Thank you to Ro-Lee and Patting-Patches for reviewing!
Percy Jackson
For the guest reviewer who asked for Percy Jackson.
It's difficult having war heroes for parents. And not just any war heroes, but Maysilee "The Chosen One" Donner and Haymitch "The Chosen One's Sidekick and Love Interest" Abernathy. Everyone just expects so damn much from you, and it's really hard to match saving the entire cosmos from the Titans and their Capitol minions.
Not that most of Earth's population is even aware that Ember's parents saved everyone's butt years ago. The Mist keeps regular humans befuddled and unaware of the fact that Greek gods and monsters are real, so anything magical or legendary is always excused away as something more mundane. Oh, a Daughter of Persephone and a Son of Athena stopped Kronos and his demigod son, Coriolanus Snow, from conquering the universe in a battle of epic proportions in the heart of New York City? All the Average Joe remembers of that day is really gods-awful traffic and an ill-timed power outage.
It was easier to handle during Ember's childhood. Her family lived in a small town where the only other demigods were her parents' oldest friends, who rarely brought up the Abernathys' hero status. So back then, Ember could pretend that they were normal.
Well, "normal" being a relative term. Most people wouldn't consider it normal for Mr. Everdeen, a son of Apollo, to be able to sing wild songbirds into obedience and to shoot a target blindfolded. They also wouldn't consider it normal for Mr. Mellark, a son of the much lesser-known Deipneus, God of Bread-Making, to be able to bake cakes that literally tasted like the consumer's childhood. But Ember acknowledges that her family isn't most people.
Everything changed once Ember became old enough to go to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods in New York State. It was where her parents had met and been trained as children. Ember had eagerly looked forward to her first day there ever since her older siblings came back after their first summer there, jabbering excitedly about archery and dueling and Capture the Flag and climbing lava walls.
What she didn't expect was how everyone immediately saw her first and foremost as "Maysilee and Haymitch's kid" and the deluge of questions they pestered her about her parents instead of herself. With every summer, Ember became less and less excited about going to Camp Half-Blood; the only saving grace was the fact that Madge, Katniss, Peeta, and Gale were there as well, so she had someone to talk to who wasn't interested just in her heritage.
It is now Ember's fifth summer, and this year her little brother Cedric is tagging along for the first time as well. They watch their parents' car disappearing into the distance, Ced a little forlorn but also excited about the upcoming summer, while Ember just feels blah.
"Ember?"
Her spirits lift as she turns around to face the approaching camp counselor. "Cinna!"
The Son of Aphrodite grins and waves. After they catch up on what's happened in the past year, Cinna begins, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"Probably. What is it?"
"We have a new second-generation demigods this year, and he's having some trouble adjusting. There's a little resentment that he isn't directly half-blood himself. I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk to him, being second-generation yourself."
"Well, sure. I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to turn any attitudes around."
"Your best is all I ask."
Second-generation demigods became a lot more populous after the war with the Titans. Life expectancy became longer than one's twenties, if they were lucky, so more demigods got together and started families. Technically, their kids are also half-divine, but they themselves aren't the child of a god or goddess. In Ember's opinion, there are pros and cons of being only second-generation. On one hand, her inherited abilities from her godly grandmothers are more diluted. On the other hand, she's able to access powers and boons available to both scions of Athena and Persephone.
Ember meets the particularly troubled demigod just before dinner. As Cinna told her, the boy is sulking on the beach. He looks a little older than her, so she's surprised he's a new camper; usually demigods are in their preteen years when they first arrive at Camp Half-Blood. "Hi there."
His eyes flicker toward her before returning to glare at the water.
"I'm Ember. You must be Cato."
"You don't have to pretend to be friendly with me because that counselor told you to."
She frowns. "Who says I'm pretending? I'm just here to talk to you about what it's like being second-generation."
He barks in laughter. "Oh, is that what he thinks my problem is? I wish that were it."
"Then...what is the problem?"
He kicks a shell near his foot. "You haven't heard already? It's all over camp. Yeah, I'm second-generation. Dad's a son of Ares, Mom's a daughter of Nike."
"Okay. And my parents—"
"Daughter of Persephone and Son of Athena. Everyone knows who your parents are, Ember Abernathy. And everyone knows who mine are." He looks at her. "I'm a Wolfwood."
She stares. "As in…"
"Yup. The Wolfwoods who betrayed the Olympians and faced your parents in the final battle in the war. So don't pretend to be friendly with me, Abernathy. I understand perfectly." He turns his back on her and walks away.
I definitely wanted to make either Haymitch or Maysilee a child of Athena. I picked Haymitch because of the gray eyes. For Maysilee, I ended up choosing Persephone because Queen of the Underworld is pretty badass.
And yes, Deipneus was actually a thing.
Next up: Sherlock Holmes! Feel free to continue sending prompts and ideas for meetings you'd like to see!