Welcome to Lord of Alaska! Sorry if this fanfic has mistakes. I will try to revise and edit as much as possible. Disclaimer: The characters and places that you know belong to Rick Riordan, everything else is mine.
Thank you so much for all the followers, favorites, and reviews!
"Cabin eleven," Aster heard Chiron say. "Make yourself at home."
Aster quickly got up from his cot in the corner, sitting with his palms on the sheets. The son of Poseidon had awakened from his coma and was getting introduced to Camp Half-Blood. He had to be present for this.
The centaur Chiron and Aster's nephew entered the cabin. They all bowed. He could see Percy stiffen up at the packed Hermes cabin. What else was he thinking about? Aster slithered his way into the demigod's mind, who was thinking about how the cabin was like an overpacked hospital. Percy had no directions or and allegiances yet, so he was as innocent as a dove.
Percy met his eye. Aster smiled.
"Well then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." Chiron galloped to the right. The demigods got up and stared Percy up and down. Aster could tell he was uncomfortable but ready.
"Well? Go on," the demigod he knew as Annabeth (not Annie) said from the doorway. Percy stepped inside and tripped on the uneven flooring. Aster tilted his head as everyone else laughed. Proper sons of Poseidon did not trip on a doorway. How did the Minotaur fail to kill him?
"Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven," said Annabeth.
"Regular or undetermined?" someone and everyone asked.
"Undetermined." Groans echoed.
Luke got up and shook Percy's hand. "Welcome, Percy. Ignore what the others say. They don't like that the cabin is used for the ones who aren't claimed. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."
"This is Luke," Annabeth explained, her voice rising by an octave. Did she have a crush on Luke? That was hilarious. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" asked the naive demigod.
"You're undetermined," Luke said forcefully. Aster calmed him down a bit with his powers. No need to stress the little son of Poseidon yet. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
Aster saw the demigod take a look at his space. If it could be called a space, the cabin was like a migrant treatment center. Utterly derelict and overpacked. He did not like it. If only gods could recognize their children or if more cabins were built for minor gods.
"How long will I be here?" the demigod asked.
"Good question," Luke replied. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
Everyone laughed. Luke was setting up for the son of Poseidon to be embarrassed. Aster smirked. It would be fun toying with this innocent demigod. Almost like clay, he was to be made, just like those humans were. He had to be the one to guide the mortal around camp.
"Luke, can I guide him around camp?" Aster asked. If he said yes, good; if he said no, a simple mind tug would change the decision.
Luke was tending to no. After his mind was changed by the god unknowingly, he said, "Sure, Aster."
"Luke!" Annabeth said. Aster grumbled and changed her mind too so she wouldn't get fussy and change Luke's mind, and then they'd end up in a huge mess. Plus, he didn't want her on his bad side. He could feel that she would be important.
Aster got up, grasping young Percy's shoulder firmly. He squirmed, and the latter smirked. "Come on," he said, "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it."
Aster shot him a look. "Let's go." They walked out of the Hermes cabin, leaving Luke and Annabeth and the laughing campers behind.
They walked around the omega-shaped cabins in silence for a few minutes. Aster could see the aura of Posiedon's cabin reaching out and trying to caress Percy's skin, but it couldn't make contact without Poseidon's claim. He wondered how long it would take, or if Percy was destined to stay in Hermes for years. Regardless, Aster was only here to know who stole the Bolt. Which was taking longer than he thought, because the hate these demigods harbored for their parents wasn't enough to steal their weapons. But the thief would be caught.
"Do you know what I killed?" Percy asked.
Aster twisted his head. What was he talking about?
"The monster I killed. I forgot to ask Chiron and Dionysus. Annabeth made a big deal about it."
Right. The monster he had killed with Aster's help. He didn't do it alone. "That was the Minotaur," he replied. "Annabeth's making a big deal out of it because nobody from camp has killed a monster for years. She doesn't like that the newbie camper got the first taste of victory instead of someone else. Like her."
They stopped walking. "I couldn't have fought the Minotaur. He died like a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. He couldn't have lived that long."
This sweet innocent child. He was so much like his father, his adorable father who had betrayed him at the end. Would Percy become his father? Aster would make sure he did not. "Monsters don't die. They can be killed, but they can't die. When you kill them, you dispel their souls for a while, even a lifetime if you scatter it really well, but they come back. Demigods kill them, they reform, we kill them again, etcetera. They kill us more often than we kill them, but because gods have sex with mortals often, nobody wins. It's a whole cycle."
"That's messed up. When the Minotaur comes back, will it hunt me specifically? Does it remember who killed it?"
"Monsters remember, Percy. Any monster you kill, there's another burden on your head. The ax forgets, the tree remembers. They will hunt you and make others hunt you. I hope you don't kill many, but you will have to."
"I'll have to kill even more monsters? What do you mean? This place is safe from monsters."
Fuck, he messed up. Aster shook his head. "Ask Annabeth later. You are destined for more."
"How can I be destined for more if I'm just like everyone here? And why was everyone in that cabin cramped together? All the cabins there are empty."
Aster wiped from Percy's mind the past minute of them talking. He would ask the question again to someone else, preferably Chiron, but it was not going to be the god's problem. "Cabins are decided by parentage."
"Well, I don't see a cabin for Sally Jackson."
"Not that. Your father. And you're going to say that he's dead, but he's a god. A Greek god. He left you because gods do not stay with mortals and their children."
"You're kidding. You're lying. My dad's dead. D-e-a-d. Died at sea."
Aster wanted to strangle this child. "He's not. I know it, and I know you. You've been diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and probably kicked out of multiple schools."
"So what? Do you have that?"
"No. But others in camp do. But your dyslexia exists because you're hardwired to read Greek, and ADHD keeps you ready for battle. Be thankful it allowed you to beat the Minotaur. And because you have godly descent, you can have small amounts of ambrosia and nectar. The stuff that heals you."
"So I'm a demigod?"
Percy didn't have a thick skull after all. "Yes. You're a half-blood, son of an ancient Greek god. We will see who."
"Guys, look, a newbie!" the girl from the Ares cabin shouted. Aster's lips scrunching up, he dragged Percy away from the dumb Ares rejects.
"Hey, you know the routine. Let him go!" the girl told Aster. He hesitated, saw the son of Poseidon tremble at the large, camo-suited demigods, and let his arm go. He would need to endure the harsh truths of life. And he was the son of Poseidon, and those were worse than the sons of Zeus.
"He's all yours. Sorry, Percy, but nobody messes with them," Aster said. "She's Clarisse, the daughter of Ares."
"I got this," he replied. "I beat the Minotaur, how hard could this be?"
Aster giggled inwardly. His nephew was going to get pummeled. "After you're done with him," he told Clarisse, "polish your spear. You'll need it to capture the flag."
The daughter of Ares sneered at him. "Erre es korakas," she whispered, translated as go to the crows.
"What do you mean, done with me?" Percy asked. "I thought the children of gods would be smart enough to not bully. But given that your dad is Ares, I can see the lack of stupidity. And the smell, that smell. Ew!"
Aster giggled even more. But he kept his poker face, gave a sympathetic look to the son of Poseidon, and walked away to the volleyball court. Annabeth could deal with the remains. He had to deal with Kai and Olivia.
Aster saw Percy walk out with Annabeth an hour later. He was not wet with toilet water, surprisingly, but the daughter of Athena was. Interesting. And he did not bow his head in embarrassment of Clarisse; he felt proud. What happened?
Aster walked towards them to try to figure it out, but Annabeth gave him a glare. She was still angry about him stealing Percy away, because she was controlling and hated others disturbing her plans. As if Percy was part of her plans!
"Hi Percy!" Aster said. "Looks like you evaded Clarisse. Nice. I would have helped you, but nobody messes with her."
Annabeth scoffed. "Well he just did. And Percy doesn't associate himself with cowards. Aster, I thought you were different. Percy, come on."
She dragged his arm, but he stayed put. While Annabeth was probably better for Percy to be around, she did not have the power of a god to change minds. He did. "I'm good, Annabeth. I'll see you at dinner. And I'll join your team to capture the flag."
She scoffed again and gave a glare to Aster. "Don't make a friend out of someone who wouldn't defend you, Percy. But it's your choice," she said, walking away on the grass.
"Who are those people?" Percy asked, pointing to the naiads with winnows swimming behind their wavy, brown hair.
"Naiads. Greek nymphs of the water."
Percy scoffed. Aster could hear Poseidon doing the same scoff, of rolling his eyes and looking away at the endless sea. He closed his eyes and stopped the memory before he remembered worse, better things.
"That's it," Percy said. "I'm leaving. I'm going home."
Aster knew that this was because of the unbreakable magical reality he had just been shown, that it was coming from ignorance and a craving for the past. He would know, given how he longed to be an Olympian again. But Percy could not be persuaded with feelings but facts. It would be easier that way.
"This is home. For all of us. For all us demigods, whose parents fell in love with mortals and had kids with them. The same thing that happened in those myths keeps happening—"
"But those myths are ancient. Wait, if this is true, then who's your dad?"
"I don't know yet. Gods are busy, and they care little with mortals unless emotions are involved. But I know it's a she. Hopefully, she recognizes me and thinks I'm worthy of being claimed."
"Wait, it's a she? And will I be claimed?"
"Kinda sexist to not believe goddesses have demigod children, but they do. Of course, it's less than men, because godly pregnancies take time, but they do. And I am sure you will be claimed. You arrived just in time for important things to have happened."
"That's messed up. Gods, if they exist, should claim their children no matter what. We shouldn't have to prove our importance to know our heritage."
Aster loved this radical soul. This soul would disrupt Olympus to come, and he did not need an oracle to prophesy it. "Well, until we can do something, we have to go with the flow."
"What do you do when it's not summer? Annabeth said that the camp keeps the monsters out, but we won't be protected once school starts. Do people just brave it out there?"
"Some people stay in camp all year, but some go to school. Usually, a summer is enough to teach demigods how to fight small monsters. But if there's no family to stay with during the year, people stay in camp. Or if we're too powerful. Monsters attack based on your scent, and the more power you have, the more you smell, in a sense. Like Annabeth. She and many others stay in camp."
"What about you?" Percy asked.
"I don't know yet. I just joined two weeks ago. But I'll probably go back. I haven't been claimed, and I don't think I'll be claimed, so my scent won't get stronger. And my dad isn't terrible to me. He leaves me alone if I do the same."
"That sounds terrible. My stepfather is terrible, but my mother always cares—cared—about me."
Aster tried to sound as mortal-like as he could as he shrugged. "We all have different parents. My dad's scared that I'll bring in monsters that'll destroy his life, so he ignores me. If I get expelled, it's my job to get into a new school. But I don't really mind since it gives me more independence. Quid pro quo."
Percy stayed silent. "So monsters never come in the camp?" he asked.
"Not if you let them in. Some people do it for jokes or for practice fights, but Chiron will get real mad if he sees it. Don't try it. The border makes it that only those with divine blood can enter."
"What if I wanted to leave? They can't keep us here, right?"
"You can, but it would be suicide. You don't know anything about fighting monsters, and those you have killed were flukes. But if they give you a quest, something that hasn't happened in years, you could leave…" Aster trailed off. He had to give his nephew the idea of leaving and finding the Master Bolt. The sooner it was found, the sooner he could go to vibrant Alaska.
"Why would they give us a quest?"
"Something's wrong in Olympus. The climate's gotten more choppy, and the world is more disorganized. Chiron won't say anything, but he cannot lie. The gods are close to fighting, and it's us demigods who have to fix those conflicts."
"Oh," Percy responded. The smell of barbecue smoke wafted over, and the demigod's stomach growled.
"Dinner's going to start soon," Aster said. "Go back to the cabin and get things in order, and we'll meet each other soon. I've got people to meet."
Percy nodded absentmindedly and walked back to Cabin 11. Aster walked to the lake and waded his feet through the water. The ocean at Camp Half-Blood was too warm for him. He could hear the howls of the wolves all the way from Alaska, the splash of the whales from the dark blue ocean. He missed his home. His heart longed for those unbeatable bears and that unbreakable pykrete.
Crack. He looked down, seeing a patch of ice form where his foot was. He chuckled and kicked the ice away. He was missing home too much. Aster turned around, seeing golden Olympus above the white clouds, and walked to the dining hall. He had a demigod to influence and a Bolt to find.
Here is my seventh chapter of Lord of Alaska!
This was very slow because expositions are slow. This came directly from The Lightning Thief. This is Percy's introduction to camp, and that's it. I can't skip this stuff because Aster and Percy have to connect for the story (spoiler), but I shortened this a lot. I compressed three chapters into one!
Because Percy is spending time with Aster, he's spent less time with Annabeth. But this will not majorly affect their relationship because it isn't Aster defending Percy, it's Annabeth.
I promise, the next chapter will have Capture the Flag and Percy being claimed. And when will the next chapter be published? Probably sooner as testing has finished. *Crossing fingers*
Have a great day and let's all Mystify!
