Sequel 1 – Blood-Red n' Gold
Rated a mild M for mature discussions and innuendo (as they are married—healthy relationships, communication, and all that), but no actual detail—also, not necessarily in chronological order.
xXx
Percy stepped out of the shower, willed himself clean, and shrugged on some comfortable clothes. Then he took a deep breath. His lungs still ached and scratched, but they worked, and it didn't hurt nearly as much as it did in the Pit. It was a good feeling—healthy, wholesome—and he'd take it.
He smiled at the thought. He could think about it now and not nearly break down into a panic attack. Well, when he had some preparation, in any case. Sometimes it still caught him by surprise, but bad days were getting fewer and farther between now. He felt like he could start getting back into normal life again.
Surprisingly, having his own apartment helped. Well, his and Annabeth's, but she would often leave for days—sometimes weeks—at a time, and then end up staying for about the same amount afterwards. It was difficult to keep track of time as a goddess, apparently.
Some days, it all still felt too good, and he had to talk himself out of convincing his brain that he would wake up in Tartarus again… and some days someone else would have to talk him out because he'd failed to do so himself, but he was getting better. That was all that mattered. Or, at least, that's what Annabeth told him. Or Emma, as the case may be.
That would never not be weird, but whatever.
A knock on the door had him frowning and reaching for Riptide in his pocket (he loved that sword). He hadn't been expecting anyone…
Slowly, he crept to the door and peeked through the peephole. Then he blinked and quickly unlocked the door.
"Annabeth?" he asked, frowning at the literal goddess standing on his doorstep. "Why did you knock? You usually…" he faded off and glanced at the bundle she held in her arms.
He blinked.
Then he blinked again.
It didn't change.
He glanced up at his wife as she shuffled in trepidation. "Annabeth…" he paused. "You… are Annabeth right now, right?"
Her form flickered for a moment as she winced, but she nodded, and that was enough for him. So he moved on.
"Why do you have a baby?" His mind refused to work—refused to process and come up with possible answers—so he just waited.
For the first time since he'd come back, she looked as nervous as that twelve-year-old he'd first met.
"Well… you know how we got married… right?"
Percy's eyes narrowed. "Yeah…"
She cleared her throat. "And how we tend to do… marital activities…"
His expression dried out. Had she really just…?
"It's called sex. Yes," he said, completely deadpan.
She blushed golden.
Percy threw his hands in the air, amused despite himself. "Annabeth, you're a literal goddess! How does this still embarrass you?!"
Her face went more golden, almost red (how it could do that when her blood was gold, he didn't know).
"It's not my domain, ok?" He hoped not. Because then something would have had to happen to Aphrodite or Eros… and that would just shake everything up more. They were still recovering from… well, multiple wars and Zeus, who was an issue all his own. "So I tend to have the same hang ups I still had when I was mortal! Fun fact, it's a whole lot harder to change your personality as a goddess! Which, by the way, makes entirely too much sense about our family…" She faded off, shaking her head, then took a deep breath."
Percy stared at her.
She stared back.
"Annabeth," he said slowly, "I know we've been married for a while."
She nodded. "Yes…"
"We haven't really talked about some things—decided to wait… because of my mental health."
She winced. "Yes."
"The last time I saw you, you were definitely not pregnant." He couldn't help but feel hurt, and more than a little numb. Something wasn't adding up here.
She looked pained as she nodded. "I wasn't."
He blinked. "What?"
She breathed deeply, looking flustered again. "Apparently goddesses have different gestational periods than humans. I mean, it makes total sense, but I'd never really considered it and I know I just saw you last week, but… um…"
Percy blinked. "Different… wait. How long are goddesses pregnant?" He tried to wrap his head around the new information, but was still finding it a little difficult. Go figure.
His wife shrugged helplessly. The baby in her arms let out a soft coo at the movement but otherwise kept sleeping. "Depends… I think. For me it was… a little over a week? Aphrodite knew immediately and was thrilled. Artemis too with her domains for children that goes into childbirth sometimes…" She cleared her throat. "I'll admit, I thought I had more time to come and tell you, so… sorry. I really didn't mean to spring this on you."
Percy's brain finally seemed to catch up with him and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Wait, you mean the last…" he cut off and sighed. This… was a lot to take on. His whole life had just been turned upside down. Again. In a week.
Annabeth's distress showed through her eyes as she pleaded with him. "Percy, do… you trust me?" she asked softly.
He didn't have to think about it, but out of respect for her and their relationship, he did. He remembered every single time they had risked their lives for each other—what Annabeth had done to bring him out of Tartarus. Then he sighed.
"Yes." He stepped aside and beckoned her in. "I just… wish I would have known."
"Yeah… me too," she muttered, looking relieved.
"Can I?" Percy asked once he closed the door, and gestured to the little bundle.
The smile on his wife's face was worth it. She put the baby in his arms carefully and he just stared down at the sudden addition to his life. He almost felt like he didn't know what he was seeing. A smile came to his lips, because he could already feel a bond forming. This was his child. His child. He could sense it—knew it from the bottom of his heart.
And it was amazing. No, that didn't quite fit or work. It was more than amazing!
Still grinning, he looked up to his wife, only to see her looking on sadly, and maybe a little lost. His own expression faded into worry.
"This… really bugs you, doesn't it."
Electricity sparked around his wife as she threw her arms in the air. "Of course it does! I wanted time to tell you and get prepared, but then…" She bit her lip and began to pace, hair standing up with static electricity, still in perfect ringlets, of course. "I don't know how my cycle even works now! Do I even have one? Or did this just happen because I was thinking about future kids we might have? How much I wanted one, and how powerful they can be!"
Percy blinked. He… hadn't really allowed that thought to cross his mind… yet. Even now it just… didn't want to compute. "Powerful?" he echoed, voice strained.
It was Annabeth's turn to shoot him a deadpan expression. "Percy, you're largely considered the most powerful demigod since Heracles… I'd argue more powerful! That's not even taking into consideration yo…" she faded off and Percy winced. She was talking about his… change. That was something he'd just spoken with his father about. Before he could let that thought overtake him, though, Annabeth went on.
"Then there's me! I'm the king of the gods! The goddess of the sky and justice and mental health and architecture and… our child is a quarter mortal, at most with me as her parent!"
Her words sunk in, and he felt color drain from his face. "Oh," he croaked.
Annabeth threw her arms in the air again (he could see streaks of plasma crackling in the air behind her, which made no sense, but… gods). "'Oh', he says." Outside, a bolt of lightning shot through the sky. The clear sky. Annabeth looked about ready to destroy something in her frustration, so Percy figured now was a good time to calm her down, or distract her, or both.
"Boy or girl?"
Annabeth paused, blinking in surprise at the sudden change of topic. "What?"
Percy smiled weakly at her. "Is our child a boy or a girl?"
More blinking before her expression softened. "Oh. Um… I did just say 'her'." It wasn't mean, just a soft point to make.
Percy's smile grew warmer. "What's her name?"
Her smile turned a little sheepish. "I… um… hadn't decided yet. Thought you'd want an input."
Percy couldn't help it if his grin grew wide. "Damasen," he said immediately. Annabeth's eyebrows rose on her forehead, but he shrugged—difficult to do with the small bundle in his arms if he didn't want to jostle her too much. "I promised I'd name one of our kids after him."
His wife, the king of the gods, just stared at him for several seconds before she snickered, and then burst out laughing heartily. Her face relaxed and she glowed and he was reminded, yet again, of how much he loved this woman—this goddess.
"Damasen," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "I like it." Then she shot him a pointed look. "We're not naming our next child Bob, though. Or Iapetus."
"Maybe as a middle name?"
Annabeth's lips thinned, though her gray eyes still sparkled in amusement. "Percy…"
He shrugged again. "We can discuss it—" he started, but that last shrug must have been too much as the baby made distressing sounds before breaking into a loud cry. Percy jumped at the suddenness, thankful he had some experience with babies. Albeit from years and years ago, but still…
Annabeth came over, a rattle with a lightning bolt appearing in her hand. The baby's tiny fingers gripped the rattle, but that didn't seem to calm her down any. Finally, Annabeth produced a bottle, which Percy took gladly, and held it up to Damasen's mouth. It took a moment, but eventually she clamped down on the nib and began sucking.
"I'd like her to have your last name," his wife said, resting her head on his arm. "I think your mom will like that too."
Percy snickered. "Damasen Jackson. I like it. The monsters will know to fear her, at least."
Annabeth snorted, but her smile quickly fell into worry. "I hope so, but… Percy, we don't even know what kind of powers she'll get! Will she be able to fly like Jason? Throw lightning around like Thalia? Your father is the god of sea storms and I'm technically the goddess of storms and the sky in general. Will she be able to breathe underwater? Will she even have mortal blood? I just—"
Percy turned to her, putting his forehead against hers. "Hey, Wise Girl, calm down." Because helping her calm down helped him calm down. She had good points and questions, but… later. If he panicked too, they may not have a building to come back to in the future. Or a block. Or a city.
Yeah. LATER.
She bit her lip, but glanced down at the baby and nodded, then took several deep breaths. "You're… you're right. I just…"
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "Hey, we were planning on a family, way back when, right?"
She sighed. "We hadn't really talked about it in depth, but… yeah."
Percy smiled the smirk he knew she liked. "It just came a little later… and a little earlier than we expected. Besides, I know exactly what to do."
Annabeth raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Oh? What?"
Percy grinned. "Introduce her to my parents. Mom's gonna go nuts. Paul and the kids will probably be thrilled and Father—"
The smell of saltwater permeated the apartment and a tall figure appeared, grinning broadly in a bright, Hawaiian shirt. "You called?"
Percy didn't even look at him, directing his deadpan at a very much amused Annabeth. "My father has been so over-protective now that he can be around his only living demigod child that it's been hard to do anything without him popping in." Well, demigod-ish. Oh, look! Another thought for later.
His father, the great god of the sea, pouted. Because of course he did. "I just want to help."
Percy sighed and turned to his father. "I know, Dad, but—"
Poseidon's eyes suddenly went wide when he saw what his son was holding. "Percy… is that… a child?"
He almost wanted to say, no, it's your eyes playing tricks on you, just to make a point, but with how on edge both he and Annabeth were, it probably wasn't a good idea. So Percy swallowed that knee-jerk reaction and nodded instead.
"Yeah," he smiled and tried to angle his arms so his father could see but she could still eat. Her green eyes opened once, then closed, and if anyone had had any doubts still, those erased it. "Dad, meet your granddaughter, Damasen."
Poseidon looked on in wonder until his head caught up with that and he gave his son a double take. Then he looked over at a smug Annabeth and back.
"You… named your daughter after a giant." They nodded. He sighed. "Only you two. Only you two."
After a moment, he shook his head, face lighting up as he stepped closer. "I don't often get grandchildren! This is—" he cut off suddenly and his face melted into one of terrified realization. Apparently he hadn't wanted to think about all the implications either. Percy really couldn't blame him.
"Wait… if she's my granddaughter…" he pointed to himself, then Percy, and finally turned to Annabeth, "and your daughter…"
Annabeth's smirk widened. "Yeah."
The sea god's expression fell into outright horror. Percy could practically see his father asking himself why he hadn't thought of this before. Or maybe he had thought of it, but that was before their recent… revelation. At the reminder, he ran his tongue over his teeth really fast. Good, they were mostly normal. But the fact that he had to double check…
Di Immortales! Now his father would have to be doubly aware just to make sure Percy didn't hurt his own daughter! He'd have to talk to him about that. And Annabeth. And, thankfully, they were both right there.
Before he could say anything, though, Poseidon—who had blinked several times after looking back down at the once again sleeping baby—took a deep, steadying breath. That… wasn't really like him.
In a minute, Percy thought. I'll talk to him when he's had time to process all of this too.
As if to read his thoughts, his father opened his mouth. And he had, it seemed, only one thing to say:
"Styx."
xXx
AN: A lot of that will be explained later. :) Chapters to come. Like I said, this is very much out of order. ^^;
SO, since this is going to be from several people's points of view, I decided to switch to third person instead of first person POV. Sorry if it's jarring but that's what worked best for this.
Curious to know what you think. :)
Thanks to Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Asterius Daemon, Quathis, and the Chronomancer! Love my betas. :D
Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (No spaces)