for that.
"I got a frantic call from Annabeth a few days after arriving, wondering where I was. I had to get her to tell mom what happened because I didn't have any Drachma on me and I wasn't about to use a phone, not that close to the Ancient Lands and not in a different Pantheon where I would have to deal with their monsters." Percy continued with a grimace.
"How soon was this after everything was settled and you were back home?" Percy asked, understanding. He and Annabeth had talked during meal breaks and in the time between books, and he'd spoken with Katie and Rachel, so he knew how well Annabeth took his disappearance. He'd seen the dark circles under his mothers eyes and the worry lines on her forehead, and how tired she had seemed when they first arrived. They would not have handled his older self disappearing like that again so soon very well.
"Pretty soon." They both shared a grimace.
"Alright, back to work. Lets not have any trips to India." Poseidon declared, not really wanting to hear about future events until they got to that point in the books. He was going to focus on 'current' events in the books for now, and spending time with his sons. He wondered why he hadn't started teaching his son after the war, but decided to wait and see what the books said.
They worked for a few more hours before Amphitrite returned, with the ring, and shooed Percy to bed. Hera had decided that she wanted to get an early start the next day, growing impatient with all these delays. Amphitrite silently wished her luck on that. They all knew by now that the demigods were not fast movers in the morning, and she was willing to bet that Apollo and Hermes at least would drag things out in the morning until their normal time to start reading, anyway.
Just to get under Hera's skin.
Percy debated on when to give it to her, but decided to wait until tomorrow after dinner, for now he was just going to find his bed.
"Zeus is getting more impatient and temperamental." Piper commented, glancing at Chris, Luke, and their younger selves. The four of them had been separated out for their own safety. Chris had been fine earlier because he had not yet turned traitor and at this point, he had no intentions of it. It hadn't been until later that Luke really got to Chris. But now that Chris wasn't with the others, they didn't want to risk Zeus doing something when there was no longer any chance of getting other demigods in the cross-fire.
"I don't think it's safe to let them stay with the others at night anymore." Although both Luke's had already been separated from the others after their betrayal came to light, they had still roomed with the others.
"They can stay with me." Hermes said from behind them, having come to check on his boys. He smirked slightly. "Not even my father would be stupid enough to do anything to them while in my rooms." To say the others would not be happy with them for doing that was an understatement.
"Alright. Goodnight, guys!" Percy waved as he went out the door, ready to crash. Hopefully he could get a few hours of sleep before the nightmares came, hopefully they stayed away entirely.
He wasn't holding his breath on that one.
"Goodnight." Luke muttered absently. He'd been quiet ever since his talk with Thalia.
"Goodnight." The rest of the Messengers echoed as they followed their leader.