Happy New Year and late Merry Christmas!
Let's hope for a wonderful and corona free year ahead.
What's your New Year's resolution? Mine is to keep writing this story and write another one- a PJ x Naruto crossover.
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Sooo, there was no update last month because school is horrible. There are tons of assignments left which will probably eat up more than half the month. But this chapter is the longest till now with 10,870 words!
And till you're waiting for the next chapter, you can go and read 'We Only Want To Help' and 'Life After Saving The World' by Believer1991 (Both are awesome stories). Or 'The Professor' by lildrummerboi Or 'American Royalty At Hogwarts' by TheBicycle (Both are PJ x HP crossover).
Find them all in my favorite stories list. But read them after you review this chapter. ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. I have only '...' few parts of the chapter (the real one, the one written by Rick Riordan) and if there aren't any complaints, from the next chapter I will remove only minimum parts.
Chapter-4 I Ditch My Friend, My Friend Ditches Pants
Hestia rarely spoke nowadays. It was a well-known fact. She engaged in polite conversations but never really spoke out in a meeting unless his brothers were doing something rather foolish. Well, more foolish than usual. She quietly tended to her hearth and visited Camp Half-Blood as much as she could.
Camp Half-Blood. Demigods. She adored every single one of them. Why would she not? They're her family. Perhaps that was the reason she kept visiting Camp Half-Blood so often. To watch them grow. To watch them laugh and provide them her hearth's warmth.
She didn't mind if they don't notice her. As long as they were safe, that's all that mattered to her. Besides, it wasn't like her own brothers and sisters noticed her much of the time.
So imagine her surprise when a dozen of demigods dropped out of nowhere and Fates send them a note instructing them to read about a certain demigod.
A pleasant surprise indeed.
'Maybe, after this, they will pay more attention to their children.' She had thought.
And imagine the surprise of other gods (and goddesses) when Hestia volunteered to read. But not demigods. They weren't nearly as surprised as gods. Though they were surprised when she walked up from the hearth and sat on the couch between Hades and Poseidon.
Frank silently passed the book over to her.
As the initial surprise faded, gods and goddesses offered her a huge smile.
"Chapter-3," Hestia began. "Grover unexpectedly loses his pant."
"He what now?" Thalia exclaims before realizing she just interrupted a goddess. "Sorry, Milady. I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"Don't worry, dear." The said goddess assured. "And call me Hestia."
"Is Aunt Hestia fine?"
"Certainly," Goddess replied and nodded towards demigods. "All of you can call me that."
"Sorry to interrupt you, Aunt Hestia." Thalia grinned.
Goddess of hearth smiled back and continued reading.
Confession time: I ditched … we got to the bus terminal.
Annabeth facepalmed. "Why am I not surprised?"
I know, I know. It was rude.
"Then why did you do it?" Nico asked.
But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man … "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"
"Fair enough." Son of Hades shrugged.
Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up … Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.
"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.
A word about my mother, before you meet her.
"Amazing." Annabeth smiled.
"Awesome." Thalia grinned.
"Kind," Nico said with a small smile.
"Best mother in the whole world!" Percy proudly declared.
"Hey! No fair." Thalia frowned. "We were supposed to describe her in one word otherwise I would have already said that!"
"But nobody said anything about the one world rule!" Green-eyed teen argued.
While the other demigods watched them fight with wonder, Leo, Frank, and Hazel were thinking about their own mothers.
'My daughter seems close to that sea spawn's mother.' Athena did not look happy about the fact.
Poseidon's smile couldn't possibly get wider. Actually, it could but that would result in an unfortunate splitting of his face.
When the fighting finally died down, Hestia continued reading.
Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,
Four demigods nodded in unison.
which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.
"Pessimist," Reyna muttered.
Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five … quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.
Everyone winced.
"You know," Jason said. "You might just be right with that theory of yours, bro."
"Glad you agree with me, bro." Percy leaned over to give the son of Jupiter a 'bro fist bump'.
"Bro!"
"Bro!"
Annabeth looked horrified. "Not again! I was hoping we could avoid that."
"You cannot stop our bromance, Wise Girl."
Piper mirrored Annabeth's expression. "What the Hera?"
A goddess's eye twitched. That goddess's name was Hera.
"It's called bromance, Pipes!"
"Bromance?" Piper said in the ultimate deadpanned tone. She exchanged a look with Annabeth and an understanding passed between them.
Both of them grabbed their boyfriends by their ears and lead them towards the three-seater sofa where Octavian was sitting alone.
"What?" Percy, Jason, and Octavian said simultaneously.
"You can sit here and bro each other all you want now." Annabeth smiled sweetly. It was the sweet smile that promised pain before the unavoidable death.
"But why do we have to sit with him?" Jason pointed towards Octavian.
"Yes!" The blonde descendent of Apollo squeaked. "Why do they have to sit with me?"
But the poor boy's squeak went unheard and Piper and Annabeth were already on their way back.
"It only gets worse, doesn't it?" Piper asked.
"You have no idea," Annabeth answered back.
"Better to root out the problem entirely." Piper nodded and claimed Percy's seat next to Annabeth.
Gods (except for Athena, Zeus and Hades; Poseidon was smiling) and demigods (except for Nico) alike had tears running down their faces from laughing too hard.
"Not too late to join the hunt, you two." Thalia offered.
"Such a beautiful bromance!" Aphrodite was shedding tears of joy.
"Bro, they don't get us," Percy said.
"I know, bro," Jason replied.
"Bro, after we go back to our respective time, let's make our own camp."
"Only bros allowed."
"We'll call it Brome."
"Bro, that's bro-eautiful."
"Thanks, bro."
"Bro!"
"Bro!"
Demigods watched their conversation go on with amusement.
Rachel, while enjoying the show, decided to stop their conversation which had turned into calling each other 'bro' and not including any other word in the sentence.
"Alright, that's enough you two." She pulled out a blue plastic hairbrush. "Or would you like me to hit you both with this?"
"Reminder," Nico added darkly. "It incapacitated a Titan."
Percy and Jason instantly stopped their 'bro'-ing.
"Rachel wouldn't hit me." Percy smiled.
"Wanna bet?" Rachel grinned wickedly and let her deadly weapon sail through the air, towards Percy.
Now, if Percy's reflexes weren't as good as they were, he couldn't have pulled Octavian who was sitting next to him in the way of the lethal blue projectile flying towards his left eye with deathly accuracy. But he was that good and managed to pull the human shield a.k.a. Octavian just in time so it was the legacy of Apollo who got hit in the eye and not him.
"That was a close one, bro," Jason said.
"Yeah, bro."
"Not too late to join the hunt!" Thalia repeated.
"I might just take you on that offer, Thalia," Piper said.
"I'll consider it," Annabeth said.
As if someone had shouted the last blue cookie on earth was about to be eaten, both the boys turned towards Thalia.
"Don't you dare, Thalia!" Jason yelled.
"Stay away from my girlfriend, Thalia!" Percy yelled.
"Well, maybe I'll refuse the offer if you tone it down with your bromance, Jason!" Daughter of Aphrodite rolled her eyes.
Daughter of Athena, on the other hand, winced and glanced up at her mother.
Athena seemed frozen. Her eyes wide and her jaw slacked.
A single word bouncing around in her head.
A single word that will haunt her forever.
The word spoken by a sea spawn.
Girlfriend.
"Girlfriend?" She whispered to herself before jumping up and yelling, "STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU SEA SCUM! I'LL TURN YOU INTO A COCKROACH!"
"You can't turn my son into a cockroach, Athena!" Poseidon jumped to his feet too.
"No!" Aphrodite shrieked. "Percabeth can't prevail if Percy's a cockroach!"
"Fates said not to harm the demigods," Goddess of wisdom had a crazed and murderous look. "Turning him into a cockroach isn't going to hurt him."
"But it will be traumatic!" Percy spoke up. "It will hurt me mentally!"
"Why you little-" Athena was cut off Hestia.
"Calm down, Athena. You're just angry because your daughter's lover is Poseidon's son. You shouldn't hold such prejudices." Goddess of heart scolded.
Many god's jaws dropped open.
"A-aunt Hestia!" Athena looked stunned.
"Give the boy a chance before you judge him." Hestia continued. "Look at Poseidon, he isn't turning on your daughter. Even if you hate him, remember children can be different from their parents."
Firstborn of Kronos and Rhea was right and Athena knew that. Gods, after all, were the prime example of that.
"Yes, Aunt Hestia." She mumbled quietly and sat down on her throne again.
To say everyone was stunned was an understatement. But even among them, the most shocked was none other than the king of gods himself.
First, some demigods from the future show up and he finds out Poseidon has a son (A son! Can you believe that? He broke the oath! That scoundrel!). And when he wanted to talk to Thalia and Jason during the break, Artemis and Aphrodite dragged them off to they know where. After that Hestia offers to read and he finds out Poseidon and Athena's children are in a relationship (The wonders never end). And if that wasn't enough surprise for the day, Hestia actually scolded Athena for trying to turn that sea scum into a cockroach!
The last thing his poor brain needed right now was more chaos. Speaking of chaos, where were Hermes's brats? He couldn't see them in the throne room.
'They better not be up to something.' He thought before clearing his throat. "Alright, Athena won't turn Poseidon's brat into a cockroach for now. Let's get back to the chapter." He turned towards Hestia. "Sister?"
Goddess of hearth took this as her cue to start reading.
The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.
"Awww!" Goddess of love cooed.
I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.
"You visited him?" Hades raised an eyebrow at his brother.
"Once," Poseidon admitted.
"You do know that's against the rules, right?" Hades drawled.
"I said just once! I didn't stay long and besides," God of seas said. "It's already happened."
The two gods were, fortunately, talking in voices low enough that only the two of them could hear.
My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.
See, they weren't married … he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.
Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.
"Well, that's technically not a lie." Percy shrugged.
"It's just not the full truth. It's a…" Apollo left his sentence hanging.
"Half-truth." Hermes nodded along. "They can be a dangerous thing."
"So now," Nico frowned. "Apollo and Hermes are replacing Stolls?"
Hazel looked around, "Speaking of which, where are they?"
"Yeah," Frank said. "I haven't seen them for a while."
"They're probably just making sure of that." Leo grinned.
She worked odd jobs … never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.
"Understatement of the century." Rachel rolled her eyes.
Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano … I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.
"I don't even want to imagine that." Hazel fanned her face.
"EWWWW!" Aphrodite shrieked and proceeded to drown herself in rose-scented perfume.
"Hold on." Reyna leaned forward. "His last name itself says Ugly-ano."
"AAHHHH!" Aphrodite shrieked again. "KEEP THAT MAN AWAY FROM ME!"
Percy frowned. 'Why is he in the book? I thought this was just supposed to be my quest.'
Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her,
"And just how did he treat Sally?" Poseidon asked dangerously.
Percy just frowned at the floor.
the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.
I walked into our little apartment … Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.
Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."
"What?" Frank asked. "That's it?"
"Where's my mom?"
"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"
"'You got any cash?' That is no way to greet someone!" Demeter exclaimed.
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Did she just say a sentence without cereal in it?
"What?" She asked when she noted all the gaping mouths. "It's rude to stare like that. You all need to eat more cereal!"
Nah. She's back.
That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?
Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus … his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.
"Oh my me!" Aphrodite cried. "Is it possible to be that ugly?"
And then she proceeded to cake herself in makeup and started smoothing out non-existent faults in her hair. It did not hide the fact her face was turning green with nausea.
"He's definitely not winning any beauty prizes anytime soon," Leo muttered.
He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time … spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer.
"Wine is better," Dionysus mumbled from under his magazine.
Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.
An edgy silence fell over the room as the last sentence sunk in.
'All men are the same.' Artemis thought. 'All of them are pigs.'
"Percy," Thalia started. "Did he ever-"
"No," Percy replied forcefully.
"Percy..."
"It was just once, okay?" Percy mumbled furiously. "It doesn't matter!"
'Why are we reading all this anyway? We were just supposed to read about that dam quest! And why is the book based on my thoughts? It's an invasion of privacy!'
"It does matter Percy." Poseidon frowned. "Did you ever tell Sally?"
"Look, can we just keep reading?" Percy looked at the goddess holding the book. "Aunt Hestia?"
"Hold on." Poseidon stood up and turned towards Zeus. "We can't bring here people from the future but we can bring people from the present, right?"
"What are you getting at, Poseidon?" King of gods said, already having a good idea what his brother meant.
"After this chapter ends, I'd like to bring Sally and this Gabe to Olympus." God of oceans sneered at 'Gabe'.
Percy looked at his dad with surprise.
"And why should I allow that?" Zeus raised an eyebrow. "There're mortals."
"Sally is Percy's mother and she deserves to know everything that's happening as much as any of us," Poseidon said calmly.
"Are you comparing us to those mortals?" Zeus thundered.
Poseidon opened his mouth to counter but a note glided down in front of Zeus.
"Is it from Fates?" Athena asked as Zeus snatched it out of the air.
"Yes," He replied and read the note aloud.
Olympians,
You shall bring Sally Jackson and Gabe Ugliano to Olympus after finishing the chapter. You are not allowed to hurt Sally Jackson mentally, physically, intentionally, or unintentionally. You are allowed to punish Gabe Ugliano as you see fit.
Fates
"Well, that settles it." Sea god smiled smugly while the king of gods seethed.
"Fine."
While gods were talking Jason had dragged Octavian to where Annabeth and Piper were sitting, Annabeth claimed Jason's spot next to Percy, Piper and Jason went back to their seats next to Leo after dumping Octavian on the now-empty couch.
"What the Hera just happened?" Percy asked.
"Your mom and Gabe are coming to Olympus after this chapter." Annabeth squeezed her boyfriend's hand. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. I'm here with you."
"You're here with me," Percy repeated with a small smile before a thought struck him. "Wait, but doesn't that mean mom will read the books with us?"
"Yes." Daughter of Athena sighs at Percy's panicked face. "Let me guess, you don't want your mom to know about the dangerous things you did on your quest?"
"Hera yeah, I don't!" Percy exclaimed. "I always gave her the watered-down version of the quest! I don't want her to worry about me."
"Sally's a smart woman, I bet she already knew you weren't telling her everything," Annabeth said. "But look on the bright side, Fates said not to harm Sally and said we can do whatever we want to do with Gabe."
"That is a very good bright side." Percy looked at his girlfriend. "Thanks for pointing it out."
Annabeth smiled in response.
Hestia started reading.
"I don't have any cash," I told him.
He raised a greasy eyebrow.
Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.
Athena narrowed her eyes as a thought struck her.
"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change.
"He has a brain?" Dionysus sounded surprised.
Hephaestus looked at Dionysus in surprise, "You were paying attention?"
Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"
"He can't honestly mean that!" Piper exclaimed.
"He does." Percy put it bluntly.
Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."
"At least someone has a little decency," Poseidon said.
"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.
Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels.
"I take that back."
The other two guys passed gas in harmony.
Aphrodite threw up.
Fortunately, Hephaestus was expecting this and was quick enough to put a bucket under the goddess of love's nose.
"Thanks." She said weakly.
The blacksmith nodded.
"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."
"He ain't winning ever again," Dionysus said actually looking up from his magazine.
"Mr. D?" Percy looked at the god incredulously.
"What?" The god went back to his magazine. "It's rude to stare, Pineapple Jackfruit."
Percy's jaw dropped open in horror while others laughed like maniacs.
"My name is Percy Jackson, not fruit salad!"
"It's Pumpkin Jalapeno, obviously."
"Are you hungry or something because that is NOT MY NAME!"
"Well, it has been a while since I had any wine so-"
"No." Zeus cut him off.
"He does that purposefully," Percy crossed his arms. "Change my mind."
"No one's gonna argue about that." Rachel laughed.
"At least he got the Jackson's Jack right in Jackfruit." Frank offered.
"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"
"Brain Boy?" Thalia broke into another round of laughter.
I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's 'study'.
Athena and Annabeth raised their eyebrows.
He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines,
"That cannot be considered as 'study'." Athena frowned.
but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.
Aphrodite fainted.
"I'm surprised she lasted this long," Artemis muttered.
I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.
"Can you be more sarcastic?" Leo asked curiously.
"Don't, Leo!" Annabeth scolded. "He's going to take that as a challenge!"
Percy grinned his famous lopsided grin. "I'm not called King of sass, Persassy Jackson, for no reason Leo."
"Nobody calls you that." Nico deadpanned.
Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.
"It couldn't have been that bad, right?" Hazel asked.
"No, it wasn't that bad but almost as bad," Percy said sagely.
But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how had made me promise I wouldn't go home without him.
"You shouldn't have ditched Grover," Thalia said in a matter-of-fact tone.
A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.
"Foreshadowing or paranoia?" Hades raised an eyebrow.
Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"
She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.
All most all the girls, including goddesses, aww-ed.
My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.
"Momma's boy." Ares taunted.
"Aww." Aphrodite conveniently woke up as soon as Percy's mother was mentioned.
Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm … few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old.
Poseidon smiled nostalgically.
When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.
"She sounds like a wonderful mother," Hera said softly.
Percy, not caring it was Hera who said it, agreed whole-heartedly. "She is."
Hera felt that maybe she could connect to demigods after all.
"Unlike you," Hephaestus said gruffly.
Too bad that feeling only lasted a couple of seconds.
Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Artemis, Apollo, and Athena snickered.
"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice … She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.
"Wow, Percy, your mom is amazing!" Leo said, his mind stuck on the bag of free samples.
Candies, he imagined his chibi version with candy for eyes drooling at the sight of the mountain of candies, so many candies!
We sat together on the edge of the bed … She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?
"How did a wonderful woman like that ever end up with you, Poseidon?" Hades asked.
Practically all the gods in the room were thinking the same thing as Hades while the demigods were thinking of how kind Percy's mother was. They were wondering how their life would have turned out if they had a mother like that. Their mother had either died when they were young or were goddesses who couldn't spend time with them. Hazel did grow up with her mother, but she wasn't who you would call the best mother.
I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.
"Who wouldn't be happy to see Sally?" Thalia said.
From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"
Noticeable looks of fury washed over almost every person in the room.
"Why that…" Poseidon looked ready to storm down the Olympus and kill Gabe.
Other gods and demigods didn't look much different.
I gritted my teeth.
My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.
Poseidon nodded in agreement.
"She has Paul now," Percy whispered, smiling softly.
"Yes, she does." Annabeth smiled.
For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time.
"You mean you got kicked out of a school mid-year before?" Thalia asked.
"No comments," Percy said in a neutral voice.
I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin … I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.
Until that trip to the museum …
"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"
"Mother's intuition," Hera said sagely. "She always knows what's best for her child."
'I wonder,' Hephaestus thought drily. 'Was it her intuition that compelled her to throw me off Olympus? Because she thought that would be best for me?'
"No, Mom."
I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.
"No, it wouldn't." Poseidon looked at his son. "You should have told her everything."
"Yes, but look at it from my side," Percy said. "I didn't know about gods back then and I didn't know that mom knew about gods. Plus, I was still half-convinced I was hallucinating about Mrs. Dodds."
"That makes sense." Poseidon scratched his chin.
"Why do you still call Alecto Mrs. Dodds?" Nico asked.
"Habit." Percy shrugged.
"Hold on," Thalia frowned. "What Percy just said made sense!"
Annabeth, Rachel, and Nico's eyes widened comically.
"Who are you and what have you done with our Percy?" Rachel brandished her weapon.
"Come on!" Percy scowled. "This isn't that surprising!"
"It is, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth considered if the man before her eyes was the real Percy Jackson or not.
"I don't get it," Hazel said, confused.
"I don't know why it's so surprising," Frank said. "Percy's isn't that stupid."
Percy turned towards Frank, "Thank you! Someone who believes in me!"
"I don't know guys," Thalia said. "Is he really our Percy?"
"Thalia," Reyna said. "For a however short amount of time, Percy was Camp Jupiter's praetor. I believe there are some minimum brain usage requirements set in place and Percy did pass them."
A silence settled over as demigods considered what Reyna said. Gods were just dumbfounded at how easily the demigods were ignoring them.
Rude.
Poor Percy was staring at everyone in disbelief.
"I agree with Reyna," Jason said. "My bro Percy can be smart when he wants to."
"Well, Percy is dating a daughter of Athena." Leo pointed out. "Maybe Annabeth's intelligence rubbed off on Percy."
Athena scowled at the reminder. She decided to put all her anger and frustration in her glare which she directed at the son of Poseidon.
'Of course, he is dumb,' she thought. 'Just like his old man.'
"You know what?" Percy asked no one in particular. "I feel like punching someone."
As if rehearsed, every single person's head turned towards one blond legacy of Apollo. Except for Athena, she was too busy glaring at her daughter's 'boyfriend'.
"WHAT? I AM NO PUNCHING BAG!" Octavian shrieked like they were plotting his murder. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
"Are you sure he's related to me?" Apollo had a pleading look which begged them to say: 'LOL, nope. He ain't related to you. Just a mistake.'
"Yes." A dozen voices answered.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Percy said as he stood in front of Octavian, who was shaking with fear.
WHAM!
THUD!
Octavian curled into a ball on the ground as Percy's punch sent him flying over the couch he was sitting on.
"That felt surprisingly satisfying!" Percy exclaimed, his hand still outstretched.
"Duh." Piper rolled her eyes. "It was Octavian."
"Um… I know Octavian did some pretty bad stuff but should we be beating him up like that?" Hazel asked.
Everyone turned to stare at her like she had grown another head.
"Hazel you were the second person to punch Octavian," Nico said. "And you punched him hard."
"I did?" Hazel looked confused and surprised.
"Yeah," Annabeth confirmed. "It was you from Octavian's time."
"Being the cinnamon roll you are, I didn't think you could get angry like that." Leo grinned.
"W-what?" Hazel blushed, though it was difficult to tell because of her dark skin.
"It looked like an angry Nico's spirit had taken over you." Thalia patted Nico on the back.
"I take offense to that." Nico scowled.
"No, really," Jason said. "It was like you were a completely different person."
"Ahem!" Zeus interrupted. "If your meaningless chatter is finished let's continue reading, shall we?"
As demigods settled down, Hestia began reading. Octavian was still curled in a ball on the ground, he wasn't sure if going back and sitting on the couch was safe yet.
She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.
"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."
My eyes widened. "Montauk?"
Percy and Poseidon smile fondly.
"Three nights—same cabin."
"When?"
She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."
I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.
"Well, of course, there wasn't enough money!" Apollo exclaimed. "How would there be if he spends it all on gambling and drinking?"
Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"
"Fates said when he gets here," Poseidon grit his teeth. "We can do anything we want to, right?"
"I am looking forward to riddling his body with arrows," Artemis said coldly.
"I'll help you, little sister," Apollo said cheerfully.
"I am not your little sister!" Artemis whirled around.
"Oh brother, here we go again." Hermes sigh. The rest of the gods followed his example.
"Hey, I was born first." Apollo chuckled.
"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"
"I was just offering to help you use this Gabe guy as target practice!"
"Déjà vu." Percy, Thalia and Nico said in unison.
Their argument was so similar to the one they had witnessed in the forest near Westover Hall, it was uncanny.
'How is it every time we are talking about Gabe we get side-tracked?' Poseidon wondered.
I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood … nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.
"Smart woman." Apollo complimented.
Poseidon narrowed his eyes at the sun god, "Don't get any funny ideas."
"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."
Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"
"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."
"Of course he will … worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."
"Bribery." Hermes had stars in his eyes. "This woman is amazing!"
"I know right!" Apollo exclaimed. "I can't wait to meet her!"
Poseidon glared at both of the gods while demigods who have had Sally's cooking in the past tried not to drool. Especially Percy.
Athena narrowed her eyes. 'Very smart indeed.'
"Cereal!" Demeter said. "That man needs to eat more cereal!"
Before Demeter could launch into a five-hour lecture about the importance of cereal, Hestia started reading.
Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip … it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"
Everyone in the room instinctively covered their ears. Little good did it do against the goddess of beauty's ear-splitting shriek.
"Clothes budget!" She shrieked with a horrified expression and tears running down her cheek. "That poor woman! How dare that man…"
She turned towards Percy who flinched. "Don't worry, dear. I will make sure your mother never has to sacrifice something like that. I will give her a nice makeover and …"
She babbled on about wardrobes and cursing Gabe.
"Are you sure you're related to her?" Jason whispered to her girlfriend.
"Sometimes, even I have difficulty believing that," Piper answered.
"Yes, honey," my mother said.
Aphrodite burst into another round of tears.
"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."
Percy snickered.
"We'll be very careful."
'Very careful.' Percy thought.
Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip … And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."
"Interrupting?" Hades raised an eyebrow. "I thought the boy funded it."
Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.
"Do it!" The majority of the people exclaimed.
Percy was half expecting Stolls to add something more like 'in a walrus costume' or something but when he didn't hear anything like that he looked around. They were still MIA.
'Come to think of it,' Percy thought. 'I haven't seen them ever since the chapter started.'
"Hey guy," He called out. "Do you know where Stolls are?"
"No," Nico replied. "I've been wondering about that too."
"Ah, about that." Hephaestus said, "They're both about the side in the back garden with me."
'With him? But he's here!' Percy thought before remembering he was a god and gods do whatever they want. Best not to think too much about that.
"And what are they doing there when they should be here reading?" Hades questioned.
"They're telling me how they want the demigod quarters to be."
"Demigod quarters?" Hera looked at her son.
"A small building where demigods can stay while they're on Olympus." Hephaestus went back to tinkering with his latest invention. "You don't think this is the only quest the brat- the boy will go on do you? Or that we can finish them all today? They will need a place to stay and I don't suppose there are any mortal size bedrooms in the palace."
"But why them?" Annabeth asked. "Wouldn't I be a better choice? I am the architect of Olympus in the future."
A few gods looked surprised at the revelation. Athena looked proud.
"Why do we need an architect?" Zeus frowned at the girl.
Everyone ignored Zeus.
"Ah, they did tell me about you but more than architecture they just wanted to tell me the overview of the things they wanted to include in the quarters. I can handle the rest on my own." Hephaestus waved his hand in a 'Don't worry' motion.
"Alright."
"Don't ignore me!" Zeus thundered. "Why do we need an architect in the future?"
Everyone ignored Zeus.
Hestia started reading.
But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.
Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream.
"If what I thinking is correct," Athena looked at Percy. "Then that means your mother is a very smart woman."
"What you're thinking is correct, Lady Athena," Percy said, having a good idea as to what she was referring to.
"A smart woman, indeed. I would certainly like to meet her." Athena said before turning to glare at Poseidon. "It's unfortunate she met you."
"Hey!"
Why did she care what he thought?
"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now.
Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.
"Was there anything other than sarcasm in the statement?" Frank asked rhetorically.
"Yeah, whatever," he decided.
Dozens of jaws dropped open.
He went back to his game.
"Incredible," Hades muttered. "I didn't know it was possible to be that stupid."
"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about … whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"
For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.
"Foreshadowing," Reyna muttered.
But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.
An hour later we were ready to leave.
Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to … groaning about losing her cooking—and more importantly, his 78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.
"He's worried about his car and cooking but not his wife?" Hera frowned. "What an indecent man."
'You just figured that out now?' Percy thought.
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."
"But it's not like he'll be driving!" Hazel protested.
Percy grinned at 'not one little scratch'. Technically, there hadn't been 'one little scratch' on the car. Now the fact that the car was completely blown up was another matter entirely. At least it didn't 'one little scratch'.
Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.
'Hmm. What kind of punishment would fit him the best?' Hades started thinking of some creative punishments to assign to Gabe after he died. He had a feeling, the man wouldn't live more than a few minutes after he arrived at Olympus. Not with all the gods, goddesses, and demigods waiting in line to kill him. And the man had certainly qualified all the conditions required to make Field of Punishment his new home.
Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus … toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase … just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.
"He deserves it," Nico said.
"It is rare for a demigod to be able to do that," Dionysus noted.
"Do what?" Rachel asked.
"The sign Pepsi Jelly Bean did," Dionysus answered like it was obvious.
"Pepsi… Jelly Bean?" Percy repeated, his mouth wide open in horror. "Please tell me you weren't talking about me."
"Who else would I be talking about, Popcorn Jam Tart?" Dionysus looked up from his magazine towards Percy Jackson. "Now stop annoying me."
1… 2… 3…
Everyone burst into manic laughter.
"How?" Percy croaked. "How is it possible to get a name that wrong? It's like he's actively trying to come up with wrong names!"
"Maybe." Dionysus shrugged.
"So you admit it." Percy jumped to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at the god of wine.
Dionysus frowned, "Didn't I tell you to stop annoying me, Peanut Butter Jelly?"
Percy curled on the ground with his arms around his knees and gloom lines over his head. "I am not some sort of food, dammit!"
After everyone had finally calmed down, Hestia continued reading.
I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.
Our rental cabin was on the south shore … faded curtains, half-sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets
Annabeth gripped Percy's hand. "Spiders."
Athena shuddered.
and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.
I loved the place.
We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer … beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.
"How romantic!" Aphrodite clapped her hands together.
With Gabe gone, Aphrodite certainly seemed better.
As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.
"Beautiful," Apollo said. "She's both smart and beautiful."
Both Percy and Poseidon glared at him. "DON'T GET ANY FUNNY IDEAS!"
We got there at sunset, opened all the cabins windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine … walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.
"What's up with blue food?" Leo asked. "You said it will be explained in the book but it hasn't yet."
Hestia laughed and continued reading.
I guess I should explain the blue food.
Leo let out a small "Oh."
"Please do," Piper muttered.
See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing.
Octavian had kept quiet this whole time listening to everyone else read because he did not want to be punched again. But that hadn't completely helped. People like Jackson and Dare especially went out of their way just to punch him. But still, after all those punches, you would think he learned his lesson, right?
Wrong.
"And he was right." Blond Legacy of Apollo muttered. "No such thing exists, only stupid people believe in something as ridiculous as blue food."
Every single head in the room turned towards Octavian.
"Trust me, boy," Poseidon spoke in a chilling voice. "If it weren't for the Fates forbidding us from hurting you, you'd be dead a hundred times over by now."
"Don't worry brother," Hades said. "One day he will die, I will keep something special in Field of Punishments ready for him. Just like I will for this Gabe."
Poseidon nodded in acknowledgment and watched as all the demigods (and Rachel) stood up and marched towards the shaking legacy of Apollo.
"I'm sorry!" He squeaked.
"Too late." Nico, who was sitting closest to Octavian, said as he pulled back his fist and smashed it right into the blonde's face.
All the demigods took their turn punching and kicking Octavian and by the end of it, the blond was an unrecognizable mess of blue and black bruises. Rachel then pulled out her newest and deadliest weapon in the arsenal.
A weaponized blue hairbrush.
"It's still a prototype so once I see the results I can improve it," Leo explained to her. "So as long as you don't aim for a vital organ, he'll live."
Rachel's new weapon didn't look much different from her regular blue plastic hairbrushes but its casing was made up of blue spray-painted celestial bronze. When and how Leo made it, only he knows. He had told her that he was planning to add celestial bronze spikes under the plastic covering of the teeth of the brush. That way, when she hit her target, the plastic casing would break and the target would be impaled by some nasty and very pointy celestial bronze spikes.
Rachel nodded and took her aim. It hit right where she wanted it to.
"AAAAEEEIII!"
Despite hating Octavian as much as everyone in the room did, the male population couldn't help but wince in sympathy. Artemis, Athena, Annabeth, Thalia, Reyna, and Piper looked on in interest whereas Hazel, Demeter, and Hera averted their eyes.
That was because Rachel's hairbrush hit Octavian where the sun doesn't shine.
Artemis, especially, looked on in interest. 'She would make a wonderful hunter!'
"Low blow, RED." Percy winced. "Low blow."
"Oh, so you all can break all his bones and nearly kill him and I can't even hit him?" Rachel turned around.
"But you don't hit a man in that place," Leo winced, just like Percy. "It's like an unwritten rule."
"I don't know what you guys are talking about." Thalia grinned. "That was awesome, Rachel."
Rachel grinned back.
"Tell me, Rachel," Artemis asked. "Would you like to join the hunt?"
"I'd love to, Lady Artemis," Rachel said. "But I can't."
"Why not? You are such a fine maiden."
"Because… it's complicated. It will come up in the books." Rachel answered.
It wasn't like she could just go on and say- Oh because I'm the current oracle of Delphi, you see. I can't choose you because I'm already under your brother's wing. Of course not! Artemis would kill Apollo right then and there. And Rachel wasn't sure if the rest of the Olympians would be very impressed by that.
"I see." Artemis tried not to sound too disappointed.
"On the bright side," Rachel turned towards Leo. "Now you can improve your prototype!"
Leo was regretting ever inventing that thing in the first place. But he had a feeling an angry Rachel Elizabeth Dare would be nearly as bad as an angry Annabeth Chase. So to save his own skin and not end up like Octavian, he smiled and nodded.
"Apollo," Zeus said. "Go and heal the boy. We don't want him dying."
Apollo sigh but complied. Hestia began reading.
They had this fight … ever since my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop.
"Now that makes sense," Frank said.
This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.
"Percy, you don't have anything other than rebellious streaks." Thalia chuckled.
"That's not true!" Percy protested.
"Well, then tell me when was the last time you actually obeyed someone?" Annabeth asked.
"I… um… I…" Percy wreaked his brain to search for the answer, only to come up with nothing.
"See?" Thalia pressed.
"Fine." Percy accepted his defeat.
When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.
Poseidon smiled sadly as he remembered the stubborn refusal Sally had given him when he offered her to come and live with him at bottom of the ocean.
Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.
Demigods smiled sadly. They were all like that before they knew the truth.
"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."
"Yes," Zeus agreed. "The boy is a miniature Poseidon."
Hazel blushed as she remembered how she had thought Percy was a god when she first saw him.
Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."
I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.
"That's not true!" Poseidon argued. "I'm proud of you! I would have been proud back then too!"
"I know that, dad." Percy smiled to show he understood. "But I didn't back then."
"Six schools in six years?" Piper wondered if this was what Annabeth meant when told her to ask Percy.
"Yeah." Percy wince. "It continued for another four years before I managed to stay in Goode for two years."
Leo whistled, "Nine schools in nine years. That's impressive!"
"Thanks." Percy grinned.
"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean... when he left?"
Poseidon winced again.
She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."
"But... he knew me as a baby."
Poseidon winced harder and buried his head in his hands.
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."
Poseidon looked like he might die any minute because of guilt.
I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.
"I always meant to ask you, dad," Percy snapped his fingers. "Did you come to visit me when I was a baby?"
"I did." Poseidon said, not bothered if Drama Queen Zeus heard him.
"You did what?" Zeus thundered. "You know it's forbidden to interfere in mortal affairs and visit your children."
"And why do we have that rule in the first place?" Hades glared at his brother.
"You know full well-" Zeus continued.
"I can understand mortal affairs but why can't we visit our own children?" Poseidon interrupted.
As Hades and Poseidon teamed up on Zeus, Demeter leaned over to Hera.
"They're actually having a meaningful debate this time!" She exclaimed.
"Yes, I am just as surprised as you are, sister," Hera replied.
During the entire argument, Thalia glared at her father.
"He doesn't have a single right to say that to Uncle P… like he's any better… did the same thing… Jason wouldn't exist… stupid airhead… likes to be a drama queen." Thalia kept ranting under her breath the entire time.
This wasn't to say demigods, Hermes and Apollo (who were also sitting with demigods) didn't hear the rant. They looked quite impressed.
After five minutes of continuous yelling, three elder gods finally calmed down.
I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...
Poseidon went back to his wincing routine. His face must be getting quite some exercise.
I felt angry at my father … I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.
"I did, it's my fault." Poseidon had that I-Can-Die-Any-Moment-Because-Of-Guilt expression back. "I should have taken Sally with me."
"I fine, dad," Percy said. "I was just angry because I didn't know the truth back then. And you did ask mom to come with you. She declined, it was her choice."
"Sally's a strong-willed woman," Poseidon said fondly. "She wouldn't let me do anything for her."
"Yeah, exactly." Percy agreed. "Not your fault. And from now on, please do remember, I did not know the truth back then."
Poseidon nodded.
"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"
She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.
"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."
"Because you don't want me around?" I regretted the words as soon as they were out.
"You should!" Annabeth exclaimed indignantly as she smacked her boyfriend on his head.
"I'm sorry!" Percy yelped. "I didn't mean that!"
"You better not, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said darkly. "Otherwise I won't be the only one who's gonna kill you."
Percy looked around and realized all the demigods were glaring at him. Even a few gods like Artemis, Athena, and Apollo were glaring at him. Artemis and Athena he could understand but Apollo?
"Sorry!" Son of Poseidon raised his hands in surrender.
My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."
"You are lucky to have such a kind mother, boy," Hephaestus said in his gruff voice.
"Yeah." Percy nodded. "Thanks."
Hera looked at her son, hurt. She was promptly ignored.
Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.
"Because I'm not normal," I said.
"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are.
"Very important." Annabeth nodded sagely.
I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."
"Safe from what?"
"Oh, I don't know," Leo shrugged. "Monsters like Mrs. Dodds?"
Percy groaned. "Can we please remember this was before I knew the truth?"
She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.
During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me … threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.
"Did you sent him?" Percy asked looking at Poseidon.
"Yes." God of ocean confirmed. "I sent him to check on you."
Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool … a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.
"Just like Heracles," Hera stated.
"What?" Thalia rolled her eyes. "Did you send that snake after Percy too?"
"No, I didn't!" Hera snapped.
Before things could boil into another shouting contest, Hestia began reading.
In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.
"Life of a demigod," Annabeth whispered.
I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.
"You should tell her," Hazel said.
But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.
"You put your life in danger because you didn't want to leave the beach?" Frank raised an eyebrow. "That is so like you, Percy."
"For the last time! I did not know about gods back then." Percy stressed each word of the last sentence.
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could … told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."
"And that is how they always die." Dionysus drawled.
"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"
"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."
Demigods who had been there smiled warmly at the thought of their home.
Dionysus groaned at the mention of 'that place filled with annoying brats'.
My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?
"Because-"
Leo was interrupted by Percy, "I did not know about gods back then!"
Son of Poseidon looked ready to strangle the son of Hephaestus.
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."
"Why?" Hazel asked. "I thought there were summer-only campers too."
"There are," Percy confirmed. "I'm one of them. As for why mom thought I wouldn't come back, no idea."
"Maybe she thought you might not want to come back after you make friends and learn the truth." Piper offered.
"You would have a safe place to live, surrounded by people just like you," Thalia added.
"No Gabe." Rachel frowned as if just saying the name Gabe left a bitter taste in her mouth. That, actually might not be too far from the truth.
"Yeah, but why wouldn't I want to stay with mom?" Percy looked as confused and innocent as a newborn baby.
"AWWW!" Aphrodite cooed. "Such deep love!"
Artemis and Athena were surprised. Poseidon looked proud. Other gods smiled.
"You wouldn't." Annabeth kissed Percy's cheek.
"For good? But if it's only a summer camp…"
She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.
That night I had a vivid dream.
"Demigod dream?" Frank asked.
"Yup." Percy said, popping the 'p'.
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle,
"Ju-Zeus and Poseidon." Reyna guessed.
Percy nodded.
were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.
All the gods and goddesses, except Zeus and Poseidon, facepalmed.
"Of course you're fighting!" Hera exclaimed. "At this point, I don't even why I'm surprised!"
"You two need to eat more cereal," Demeter advised. "It will help tame your violent instincts."
"Even in a dream…" Hermes sigh.
"I feel a haiku coming on." Apollo cleared his throat only to be met with a "NO!" from every single person in the room.
Apollo pouted. He was ignored.
Hestia continued reading.
The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons.
"I'll win, naturally," Zeus smirked.
The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings.
"You were saying something, brother?" Poseidon smirked back.
As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.
"Hades?" Two brothers looked at their third brother.
"How am I supposed to know?" Ruler of Underworld snapped and turned to look towards the son of Poseidon.
"No," Percy said. "It wasn't Uncle Hades."
"Don't be silly, boy." Zeus snapped. "Who else could it be?"
"I think you very well know who it could be." Thalia retorted before Percy could say anything.
"It's impossible!" Zeus refused his daughter's claim. "He's in Tartarus! Nobody can escape Tartarus!"
Three of the demigod's face darkened.
Before things could escalate, like Percy causing an earthquake or Nico summoning an army of dead or Annabeth unleashing her deadly glare (Mightiest of foes have crumbled under that glare), Hazel politely asked Hestia to continue.
I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion.
Zeus tensed at 'slow motion'.
"It's not possible." He said stubbornly.
'That stubbornness of yours is what nearly got you killed last time.' Percy thought angrily. 'So many demigods died because of you!'
I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horses wide eyes, and I screamed, No!
"See? I did win." Despite the tense thought of Kronos returning, Zeus couldn't help but smile smugly at the thought of his victory.
I woke with a start.
Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses … twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.
"A hurricane?" Poseidon frowned.
With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."
I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.
"How could you forget, Uncle Poseidon?" Apollo tried to lighten the mood.
Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.
"A monster?" Hazel asked, worried.
Percy nodded. Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice- someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.
"Grover." Thalia guessed.
My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.
Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't… he wasn't exactly Grover.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico frowned.
"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"
"You shouldn't have ditched Grover." Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel, and Reyna said simultaneously.
Percy groaned.
My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.
"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"
I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.
"Ahh! Now the chapter title makes sense." Annabeth said.
"Grover wasn't wearing his pants," Reyna continued. "And it was Percy's first time seeing a fau- satyr."
"O Zeus kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"
I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be...
"You saw Alecto and Fates, it shouldn't be that surprising," Nico said.
"It was!" Percy protested. "My best friend had hooves where his legs should have been. He had no pants on and came searching for me in the middle of the night. And the weather was all strange."
"Fair point." Nico conceded.
"Goodness. This is the second time Percy has made sense today." Rachel gasped. "Is the world ending?"
Percy pouted.
My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"
I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.
She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"
"Did she know Grover?" Frank asked.
"No, but she knew someone was watching over me," Percy replied.
Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.
Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.
"Finally!" Thalia said. "Your brain is really slow to process things, isn't it?"
"Is not!"
"That's the end of the chapter." Hestia interrupted the bickering siblings.
"Great!" Poseidon jumped to his feet. "Now, let me get Sally and this Gabe."
"Dad?" Percy asked quickly. "If you're going to summon them, could you summon mom outside? So, you know, I could explain things to her. Time travel, reading, and everything."
"Right," Poseidon said. "I'll come with you."
Percy smiled nervously.
Annabeth squeezed his hand and said, "I'll come with you too."
Percy shot her a grateful smile. He did not want to be alone while explaining all the stuff and what better person better than Annabeth to have by his side? Not only would she help him with explaining everything, but she would also keep him from going into a complete panic drive and do something stupid. His girlfriend is awesome that way.
"I will summon Gabe here," Hades said. "He does not need to know what is going on."
"I'll help you come up with an appropriate punishment for him." Nico looked at his father. "I mean, we are going to kill him, right?"
A fourteen-year-old boy speaking of murder like it's nothing would be concerning to most people, but at moment, the boy speaking wasn't your average teen and the rest of the people were thinking along the same lines anyway.
"Yes," Artemis answered. "That pig does not deserve to live."
Aphrodite sigh, "As I said, I do not want to be anywhere near that man. I'll go and meet Sally."
And so it was decided, Percy, Annabeth, Aphrodite, and Poseidon would explain everything to Sally outside the palace in the gardens while others would come up with a punishment best suited for Gabe.
"Don't worry," Thalia shot Percy a feral grin. "We won't kill Gabe until you get back."
Omake- How it all began.
Kronos was holding his firstborn, a daughter, in his arms.
"I want to name her Hestia," Rhea said softly.
Kronos frowned.
His daughter's aura felt different. It was nice but not good. It was like incomplete good. Like... like god- good but with only one 'o'.
He remembered his father's words. They were 'YOUR CHILDREN WILL CUT YOU TO PIECES JUST LIKE ME!' or something like that.
He felt his daughter's aura again. It was so warm. Not cold like a Titan's should be.
"Hestia, huh?" Titan of time eyed his daughter.
"You like it?" Rhea smiled.
"It's a nice name." He said and then he swallowed her.
Rhea was stunned for a minute before she started yelling at Kronos.
"WHAT THE TARTARUS WAS THAT? YOU JUST ATE OUR DAUGHTER!"
"But she was just so god! Like good but with only one 'o'." Kronos raised his hands in surrender.
"She was our daughter!" Rhea glared at her brother/husband. "And you are saying you ate her because you thought she tasted good? And now you are saying she didn't taste good?"
"Let's try again. Next time I'm sure our child will be good with both the 'o'."
Rhea looked at his brother/husband like he was crazy, which she was sure he was but agreed in the end.
And the process repeated itself several times before Rhea got tired of watching her brother/husband eat all her precious little babies and asked her mother for help.
This omake was something that popped up in my mind and wouldn't go away so I wrote it. It wasn't even funny. T_T
Anyway, Sally in the next chapter!
I have three questions for everyone, cause I haven't decided on the answers myself (except for the last one).
What will be Gabe's punishment?
How do I keep beating up Octavian? I am running out of ideas. Though I did very much enjoy writing the last Octavian beat up scene.
And the final and most important question- Did you enjoy the chapter? (Extra question- How was Percy and Jason's bromance?)
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
Until next time!