Chapter 9-Demigods Don't Need Permission Slips… Or Permission

Look, I'm not good with time. Maybe it's because Kronos is the Lord of Time and he and I… Well, you'll see. Whatever the case I'm bad with time.

The first half of the year flew by. The leaves changed, covering up pits and traps perfect for capture the flag. I dominated at swim meets, and only got out of the pool dry once. Most importantly, my A+ in sword fighting countered out my F in archery, and for the first time instead of my D- average, I was a solid C+ student. My mom probably thought it was a mistake when she got my report card in the mail. I certainly had.

But life went on, and suddenly I only had one more day until I went home. Maybe it was weird for demigods to celebrate Christmas, but I was just glad for the chance to see my mom. So much had changed these last few months, but I knew she hadn't.

Granted, a part of me was nervous about returning home. Chiron had cornered me two weeks before, remind me that I would attract monsters the moment I left school. We'd had a couple incidents during outings for swim meets, after all, and everyone admitted they were my fault. At least during those we all knew how to fight. Even Kerry and Silena, daughters of Aphrodite, had shown no fear when a cyclops tore the doors off our van. But my mom was mortal. If something happened… well I worried I couldn't protect her. That was why, originally, I'd said I was going to stay at school for Christmas.

But then my mom being awesome sent me a reply so wonderful I couldn't help but change my mind.

Percy, I love you, and I can see how you are finally flourishing. It makes me so proud to see you find a place where you belong. I will miss having you home but so long as you are happy, so am I. Don't live your life for anyone else, not even for me.

She was trying to say it was okay I wanted to stay at school, even if it meant not seeing her, but her selflessness awoke something within me. I didn't want to life my life because I was scared of monsters. I wanted to see my mom, and I was going to see my mom. Anything that tried to stop me… well I did have an A+ in sword fighting. I would at least be able to defend us long enough to escape.

My mother's joy after I'd told her that was just as real as her acceptance of my first letter, but I certainly preferred it. Just the thought of going home to her made me grin. We could never do much on Christmas. Gabe always found a way to ruin whatever fun we had, but on Christmas morning my mom would make blue pancakes, and that was worth anything- even Gabe.

"Now Percy, what is the moral of this story?"

I blinked. I'd gotten better at paying attention in class, (usually Annabeth kicked me if she saw me dozing off), but I'd been too busy thinking about my mom and break to hear a word of what Ms. Jett was saying. Luckily, though, we had a handout. I glanced down at it. The Greek didn't seem to be clicking in my head, but I did see the words 'Hermes, lyre, Apollo, cattle' and remembered something Connor Stole had said when he stole everything I owned a few weeks back. Apparently Hermes stole cows from Apollo the very day he was born, and only got away with it by inventing the lyre. (Though that was not why he was the god of liars, strangely enough, but why he was the god of herdsmen.)

"Uh… That if you steal from the gods you better be able to do something cool to make up for it?"

Besides me, I saw Annabeth roll her eyes, but my other classmates, Connor in particular, seemed to think it was a pretty good moral. Ms. Jett, however, seemed to side with Annabeth- stupid daughters of Athena.

"I think not. Hermes, after all, is a god himself. If Percy was to steal from a god, I doubt he'd get much of a chance to do 'something cool'. Grease stains on the carpet rarely do… Drew, do you have anything to say?"

The daughter of Aphrodite sneered, like the prospect of actually having to participate in class was beneath her. "Honey, the moral is obvious. Right Dylan. Tell her."

Dylan, who would have probably stolen his dad's cows himself if Drew asked, nodded in agreement, "Oh yeah… Right, the moral… Music is better than cows anyways?"

Ms. Jett did not seem pleased with our performance, but I didn't feel bad. After all, she was the one actually trying to teach last period before Christmas break. "No. While that was Apollo's ultimate decision, that is not the moral. The moral is that our natural flaws may land us in difficult positions, but that our natural gifts can always get us back out. Connor, can you tell me…"

She stared out over us. Besides me, Connor had fallen asleep. (He and his brother, Travis, had been up all night making sure the rest of Hermes House was up as well 'for fun'. Their fun, not ours.) She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Alright, I give up. Annabeth and Nyssa- wake Connor up, I want to talk to you for a second about the trip. The rest of you… just talk until the bell."

I didn't know what 'trip' she was referring to, but the others clearly did. Once they woke Connor up, the four of them stepped into the hall for a few minutes. When they came back, Annabeth and Connor looked pleased, which made me certain that I was missing out on something. Normally if one of them was happy, well the other probably wasn't. Not that they didn't like each other but… well they were just very different people.

I leaned over to Annabeth's desk, "What was that about?"

"We're going to Olympus for the winter solstice. I'm glad. Chiron was talking about only taking the upperclassmen but with all the gods in residence at once… it will be incredible!"

A flinch of jealousy spiked within me. Annabeth got to go to Mount Olympus and meet all the gods? How come I didn't get to meet the gods? If I could go maybe I could get my dad to…

I cut off the thought there. Over the months, I'd grown certain Poseidon was my dad. I was infinitely more powerful than Celia, the daughter of a minor sea god, which meant my dad couldn't be minor. There was a tiny chance of my dad being Triton, but I was certain it was Poseidon. Whatever oath he'd made, he'd broken it, and I existed. Now he wouldn't claim me because… well because he wanted to protect me I guessed. Or he wanted to protect himself. That bit was a little harder to clarify, though I liked to believe it was the first. So I got why he wouldn't claim me. I knew it was better that way, for both of us.

Still, it was easy to know something, and much harder to believe it. I did get why Poseidon wouldn't claim me. I just wanted him to anyways. It hurt. No matter how 'okay' I said it was, it hurt to know my dad was too ashamed to admit I existed. Besides, everyone at school already knew it. I wasn't the only one with eyes and the 'water powers' were a big give-away. The other gods would probably figure it out sooner or later. Wouldn't it be better if Poseidon let the news come out on his own terms?

Annabeth and I had talked about it a few times over the past few months. She stubbornly refused to admit that my dad had to be Poseidon, but I think that was only because Athena and Poseidon didn't get along. Still, she understood why I wanted to be claimed even if it might cause me trouble. She'd been trying to get her mom's attention her whole life. No wonder she was excited to go to Olympus; she'd get the chance to see her mom. So I think she got exactly why I was disappointed. That's why she said, "It's a consolation prize, really. Chiron is only taking us to Olympus because we don't have mortal parents to go home to. It's not like we're going to have personal time with the Olympians, and besides, minor gods don't get to come, so your dad wouldn't even be there."

Poseidon's not a minor god, I thought, but I didn't bother arguing. A moment later, the bell rang, and we all went our separate ways. A lot of kids were being picked up right after classes, but my mom had to work, so I wasn't leaving until the next morning. I decided to wander over to the training field and practice with Luke. I'll admit it- I was annoyed about the Olympus thing. Hitting things with swords always made me feel better when I was annoyed.

Sure enough, Luke was there, just finishing up with the 8th grade. Clarisse sneered and cursed when she passed me, but she didn't try anything. Since our first few encounters she'd been all talk an no action. She was scared of me, which didn't make much sense to me considering I was twelve, but I didn't mind the peace it brought. Though at that moment I wouldn't have minded a challenge. Anything to get out the anger.

Luke knew me well enough not to ask questions. Instead we trained, working until our arms ached and sweat poured down our faces. I felt significantly better at that point, but after we showered, I remembered that Luke never went home, so he'd be going to Olympus as well. Then I was just bitter. "How come you didn't tell me that if I stayed over break I would get to go to Olympus."

Luke paused, tossing his towel in the laundry. He looked strangely nervous, though I didn't get why, and didn't turn to face me when he answered, "I didn't know if you could. Chiron hadn't decided until today."

"But you knew it was a possibility, and you knew I was trying to decide. You could have said something. I love my mom, but if I could just talk to my dad…"

Luke turned, scowling, "You should appreciate your mom more. From what you've said, she's pretty great. She certainly loves you more than your dad ever could. It's better that you don't go. You'll only be disappointed if you do meet your dad. Trust me."

"But you'll see your dad, won't you? And you've met him before."

"Yeah, that's how I know you'll be disappointed."

I frowned. Just because Hermes was a disappointment that didn't mean my dad was too. I couldn't come up with a very good response though. As I wrung out my hair I just muttered, "At least I would know."

Luke sighed, loudly. I saw him debating letting it go, but finally he came and sat down next to me. "Look, Percy, it's just not healthy to let your hopes get too high. Sooner or later the gods always let their children down. But I have a good feeling about the upcoming year. I think things are going to change for kids like us. And then it won't matter who your dad is ever again. But for now, just be glad you have a home to go to. Let your mom love you while you can, alright?"

Luke was probably my best friend. The unfortunate downside of your best friend being significantly older than you- there are times when they go full-on 'adult'. Luke didn't need to tell me to appreciate my mom. Of course I appreciated her. That didn't mean though that I didn't want to know more about my dad. Besides, Luke didn't know everything. He didn't know my dad would disappoint me, and he didn't know things would change. He was just saying things to make me feel better, like adults always did, and it was utterly frustrating.

So yeah, I grumbled. You would have too, "Yeah, whatever. I'll listen to the guy who ran away age nine. He definitely knows everything there is about family."

I felt bad immediately. Even if he was being 'adult' about it, Luke was just trying to be a good friend, and I was just being mean. But you can't take something back once you've said it. Trust me, I've spent my whole life trying. The words were out there, my bitterness too, and I couldn't change that.

Yet instead of getting angry at me, Luke just went still. When he spoke, his voice was low, cold, frightening. He sounded almost like a different person. "Percy, I know enough. I've seen enough. All the gods are exactly the same. You want to know why I ran away? My mom… she wasn't right. She never was. I was just nine before I really got it. And you want to know why she was like that- because of Hermes. He drove her crazy, then he dumped us. When I ran away, he didn't help me. He couldn't even bring me here on time, and that was his job. It wasn't until Thalia turned twelve that we even knew safe places existed, and little good it did her."

Thalia. I'd heard the name from both Luke and Annabeth. Plus there was a tree on the hill that everyone called 'Thalia's tree', but I'd never actually asked about her. "What happened to her?"

Luke laughed, a cold, pained laugh. "The gods Percy, it's always the gods. One day I go out to get supplies and when I come back Thalia tells me my dad dropped in, gave her a letter inviting her here, and disappeared before I got back. He didn't even say anything about me. He didn't offer us any protection. But Annabeth was only seven, and the longer we spent on the road, the more dangerous it was getting. We decided we had no choice but to pray this place really existed. It took us weeks to get here, and by the time we did, we had a hoard of monsters on our trail.

"You see, Thalia's dad was Zeus. He'd broken his oath, but Thalia was the one the other gods punished. We would have all been eaten if she hadn't sacrificed herself, died so I could get Annabeth to safety. And how did Zeus reward her? Did he let her die in peace, move on to Elysium? Did he save her? No. He turned her into a tree, so she'll never know peace, and she can remind every half-blood who passes through this school that in the end, we're always the ones to pay. And that's how I know that you're better off without your father. Every demigod is, but if you dad really is Poseidon, what happened to Thalia is going to happen to you too. It's best you don't go to Olympus. That's why I didn't tell you."

He was gone. I knew it because he got up and left, rounding up whoever was still around for dinner. I didn't immediately follow through. Instead I wandered across the house, peering out the window in Celia's room. Sure enough, I could see Thalia's tree standing tall in the distance. My stomach dropped. I remembered Annabeth's words my first day but I'd never believed them. I'd never considered that the tree wasn't just named after Thalia. It really was her. A twelve year old girl, my own age, turned into a tree by her own father as punishment for his sins.

Anger bubbled within me. It was so unfair. Why should the gods just get to run around doing whatever they want without consequences? What was it Ms. Jett had said? If a demigod tried acting like the gods did they'd just end up a grease stain on the carpet. Instead we struggled, we fought, and we died for our parents, and they didn't even have the decency to claim us.

There were eighteen unclaimed campers in Hermes House. Nineteen with me. That was more kids than all the minor gods put together. How was that right? How was that okay? Monsters didn't care whether or not we knew who our parents were. They killed us just the same. Actually, monsters didn't even care if we knew our parents were gods at all. How many half-bloods died before they ever made it to school? Did anyone even know? I was willing to bet a lot. Kids, not even twelve years old, dying for parents they didn't even know. It wasn't unfair. It was cruel. It was sick. It made me burn with anger.

But then I was called down for dinner, and as I took my turn in front of the golden brazier, I still couldn't bring myself to curse the gods as Luke did. Instead, I just said nothing at all, but I kept my blueberries. My dad could have some burnt bread instead, it wasn't like he'd know the difference in the smoke.

I didn't talk to Luke over dinner. Maybe he was avoiding me. Or maybe he was just letting me have time to think. I didn't get very far with my thoughts though. I didn't know what to thing, but I knew how angry I was. That I knew very well.

Just as dinner ended, I felt someone grab my arm. I expected it to be Luke for some reason, but it wasn't. Annabeth stood next to me, looking nervously over at the head table, like she was afraid Chiron or Mr. D would see us together. She hissed, "Come with me."

My curiosity got the best of me, and I followed her from the dining hall. Once we were alone, she pulled a Yankees hat from her pocket and slapped it against my chest. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Yankees. They're the best, and their 26 World Series Championships prove it. But I didn't get why Annabeth was acting like she was doing me a giant favor giving me this hat. I had like three in my room at home, and one stuffed somewhere in my suitcase. If you live in New York City long enough, eventually you'll end up with a collection (and you won't even remember buying them).

Was this a Christmas gift? If so, I was a bit embarrassed. I hadn't thought to get Annabeth anything. We were friends but, well, she was a girl. It was different with girls. And I hadn't bought Luke anything either for that matter. But I was pretty sure this wasn't a Christmas present. It wasn't wrapped, for one, and Annabeth wouldn't look so serious giving me a Christmas present.

"Ah, thanks?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "It's magical, Seaweed Brain. A gift from my mom- my only gift actually, so you better not lose it. Put it on and you're invisible. You live in the city anyways. There is no reason you can't come with us to Olympus tomorrow. I'm sick of listening to you mope. If there are answers to be had, you deserve them."

I could have kissed Annabeth. (No! Not literally. Eww.) Still, I was overwhelmed with joy, and completely forgot that I was mad at gods. It was hard to be angry at my dad for not claiming me when I knew, I just knew, that he'd be forced to once he saw me. It was so close I could taste it…and it tasted like chocolate chip cookies.

"Thank you."

Annabeth shrugged, "Yeah, well, you owe me one. Now get back there before anyone notices, and make sure Luke doesn't see the hat. He knows what it does and will stop you. He's worried about you, but I think you deserve the chance to prove yourself. I think we all do."

It was hard for me to understand Annabeth feeling like she needed to prove herself to anyone. She was a million times smarter than the rest of us, and good in a fight as well. I was certain Athena couldn't help but be proud of her. But then, Annabeth had also lived full-time at school since she was seven because her mortal family hated her. Maybe Luke was right and I did need to appreciate my mom as well. Demigods had two parents, and most of the time it seemed like their couldn't please either.

That night, I had a dream. I was in a field surrounded by red cows. They seemed pleasant enough. A few looked up at me, but then went back to munching on the grass. I sighed in relief; it was always nice when something thought grass tasted better than me.

One of the cow farted and flames surged out of its butt. Forget having a stick up your butt- these cows seemed to have flame throws! I decided that even if they liked grass, I was going to give them a wide-berth.

Beyond the cattle, I stumbled upon a giant crab, and standing next to it, Luke. He didn't seem to notice me, though I was only standing a few feet away. Somehow that was the thing I found the weirdest. Not the flame-farting cows, or the giant crab. Not even when I realized the crab was talking.

Its voice was deep, too deep. I don't know how I knew giant crabs shouldn't sound like that, but I did. Maybe I just knew giant crabs weren't supposed to talk. But it was more than that. The voice wasn't its own. It was dark, chilling, and a voice I knew. I couldn't remember from where. I certainly didn't remember having seen a giant crab before. But I knew the voice. I could never forget something so terrifying.

"You waver."

Luke's lips trembled. Anger or fear, I couldn't tell, but his voice was firm. "No, I am prepared."

"And the boy? Is he prepared?"

I stopped walking, going very still. I knew they couldn't see me, but I also knew they were talking about me. It sent chills down the spine. I knew I didn't want this voice thinking about me, I'll tell you that.

Luke didn't appear to like it either. Now he did waver. "We can't be certain we need him. He hasn't been claimed and I don't think.."

"Correct, you don't think, Son of Hermes. You obey," Luke cringed at the reference to his father. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. But he didn't rebuke the voice. That scared me more than anything, because it meant Luke was scared. He would have objected otherwise.

"His power has drawn my gaze. A child of the eldest gods must not oppose me. If he does, he shall have to be disposed of."

Luke looked as frightened as I felt. There weren't many ways to take 'disposed of' after all. I'd seen enough mob movies to know exactly what I was seeing. This was that scene. The scene where 'the guy's' loyalties were tested. Where he had to choose which side he was really on. Except if he chose wrong, I was the one getting killed.

Luke clenched his fist tight enough his nails dug into his skin, but he answered firmly, "Percy trusts me. He knows I am just looking out for him. When he learns the truth, he will side with me. I am certain of it. The gods have never done him any favors."

I wanted to call out, make Luke hear me and ask what he was talking about, but my dream shifted before I could. Suddenly I was in a familiar place. Even in a dream, it made me smile to be at the cabin. Montauk. My favorite place in the world. Peace rushed over me.

My heart began to settle. I was still frightened by what I'd seen, but already it felt distant. The memories were slipping out of my head. I knew it was important I remembered. Luke had been doing something… no… he'd been talking to someone? Maybe? Had he been talking to me? It was hard to remember. It didn't feel real anymore. Only the cabin felt real, which was bad, because I knew it was just a dream.

A baby's cry distracted me. I'd never spent much time around babies, never wanted to. The sound of babies crying, I swear there is nothing as stressful as that. Immediately the peace of the cabin disappeared. I frowned, wandering towards the sound of the screaming, though I was tempted to go far, far away.

The noise led me into the cabin's main bedroom, where my mom always slept when we were here. To my surprise, she was in there, sound asleep on the bed. She looked younger than usual, and her hair seemed longer, lacking any of the gray which now streaked it. For a moment I wondered why, and then I smacked myself for being stupid. Duh she looks younger. You're still a baby!

It was obvious the crying baby was me. So far as I knew, my mom hadn't ever brought another baby to the cabin. Just me. I'd been born there, not that I remembered that. Obviously I didn't remember being born.

The crying continued, my crying continued, and I wondered why my mom didn't wake up. Then I did the smart thing and actually looked over where my crib was. It was clear why I was crying; I wasn't alone.

The guy holding me was gorgeous. Don't take that wrong, I mean, he was a guy and, well, not my type, but still, even another guy could admit he was gorgeous. He seemed to glow, almost like the sun itself. His skin was deeply tanned, but not a wrinkle upon it. His eyes were bright, his hair golden blonde, pulled back into a man-bun.

In a way, he almost reminded me of Luke. That thought made me remember for a second that I'd just seen Luke, though I couldn't remember how. The thought disappeared as soon as it came.

The man was a god. I didn't know which god, but I knew that. There was no other explanation for why my mother would sleep through my crying. No other explanation for how he'd be there, holding me. I looked tiny, a single tuft of black hair on my head, my face pink and wrinkly. How old was I? I didn't know enough about babies to know if I was two days or two months old, but I was certainly tiny. It was odd, looking at yourself as a baby. I wouldn't recommend it.

Instead I looked at the god, my father. I knew he had to be my father. Why else would he be there? Surely none of the other gods knew about me when I was an infant. So far as I knew, the only gods I'd ever met were my father and Mr. D. This was not Mr. D. So he had to be my father. We didn't look much alike though. Nothing about him reminded me of myself at all, except maybe his frown. He was frowning as he looked at me, and it reminded me of how I sometimes looked in the mirror.

"You are going to make a whole mess of things, aren't you?" the god, my father, whispered. My heart dropped. Certainly those were not the words I'd ever wanted to hear from my father, though they weren't really unexpected either.

"Two days old, and you're interrupting my sleep. And that's hard, because I don't sleep. But how is a man supposed to keep the sun on time when all he hears is crying? I should save us all some trouble and turn you into a snail. I would rather turn your father into a snail, but I don't think I could get away with that."

Wait? What? My mind spun. This man wasn't my father then? But he was clearly a god, so why had a god come to see me as a baby if he wasn't my father? He couldn't be telling the truth. Sure my crying was annoying, but it couldn't have attracted the attention of a god, could it?

The god smirked, and laid me back down. I stopped crying, but continued to fuss, reaching up towards him. "Can't say I blame you for crying. But they'll do you no good. If tears could stop prophecies, I would have been out of a job a long time ago."

"You shouldn't be here."

I turned the same time the god did. Suddenly, we weren't alone. Standing in the doorway was a man I swore I'd seen before. I supposed I had, when I was a baby. I don't know how I knew this was a memory and not just a dream, but I did. That meant some part of me must have remembered this after all.

"I can go where I would like, Uncle. You on the other hand. You should definitely not be here."

The other man (who I was certain was my father for real this time) looked both annoyed, and cowed. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't like this younger(?) god pointing that out. I knew that was how he felt because of his expression. I got the same expression whenever I was in such a situation.

"Zeus is hardly one to talk. I do believe his girl is what, five now? She shall be sixteen before Percy is old enough for Chiron's school."

The younger god looked back over at me. I'd stopped reaching up to him and was instead trying to suck on my own foot. Yet I don't think my stupidity was why this god frowned, "No. She won't."

My father stilled. "You're wrong."

The younger god turned back. He was smirking, and raised a brow, but though he tried to look humorous, there was a certain sadness to his eyes. It made me feel a dizzy and sick to see. But it disappeared after a moment, and he laughed,

"'Oh, definitely.

Apollo is always right.'

Who said such a thing?

Dr. Harrington

Classics PH.D. "

My father frowned, "That's not a haiku."

"It's a Tanaka. I am the god of poetry; I can do more than just haikus."

Silence fell upon them for a second. I would never have guessed that bad and obscure poetry could end conversation so quickly, but clearly it could.

Finally, the younger god, Apollo I was pretty sure, shrugged and started towards the door. "Look, I don't want to be in the room when my father finds out, so I'm certainly not about to tell him, but just remember, Hades is now the only one who's kept his oath. How do you think that's going to go over? If you really want to spare him pain, I would say your goodbyes now. The next time he sees you… Well, let's just say it's going to be bad. For all of us."

Apollo disappeared out the door. I was so busy wondering why he hadn't just poof-ed away that I almost missed my dad walking over to me. Well not me, me, baby me, but same. He stood over my cradle, and I stopped trying to eat my foot. Once more I reached up, trying to get him to acknowledge me. But my father didn't do as I hoped. He just continued to stare at me, face blank, for a long time. My attempts grew more desperate, and I began to whimper and flail. Finally I must have broken his resolve. He smiled softly, a warm bright smile, the one I'd remember my whole life when thinking of my father. Then he reached down, touched my forehead and said, "Sleep."

I woke up. Sitting up, I looked around Luke and my room. The sun was just beginning to rise, Apollo beginning his race across the sky. I frowned. I'd been dreaming about Apollo, hadn't I? Already it was getting hard to remember. My father's face however, that I knew I wasn't going to forget.

I climbed off my bed, checking to make sure Annabeth's cap was where I'd stashed it the night before. Sure enough, it was. I smiled to myself. I knew what my dad looked like, and in a few hours, I'd be standing before him again. He couldn't deny me any longer. Apollo was the god of prophecy, but I didn't need to be his son to predict that by the end of the day, my father would have claimed me.

If only I hadn't been so right.

AN: 100% honesty, the Apollo thing got thrown in the last minute because my classics professor actually said , "Oh definitely, Apollo is always right" and i couldn't resist.