Okay, so here's this week's update! I was aiming for another thousand words but ultimately gave up. Hope, you know your flower meanings, cause there's a lot in here that are important.

I have some points to make about this, so here they are:

1. The first section of this chapter was supposed to be the ending of last chapter, so it will seem a bit out of place. I'll fix that mistake with next week's update. It'll be a bit out of place this chapter as this whole chapter is in Percy's pov (but still in third pov).

2. Besides from interventions, if I decide to have them, this will be from Percy's perspective but not because it's in third pov. Confusing, I know, but hopefully that makes sense.

3. I want to make a story for Mai and Zuko. If you hadn't guessed already, they're from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm probably gonna make it anyway, even if y'all don't wat it, but if you do, TELL ME!

4. A lot of stuff happens off-screen, and since I don't have a beta, some parts may be vague and confusing. Ask questions and I'll clarify what exactly happened or if you need the meaning of a flower that I didn't put in, ASK!

5. This is going to be the main story of a series that I plan to make in which different decisions or things happen. For example, in one Sally is going to die and that story will follow what I think would happen if she were to die in my AU.

That's all I can think of rn, so enjoy! Leave a review and tell me what you think!

Sally first notices it when Poseidon leaves and Stephanie has left to grab a few things from home.

At first, she thinks she's seeing things because she is high on the drugs that were given to her. So, she blinks her eyes, once, and then twice.

There, in her arms, was her precious darling baby and in the corner of her eyes were yellow flowers, constantly flowing but disappearing in golden dust before they had the chance to slide down her neck.

Heleniums, a familiar voice whispers softly in the back of her mind, in the language of flowers, they mean tears.

Sally blinks and there's tears gathering at the corner of her own eyes.

It had been too long since she had heard her mother's lovely voice and it was a shock to hear it, oh so clearly, many years after her death.

She looks down at her daughter once more and there are still those yellow flowers – heleniums - falling from her baby's eyes, intermixed with real tears.

Her mind is quick like lightning as she tries to draw conclusions as to how there are real live flowers coming from her precious baby girl's eyes, whom just so happens to be a daughter of the sea, not of flowers.

If anything, Sally concludes, there should be saltwater falling from Persephone's eyes and not-

And then, she pauses and her mind halts completely as she realizes what – most likely – happened.

Persephone Jackson is named after the goddess, Persephone. The goddess of spring.

And what grows in spring? Flowers.

Sally wants to smack her forehead at how hilarious the situation is. She's not quite sure if this is a blessing or a curse. Still, she wonders how far the flower thing will go and how she and her daughter would be able to hide it from those she'd be around.

"Well my sea princess, life just got a little more interesting." With that said, she bopped Persephone's little nose. Her flowers and tears stopped, and she gave her mother a toothless grin.

(Stephanie watches the scene from afar with a small smile gracing her warm features, but it conflicted with the worry that lied in the depths of her golden eyes.

It had been centuries since one of her ichor had gained this specific… ability. But then again, she was not known to sire many children. She had only ever sired four children, all whom were girls. Only one of them had the ability that her darling great-granddaughter now possessed.

It was rather unsettling to know that a legacy of her own was able to contain that much of a connection to herself as to claim an ability that only her first-generation children ever had.

Her mind drifts back to her first and only child to have it, for a long time.

Her name was Mai and she was lovely. She was born with pitch black hair, light, light brown eyes and skin as fair as snow. She was a vision amongst the mortals that surrounded her.

She was five when she first showed a sign of any powers and it was because a monster had caught ahold of her scent.

Harebells and cypresses had left her eyes and followed her as she ran away as far as she could. It was then she noticed the flowers and how she willed them into existence, unconsciously or not. As a daughter of spring, she had the right to demand anything she needed from the earth.

So, Mai had asked for death and death was what sprouted from her palms in the form of vines of azalea. They shot forward into the monster's mouth and just kept going. That is until the monster fell to its knee, taking ahold of its neck and died choking on the pretty pink flowers before vanishing in a cloud of golden dust.

Balm of Gilead trees had sprouted around Mai's stunned form and it was then that Persephone decided that she was ready to learn of her godly family and powers.

As time passed, she became a well-known heroine. She was known for her mastery of weapons and of her chlorokinesis and because of that, she was sought out by many monsters and went on a plethora of quests.

It was during one of the many arduous quests she went on that she met a boy. A boy that was the son of Hephaestus, one that put her all her brother's sons to shame. Zuko, if Persephone remembered correctly.

It was when he saved her from a hoard of monsters had lilac began to spill from her mouth and grow in her hair and sprout all over her face.

Suddenly, her daughter was all red roses, roses of sharon, blood red chrysanthemums, and primroses because her daughter was young and so consumed by love for this boy.

Then one summer, she noticed how Mai couldn't bite back the flowers that left her and the goddess caught a glimpse of what her daughter couldn't contain.

Dragon's worts, cypresses, marigolds, and what she only assumed was a new breed of new flower.

Horror. Death, mourning, despair. Grief.

She was all alone and when Persephone went to confirm her beliefs, she was saddened to find out that her suspicions were correct.

During her time with her husband down beneath, a war raged and with it took her daughter's love and all her friends.

Persephone disguised herself as a mere merchant to greet her daughter when she found her in a cemetery.

Her daughter's scream was what had caught her attention. What she saw was something she had never forgotten.

Helenium petals falling from her eyes and spilling from her mouth were those flowers she had never seen before and it had occurred to Persephone too late that Mai was choking on the petals that sprung forth.

As Mai had taken her last breath, her new breed of flowers has sprung from all round her. They grew and grew and grew, until there wasn't any room left to.

Her daughter had loved too much, and it was because of that reason, that she had died. Losing everyone she loved had taken a toll on her soul, and thus, she lost control of herself.

In memory of her daughter, she had named the flower: mourning bride.

She had wanted to name it after her name, but she had already named one after her daughter when she was born. A bright yellow flower, one that shone almost as bright as her precious baby girl.

Persephone shook her head as she regained her posture. It was no good to dwell on the past, especially since she lived in the present.

Looking at the, now, sleeping duo made her heart warm, but also made her pause in her stride toward them.

They deserved to be happy and she knew all too well that Hecate wouldn't grant her another favor, no matter how close they were.

No, it would be better for her to leave. No matter how much she didn't want to. No matter how many laws she was breaking by simply being in her mortal line's presence; not to mention interacting with them.

Persephone holds back the tear that threatens to fall and summons a piece of paper and pen and begins to write.

Dear Sally,

It is my biggest regret to inform you that I must leave. I hope you understand that I don't wish to leave you and your daughter, but certain things have been brought to my attention and I must attend to them. I am not sure as to how long I will be, but know that as soon as I can, I will be by your side.

With love,

Stephanie Haru

P.S: Persephone is a lovely name, by the way. Her namesake is sure to love her as much as she does you. (If you haven't guessed already, I'm a daughter of Demeter.)

With that written, Persephone lays the paper down on the nightstand and kisses both her granddaughter and great-granddaughter on their forehead and takes a step to look at them, for what is probably the last time for at least a decade.

Persephone Jackson was sure to change the fate of their realm, whether it's for the best or for the worst, the goddess of change – spring - cannot be sure. However, she does know that her life would difficult and filled with many trials, a hero's fate as some would say.)

And though Stephanie was one the one to walk in, it was Persephone who walked out.

Persephone's first word is Mama.

Her next is stay.

Her third is come.

Her mother is not always there, no matter how much she wishes to be. She is always busy, always doing something.

Persephone just wants her mother to be with her and not be so busy. But she loves her mother, even in her absence because she knows how much her mother would do for her, which is why she's always gone.

Unconsciously, the eight-month-old baby swallows down the myrtle and wormwood that threatens to spill from her.

However, they still follow her crawling form, and if her babysitter notices the many blossoms that appear on the apartment's tile floor, well he just ignores it. He gets paid well enough as to not ask questions.

Persephone is two when Sally takes her to a park.

It's filled with many walkways, trees, shrubs, bushes, fountains, and flowers.

Persephone loves it because it's quiet in the early mornings and flowers surround her.

She likes to be near the fountain because the sound of the water calms her and makes her feel warm and cozy. It also helps that this is where she can see all flowers of the park.

Her mother watches her with a gentle smile on her face as she writes in her notebook.

Persephone lays down and stares at the sky and the clouds. She pictures different sea animals in the cloud's shapes. She closes her eyes and lets herself bloom.

Flowers of all kinds sprout from her and she feels content.

The feeling lasts for a few more moments before she feels something slither across her skin.

Her eyes fly open and she sees a snake wrapping around her torso, moving up towards her face.

She is shell-shocked and can only watch as it begins to wrap against her neck, but then suddenly it's as if time slows and she can move.

Her hands wrap around the snake's body and she squeezes it, hard.

Persephone gazes as it falls limp and uncoils itself from her neck.

It's only a few seconds later when it bursts into golden dust.

Persephone gains a fear of snakes that day.

Persephone is three and there's yellow roses growing in her hair in a crown-like shape. She's just so happy. Her mother is home more and she spends time with her and tells her of amazing stories and of the language of flowers.

And yet… Persephone knows that there is something inexplicitly wrong with her. She's seen other people and yet not even one of them are like her, can do what she can.

She had asked a woman once where her flowers were, and the woman had looked at her like she was abnormal.

It doesn't help that she knows things that she shouldn't; knows how to do things she was never taught. It was all inside in her head, screaming and pounding at her, going too quick, too fast, when everything else around her is so slow.

It is her mother that brings her back to reality. She holds her and whispers anything – everything – as she cries. It is her mother that calms her and brings her red carnations and white heathers. Her mother gives her the purest form of love and protects her from everything.

She's three, heleniums falling freely from her eyes, hands tugging on her mother's white skirt, when she asks, "Mommy, what's wrong with me?"

Sally's eyes widen immediately as she leans down to look eye-to-eye with her daughter.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, nothing." Her voice is fierce and different in a way she's never heard, capturing Persephone's attention in a way that things hardly ever do.

"But there has to be. I'm- I'm a freak. I have to be." By this, her heleniums are joined with wormwood, petunias, and marigolds.

"You are not a freak, never have been and never will be." Sally leans forward to cup Persephone's cheeks and looks at her with a warm face and a smile brighter than the sun itself, but everything about her is gentle in a way she will never be.

"You are perfect as you are, my precious princess. You may be different, but never wrong. You are special and right. Never forget that."

"I just wish I was normal. I wish that you could just fix me." Her voice manages to croak out in between the sobs and flowers that spill from her mouth and eyes. She only just manages to catch a glimpse of how her mother's gentle face turns into something dark before it is replaced with something inherently soft. Her eyes glimmering with tears that won't fall.

"There is nothing for me to fix. You are as you are supposed to be, perfect."

Persephone really, really wishes to believe her mother's words, but until the truth is spoken, she can't.

When Persephone wakes, there's books upon books waiting for her on her worktable. Of course, that's not all, there's flower pots scattered around her room's floor, filled with soil. As if, they were just waiting to be filled with her flowers.

She flips through the books and they make sense.

The letters, or what she assumes are, aren't in English but they're in a language she can understand. The symbols don't move around and she can read.

Persephone smiles, a wide tooth filled smile, as caladiums spill from her mouth. There's so much joy in her because in this, she is not wrong. She can understand.

As she skims through the books – uninterrupted for once – she finds myths inside some, information about flowers and their language along with gardening in others, and ones about the ocean, sea, and all bodies of water, of the creatures that lie within them, and all else to know.

Her mother comes in a few moments later and she just smiles at her with a knowing look in her eyes.

"There was nothing ever wrong with you, my love. It was just a matter of finding what works to fit your needs. I will help you find your way. It's what mothers do and something I will always do, my sweet Persephone."

Sally gives her white carnations, white chrysanthemums, virgin's bower blossoms, and so much more. Because she gives her everything she possibly can, and Persephone loves her so deeply and purely for it.

It's that day when another ability sprouts from her. For the first time ever, the flowers don't bloom from her.

Unconsciously or not, Persephone calls for every type of flower she has ever bloomed, specifically for her mother, to grow.

And grow the flowers she wills into existence, do.

They grow in the flower pots that her mother gifted to her and when Percy sees what she's brought into this world – life – she smiles so wide and so bright. Her eyes glowing the color of the sea with aster blooming from her skin.

"Mommy, can you read me a story from one of my books?" She looks at her mother pleading eyes, puppy dog eyes, and her mother nods. She takes her small hand in her much larger one and leads her to her room.

She lays her on the bed and tucks her in.

"Did you have any in mind, Persephone?"

"The nice one about Kore. I haven't finished reading it yet." Sally smiles and grabs the English book of myths. She is stopped in her actions when Persephone grabs her hands and shakes her head.

"Not that one, this one." She points to one that's on her nightstand.

It's thick and it's a bit dusty and there's ancient Greek symbols decorating it. Overall, it looks old but beautiful, and something that Sally never bought.

"Sweetheart, where did you get this?" Persephone smiles widely and shakes her head.

"Secret~" Persephone whispers.

"Well if it's a secret, I guess I can't know, huh?" Sally says with a small smirk on her face.

"Exactly! Now, come on! I wanna find out what happens."

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" And so, Sally reads the tale of how Kore fell in love with Hades and how Kore became Persephone.

(A god and goddess watch from the corner of the room, hidden securely by the Mist, with matching soft smiles on their faces.)

It's a few weeks later that Sally tells Persephone that she must go back to working more shifts as someone with more seniority took the position she used to have.

She tells her with a worried look in her eyes, "Since I won't be here as much anymore, you must not let other people see your special ability. They must not know. There is nothing wrong with it. You are even more perfect because of it, but no one must know. Promise me, Persephone. You must keep this a secret. At least until it's time."'

Fear blossoms in her but trust smothers it down to near nonexistence. Persephone nods her head as she stares at Sally with freesias threatening to spill from her mouth. She swallows them, pushes them down until they no longer can resurface.

"Okay, Mama. I promise."

Because like with anything else, Persephone can trust her mother to guide her and keep her safe.

Still, her mind drifts and wonders what she meant by: until it's time.

Persephone learns and learns and learns.

It may not be quick or easy, but she does it.

She's not old enough to enter the public education system, so she does what she can and devours every book that she's given and reads.

It's hard, so very hard. It's like the words dance around the page and mix with others or become rearranged; at least with the books in English. It also doesn't help that she must always be moving while trying to work.

Her mother helps as much as she can, but Persephone can sense she is tired. She knows that her lovely mother works all night, leaving when she goes to sleep, and coming home for only a few hours and then she must leave again. She sees her for only a couple of hours every day and she can see how badly affected her mother is.

It's time like these where she curses her father, basil lying heavy on her tongue, because she hates him. Her mother works so hard and it's just so unfair. At the same time, she wonders if perhaps she, herself, hadn't been born, her mother would be better off.

But then her mind flashes moments behind her eyes, showing her that lavender kind of love and devotion, and knows that her mother would never like her thinking like this.

Persephone loves her mother and would do anything for her, even if it resulted in death because her mother loves her, and she stays and keeps coming back.

Persephone is four, almost five, almost about to start school when he barges into her life.

Gabe Ugliano is a pig of a man and she doesn't understand how her mother can stand to be near him, let alone date him and let him inside their apartment.

Sally says that he helps more than she knows. Persephone doesn't see how.

All that man ever does is lounge on their couch, watching the television as he drinks and eats everything in their cabinets and refrigerator.

He demands things from her mother as if she must do the things he demands.

Persephone hates him, hates the way he calls her by her name, hates the way he stares at her mother like a piece of meat, hates the way he doesn't do anything to help, hates how completely and utterly useless he is, hates how she can't ever bloom, hates-

She hates everything about him.

Persephone swallows down every orange lily that rushes forward when she sees him and has grown used to the basil that sits balefully in the back of her throat.

She wills every blossom and petal that wants to spring forth away. No longer are there flowers in her hair nor do flowers follow her every step. They don't sprout from her skin either.

Before he came along, she could show her abilities at home, the only safe place she could. Now, she couldn't even do that. She didn't trust him as not barge into her room, so that wasn't safe either. He'd be suspicious of the golden dust if he saw even a glimpse of it.

Sometimes when Persephone can't control herself, she locks herself in the restroom and sits in the tub and lets the shower water spray on her as flowers blossom from her.

To her, it's refreshing and feels like it washes away all her worries, at least in that moment.

One night when Sally is still home, Persephone tells her mother that she doesn't want to be called Persephone anymore. She'd rather much be Percy.

Her mother looks at her with a sad look in her eyes before she nods and says, "Of course, Percy. If it's what you want, it's what you shall get."

Somehow, Percy thinks that her mother knows why she doesn't go by Persephone, she just keeps silent about the reason. Percy thinks that she loves her mother just a tiny bit more for that.

"Thank you, Mommy. Could you read me my namesake's story now?"

"Of course, Percy."

Percy's first year of school passes uneventfully. She was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, but she already knew that she had attention and learning problems.

They tell her that she will never be able to be great in school, only good at best.

This piece of information makes her furious. She swallows down every cutting petunia that rises from her throat and she works harder than ever before.

Percy has never liked being told what to do and being told that she will never be as good as everyone else, well that makes her want to prove them wrong.

Because her mother told her that she is right, different but right, and she will never let anyone tell her that she is lesser because she is different. Not again, even if it's her own self.

Thus, it is with difficulty but pleasure that she becomes the top of her class.

She'll prove them all wrong because no one dictates what she can and can't do.

During the summer after her first school year, Gabe begins demanding Percy to do things.

Like expected, she doesn't take it well.

She tells him to do it himself and walks off to go to her room.

That's her first mistake because she doesn't see the way his eyes narrow in anger or how he gets up to follow her.

He grabs her arm with a bruising grip and pushes her down to her knees.

He shouts, "You don't get to back talk to me, Persephone. You will listen to what I say, and you will do what I say. Understand?"

She doesn't say anything because why should she?

Percy looks up at him with a smile and says, "It's Percy."

That's another mistake because as soon as it falls from her lips, he backhands her. And it hurts.

"I said, do you understand? Or must I hit you again for it sink in?"

Percy wipes her lip and stares at her blood. It's not quite a deep red, but more of a dark copper. She wonders if that's normal.

The familiar taste of basil comes back as it threatens to spill from her.

She stares at the blood on the back on her hand and then at him.

Gabe's face is red all over and his hands are on his hips, which makes his beer belly protrude even more.

"Go to Hades."

She doesn't even care that it hurts when his knuckles crack against the arc of her cheek.

She doesn't cry, doesn't let him see the petals that well up in her tear ducts.

He's not trustworthy and plus, she has a promise to keep.

So, Percy swallows down every bloom that blossoms up. Partially because she's terrified of the consequences that might follow if he sees, and because Percy refuses to show him that she's hurt.

Petunias cut her cheeks as they try to escape her. Orange lilies and belladonna burning her tongue as they lie in wait to leave her. They never do.

Percy swallows down her resentment, her hatred, her anger, and keeps silent.

She doesn't dare tell her mother because she knows that if she does, her mother will also be hit. He said so himself and as much as she wants to tell someone, she won't.

If this is how she can protect her mother, then she will proceed in silence. But she won't take it like an obedient dog. No, she'll rebel because she won't do what she's told, especially by someone who should go straight to the Fields of Punishment.

Percy goes to draw a bath and as she sinks into the water, she feels better. Her cheek doesn't ache as much as it previously did, and she can let the blooms leave her.

When she looks down at all that she's expelled, it almost looks pretty. Too bad that she knows that beauty means pain, which is exactly what is laid out in front of her.

It's as she's drying herself, does she notice how the swelling of her face has gone away and how the faint touch of purple has reverted to a pale yellow against her skin.

She decides that she quite likes baths after that.

"Sweetheart, Percy-love, how did you get that bruise?" Percy stills and she can feel Gabe's beady eyes on her back.

"Oh, I was reading on my way to school when I ran straight into a tree." Maye not the best lie, but it's not like she's like Hermes, a natural silver-tongue.

She doesn't look at her mother and continues to do her schoolwork. Her mother comes from behind her and taps her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Tell me the truth. Did someone hit you?" Percy can feel his heated gaze on her and she's considering telling the truth but settles for only half of it.

"Yes, some mean and smelly upperclassmen hit me because I wouldn't do what he wanted. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to get in trouble." Percy allows her eyes to glimmer and shine.

"Oh sweetie. Next time it happens, tell me. Okay?" Percy nods her head and smiles bashfully at her mother. "But for your safety, I will be teaching you to defend yourself if somebody ever tries to hit you again." Percy peeks up at her mother through her lashes and watches as something dark passes through her.

And so, her soft and gentle and sweet mother becomes straight shoulders, stiff spine, and strength.

She teaches her how to make a fist, teaches her where to hit someone bigger – stronger – than her and how to use anything and everything around her to make them hurt so they can't hurt her.

Percy looks at her mother differently, in awe.

Her mother is strength and is beauty and is kindness, all wrapped up in one person. She is something different, something more.

During those lessons, Percy begins aspiring to be like her mother because she knows that she's different. She just needs to be more.

She's halfway there, Percy thinks, just a bit more.

During her first-grade year, she becomes the top student once again.

It's at the end of the year fieldtrip where everything goes terribly wrong.

They get to go to the beach and though they're not allowed to swim in it, they can put their feet in.

Percy loves any body of water and the ocean might just be her favorite thing right next to her mother and flowers.

Being near the ocean calms her and makes her swallow down the asters and camellias. It's like being welcomed home.

So, when the teacher announced that they could put their feet in, she's one of the first who runs toward the ocean. Her slides her flip-flops off and walks in.

Percy's eyes close immediately and she sighs happily.

Unknown to herself, she walks and walks and walks into the crashing waves. The waves don't deter, they don't even affect her. She doesn't even hear her teacher and chaperones call after her.

It's only when she opens her eyes does she realize she's under water. She gasps, and she realizes that she intakes water, too late, and she begins to panic.

During her panic session, she doesn't notice how she can breathe perfectly and isn't drowning or how she just seems to sink to the ocean's floor.

Percy calms down a few moments later and rationalizes that this is just another one of her abilities. A rather random one compared to the other two she currently has, but it's a welcomed one. It brings her closer to one of the things she's always loved.

She looks in amazement as she stares into the vast ocean.

There's animals and life of all kind and she can even recognize most of what she sees.

She goes to take another step – to reach into the vast, vast, piece of life - when suddenly she's dragged to the surface of the saltwater.

She hears the shouts but not what they're saying. She's not there in that moment. She's still underneath in a world that she can call her own.

She's drifting as she's pulled out the water completely. She can tell she's getting yelled at by her red-faced teacher, but it doesn't matter all that much. Not really.

It's only much later when she's back at school in the principal's office does she realize the consequences of what she's done.

"Expelled?!"

And all because most of the kids followed her example and ran straight in like she did. It's not like she told them to, plus it's not like she planned for this to happen.

"Mama, will you read me the story of my namesake please?"

"Of course, Percy. Just don't think that you're getting out of telling me what happened today."

"Of course not, why would I ever?"