Percy Jackson
"Brah, I know my abs are divine but you need to concentrate," Apollo declared.
"Concentrate on not thinking?" Percy asked incredulously.
"Yes," Apollo explained, clearly happy that he seemed to understand. "It's like a state of mind thing. Move without thinking. Kinda like that..."
"I don't do mushrooms," Percy defended himself.
"It's not like mushrooms, Dude!" Apollo explained. "That would be antipsychotics, brah. You know, dopamine and serotonin antagonism!"
"Mind-enhancing substances aside," Artemis summarized from the pillar she was leaning against. "My brother is essentially right. You are not entirely corporal, the reason why you stay in a physical form is simply a matter of habit. In a way, it is the exact opposite of you applying your powers as a demigod, or even today for that matter. There, you exert your directed intent to subject the material universe to your will in a limited manner."
"Yeah, what she said," Apollo agreed with his sister. "That being said, used to take mushrooms with these girls in Delphi..."
"Brother, must we indulge in tales of your exploits?" Artemis asked pointedly.
"Oh yeah," Apollo admitted apologetically. "Off-topic."
Artemis slowly walked up to him. "Empty your mind, Perseus. Just be in that circle, don't think about it."
"Yeah, this is bullshit," Percy announced, his frustration growing with every passing minute in which he stared at the illusive chalk circle drawn on the marble tiles ahead of him.
"It is not, you have done it before from what Thalia has told me," Artemis pointed out.
"I don't know what I did there," Percy argued. "It just happened!"
"Maybe, baby sister, Lord Perseus is simply atrocious at being a god," Apollo mused. "The common peasantry already whispers of an unduly casual relationship between him and his court."
"Brother!" Artemis complained. "Do you not think it is admirable? Can you claim your women's genuine affection?"
Apollo shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I'm usually doing all the talking," Apollo explained with a grin. Percy wasn't sure if Apollo realized that this was less of a flex than he thought it was, or if the god was just being ironic.
"Now, just do it, Percy. Really isn't that hard!"
Percy sighed deeply and finally, Artemis stepped into the temple's center aisle and strung her bow.
"Ahm, Artemis?" Percy asked watching the goddess skeptically.
"How do mortals teach their children how to swim again? Toss them in the deep end?" Artemis asked and notched an arrow with swan feather finds and a glowing solver tip that had only just appeared in her hand.
"Not very nice parents," Percy replied as she raised the bow. "Learning how to swim is supposed to be fun and safe."
"Oh," Artemis replied apologetically and pulled the string back, and aimed square at his chest.
"Wouldn't know, haven't had any children."
"Artemis?" Percy asked, starting at the glowing arrow tip wearily.
Artemis smiled and let the arrow fly.
The arrow struck him in the left shoulder and his left shoulder exploded in pain. "Really want to be there when the next arrow hits?" she asked, a second arrow already leaving the string.
Years of training allowed him to sidestep the arrow, letting it miss him by just a hair's width to strike and destroy what looked like an antique vase behind him.
"Not bad," Artemis admitted. "But the wrong kind of evading, don't you think?" she asked before letting loose another arrow that struck his other shoulder.
"Fuck!" Percy cursed when his other shoulder was impaired. "Stop it!" he complained.
Artemis grinned at him and raised the bow again, only to have Apollo raise a stalling hand. "Sister, as much as I enjoy seeing you finally taking your shot at one of Olympus's hottest eligible bachelors that isn't me I don't think this is working."
"You think?" Percy groaned and pulled the narrow-tipped arrow from his shoulder and tossed it aside. Golden ichor seeped from the remaining wound and Percy pulled the second one. Fortunately, Apollo snapped his finger and his wounds promptly closed.
"What was that about?" Percy explained and Artemis shrugged. "Thought the extra motivation would help."
"It didn't!" Percy complained indignantly, already not looking forward to having to explain to Silena why there was blood all over his shirt.
"Bugger," Artemis replied, not sounding sorry at all though. "It was worth a try though."
"Not really!" Percy complained.
"Well, if my help isn't needed I will go do something more productive with my time!" Artemis announced with played indignation.
"Why are you here anyway?" Apollo joked.
Being the wise, mature, and ancient goddess she was, Artemis flipped Apollo off before leaving the temple.
"Annoying sisters aside," Apollo muttered, "Back to the matter and hand."
"Not making much progress," Percy summarized and Apollo shrugged. "You've only been at this for a few months. Really mastering and discovering your powers can take centuries."
"Sounds encouraging," Percy grunted and earned a chuckle.
"You've got time man, nothing but time. You've been getting prayers yet?"
"Oh, yeah," Percy admitted, thinking back to Piper's incident, then of his even more recent one from his mother. "Though not really conventional prayers, .. More like private messages."
"Yeah, don't really have the pull yet. They don't really see you as a member of the pantheon yet, then you don't have a domain yet either so you won't get your cut from the mortals. Enjoy the peace and quiet while you can. How about something easier? Swordplay? Should be right up your alley."
As it turned out it was. Where is teleporting abilities were severely lacking, Percy was more than capable to match Apollo's spear and shield against his shield and sword.
Finally, he took his leave and left the sun god's temple and head back into the divine city. Despite the Cyclops's regularly shoveling the snow, he still sank ankle-deep into fresh powder, the frozen crystals slipping into his sneakers. It was very uncomfortable and he might have taken persona had the technically responsible goddess not been an involuntary guest at his residence, completely incapable of using her powers. No, he only had his laziness to blame and not bothering to put on boots because he would have had to tie shoelaces.
"Hey, Percy!" someone called from behind him. "Not so fast! Wait!"
Percy turned around and spotted Katie, the daughter of Demeter, followed by Travis trying to catch up with him.
He turned to face them and waited as they caught up with him.
"Sup?" he greeted them.
"Not much, we're here with a few Campers. Hey listen," Katie began and glanced back at Travis who nodded encouragingly.
"Did Silena tell you what happened at camp?" Katie asked cautiously.
"No, why?" Percy replied.
"Well, everyone knows about how she's your slave and stuff so some of Travis's brothers kinda heckled her over it. You know...made some inappropriate suggestions and stuff. She handled it great, just wanted to let you know that Travis handled it. So you don't have to come down and smite them or something."
"Wait...what?" Percy asked confused.
"Yeah," Travis assured him promptly. "Teamed up with Clarisse. We waterboarded one of them at night, another got one of Clarisse's famous summary swirlies, and we sent the rest of them to the infirmary after they had the honor to volunteer for border patrol during capture the flag. It won't happen again."
"Good to know I guess. She never mentioned something happened, I'll have to talk to her about it when I get home. You think she took it badly?" Percy asked, trying to recall if Silena had seemed overly upset. He didn't think so, but they hadn't talked much that day either.
Katie shrugged. "Well, she delivered a pretty dope one-liner but I'd definitely be. So, you won't dish out any divine judgments or something?"
"Looks like you already took care of it," Percy reasoned though made a mental note to interrogate the daughter of Aphrodite later and his previous annoyance with his lack of quick progress was forgotten for the time being. "How are things at camp, it's hard to keep track of things."
"Well, I imagine you are quite busy," Travis reasoned, which for the record Percy wasn't. Truthfully, for a god he had surprisingly little to do, hence probably having the time to plan out what he might get up to with the women in his life.
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Who, else is here?"
Katie shrugged. "Oh, you know. The usual crowd. Lou, Clarisse, Chris, Will... . Oh and Conner is running around somewhere here too," she elaborated.
"Well, feel free to pop by later," Percy invited them.
They parted ways and finally, Percy reached his blissfully warm home just in time to find Silena, Khione, and Annabeth sitting down in the lounge for a hot chocolate.
"Ladies," Percy greeted them, stole a quick kiss from Annabeth, and planted one of his own on Silena's forehead.
"What happened to you," Annabeth asked when Percy took his coat off and she saw that his short was holed and spoiled with golden ichor.
"Artemis tried to motivate me," Percy explained and Annabeth grinned.
"Did it work," she asked jokingly.
"Nah," Percy replied hastily.
Suddenly Khione stepped in, holding a pot full of steaming red liquid with Juniper on her heels who held another few empty mugs.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Mulled wine," she explained as if it were obvious.
"Oh," he replied and glanced at Silena who only rolled her eyes. "Relax Percy, not gonna overdo it. It is winter, hey apparently the Europeans start drinking this stuff at fourteen or something along those lines."
"Wait," Annabeth cut in. "Doesn't the heat make the Ethanol hit the system even faster and harder?"
Khione shrugged, "Considering this is apparently a german thing, I assume that is the point."
Percy sighed and gave Silena his best stern look before deciding to leave the girls to themselves. Considering he owned most of them, they'd probably have a much more relaxing time without him. During his past two wars and in movies, he had never really understood why leaders didn't get close with their subjects. Sticking with his people had always served him well, and it fostered loyalty. Then, he had always played the role of a champion, like Achilles. Not that of one of a military commander like Annabeth had been.
Slowly though, he thought to himself grimly, he was beginning to understand the other side, even if it was probably only because he didn't want to spoil their fun. Probably, the power dynamics, Percy reckoned to himself grimly. It did strike him as somewhat ironic though that this was the setting to teach him this, not the wars he had waged in the past.
"Well girls, enjoy yourselves!" Percy declared. After putting on a new shirt and pulling on a coat, he headed back out into the falling snow.
As it turned out though, what he assumed would be a quiet evening was swiftly escalated when he got an Iris message and ten minutes later Annabeth, Silena, and himself headed down into the mortal city below where they found Paul waiting outside the delivery ward.
"So, this time is for real?" Percy asked.
Paul, pale, and weary, rose to his feet in the waiting form. "I think so, Lady Artemis is in with her right now."
"Hey losers, Sally finally pushing out the little brat?" a familiar voice demanded and a moment later Thalia came stalking in, kicking aside a trashcan as she entered the waiting room in the most douchebag way possible.
"Sounds like it," Annabeth confirmed. "So Paul, your mother coming down here?"
"You have a mother?" Percy asked. He had, but Percy had never really considered the matter, and he was surprised that the matter had never even come up.
Paul chuckled. "Yes, Percy. I have a mother. My father died in Vietnam when I was very young."
"I see," Percy replied. "Well sorry."
"Long time ago," Paul assured him and then grinned. "Well, on the bright side my mother is going to have to pay up. She said I'd end our bloodline."
Percy grinned and offered a fistbump which Paul happily accepted and then leaned back.
Suddenly Artemis stepped in from a set of metal double doors, back to wearing her scrubs. "So, Mr. Blofis. Looks like we are well on track, if you like you can come in. We are getting to the screaming part."
Grinning madly Paul jumped to his feet and hurried after her. "How long?" Percy asked curiously.
Artemis gave him a long, tired look. "I have been the goddess of childbirth for a while now,...and I don't have a fucking idea. Few hours probably, maybe more. Sit tight, Perseus. Thalia, try to keep your cousin out of trouble."
Paul quickly followed the goddess into the labor ward leaving him alone with Annabeth and the huntress.
"Oh, just remembered. I've been meaning to give this to Silena for almost a month but kept forgetting. Could you hand this to her?" Thalia asked, handing over a dark slip of paper with a red script printed on it.
"What is this?" Percy asked consed.
"A ticket to Clarisse's first big MMA tournament... She wanted to surprise Silena with it," she announced. "She is really excited."
"Damn," Percy announced and accepted it. "Of course. I promise."
Thalia grinned and then gave him a conspiratorial look. "Damn, that girl is an absolute monster. Bulked up to two hundred ten pounds. To qualify she mauled some Trans girl with twenty pounds on her. Poor girl didn't know what hit her, she's still in a coma."
"Well," Annabeth announced grinning. "Definitely going to get a ticket for that. No idea how that slipped past me. I am so happy she is getting ahead in life."
"I am the corner girl," Thalia announced proudly. "Been training with her regularly too."
"Wait!" Annabeth said, her grin fading. "Why didn't she ask me? I regularly beat her in hand to hand and wipe the floor with you these days in hand to hand."
"First of all, you don't," Thalia corrected her, though having watched Annabeth consistently KOing the daughter of Zeus during friendly sparing sessions he had to disagree. "-and you are a lot bigger and heavier than me. Like have you looked at your shoulders?"
Annabeth scowled at this and Thalia stuck her tongue out. "-and you haven't been available in the past few months."
"Neither have you," Annabeth complained indignantly.
"Plus your reputation as camp's Implacable Shield Maiden has taken somewhat of a hit, though of course, they are all too chicken to say it to your face," Thalia added. "Not that Clarisse believes that of course," she then hastily added.
"Wait,..." Annabeth growled, her gray eyes turning a concerning shade stormier. "Why?"
Thalia grinned at her. "Well Barby, you did kind of jump feet first into a harem... . So people gonna gossip. Don't worry,.." she added when she saw Annabeth's rapidly deteriorating expression. "Mainly Drew and some of her crowd. Though honestly not sure if they are just jealous."
Annabeth exhaled deeply and throw Percy an accusing look that made him sure he was going to pay for it in some way or form.
"Anyway, this is securing Clarisse her scholarship so she is kinda stoked," Thalia announced.
"Before this gets out of hand, can we remember why we are here?" Percy asked patiently and that promptly shut both of them up.
"So you are going to be a big brother?" Annabeth mused, nudging him with her elbow.
"Yeah," Percy agreed.
"That sounds horrifying," Thalia commented drily.
Just to get back at Thalia he leaned over to Annabeth. "She thinks I will be a bad brother? Just wait until I baby-trap you and going to have to be a father?" he whispered not so quietly.
Thalia's motioned poking a finger down her throat as if to puke. He expected a sharp-tongued comeback from Annabeth but to his surprise, the daughter of Athena only blushed deeply and hid her face behind a few strands of her rather quickly growing hair.
"You okay," Percy asked, placing a hand gently on her knee.
"Baby trap me?" Annabeth coughed while Thalia pretended to gag violently.
"Of course, where else will I find a hot blond to disapprove of my life choices?" Percy teased, gently snaking an arm around his waist and pulled her closer.
"You two are the worst," Thalia declared. "Like literally the worse."
"So," Percy asked conversationally. "What are the chances we get jumped by monsters while we wait here?"
"Without you and Artemis here, probably really high," Thalia mused. "And I've always wanted to have a proper fight in a hospital. Though with you and Artemis here they'll probably stay away."
Fortunately, the wait was not too long. Only four hours later the door opened and Artemis returned and glanced at her Leuitenant questioningly. "Of, I am here for any cookies Sally might have."
"Why would she have them in the hospital?" Artemis asked and Thalia only shrugged. "Why does she always have them when I happen to come by? Either she constantly has cookies on Alert 5, or she has abilities she has not disclosed to any of us."
"Whatever, you three follow me. We're done for now," she announced.
"Wait, she's already here?" Annabeth asked.
Had Percy been paying closer attention, he would have picked up on that cue.
"Oh yeah, went smoothly, then Sally has given birth before," Artemis reasoned. "Now up you go!"
They followed the goddess into the room where Sally lay on the bed with Paul sitting on a chair next to it, holding her hand. While Paul looked exhausted, Sally looked like she had just survived a fight for her life. She was completely spent.
"Hey, Percy! Annabeth! Oh and hi Thalia!" she greeted them weekly and waved.
"Where is,..."
"Getting checked up by the Pediatrician," Sally explained, suddenly looking nervous.
"It's fine, he will be back momentarily," a nurse who was just throwing away red-stained towels and clothes.
Suddenly the door opened again and a young doctor with blond curles stepped back in. Despite the late hour, he wore flashy shades.
"Apollo?" Artemis exclaimed indignatly. "You know I don't need your help."
"No problem, sis," the god announced, flashing a pearly white smile at the room. "Couldn't let some resident mess this up. So Ms Jackon, NIPE is looking good. As an actual doctor," he announced, grinning at his sister. "I can assure you that you have a one hundred percent healthy daughter. Polina is an amazing name if you are still looking."
"We have already chosen one," Sally assured the god, seeming a lot less phased by the god's presence than Paul, who just seemed to at least finally understand who the crazy doctor was and was gaping at Apollo, or the baby with an open mouth.
"Brother, stop trying to trick women into dedicating their children to you and give them the baby unless you want me to let the Lord of the Deep find out about this."
The threat of Poseidon seemed to be enough to convince Apollo to carefully hand the baby, wrapped in a blanket, over to Sally, and then excuse himself.
"Forgive my brother, should have known he wouldn't be able to resist," Artemis said and slowly walked over.
"Forgive me, my Lady. I should have been more cautious," the nurse apologized.
"You kids want to meet her?" Sally asked, nodding them over. They awkwardly did and after Paul and Sally started at the bundle with awestruck eyes Sally handed the bundle over to her husband who rocked it for a few minutes. Next to him, Annabeth had begun fidgeting around, confirming once more that ADHD did not care about timing.
"Percy, you want to hold her?" Paul's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Ahm sure," Percy said and gingerly accepted the bundle and held it in the crease of his folded arms. Next to him, Annabeth was visibly bouncing as she leaned over to get a look. He looked down at the tiny sleeping girl. Her face, still red and swollen,... well people said all the time that newborn babies were beautiful and everything but from a purely aesthetic point of view, he really didn't see it.
Suddenly the baby's dark blue eyes snapped open and regarded him with considerable confusion and for a moment the two of them stared at each other. Then the girl closed her eyes again and she began crying, her eyes suddenly bulging out sideways in a manner that reminded him of that sloth from Ice Age.
"Ahm," Percy asked, looking helplessly from his mother to Paul, Artemis, and Annabeth. The daughter of Athena was now only staring at him with wide, depraved eyes, her fists curles under his chin. Paul and Sally were only smiling at him.
"Help?" he asked and Artemis came over.
"It's fine," Artemis announced and relieved him of his burden with practiced elegance and returned the bundle to Sally, leaving Annabeth looking slightly crestfallen. "It's a newborn, they are about as interactive as an amoeba."
"She looked at you," Annabeth announced, breathless from excitement, and even Thalia was looking at her old friend with mild concern. "Her eyes are gorgeous."
Back in her mother's arms, the bundle quieted down again.
"Annabeth," Sally asked smiling, "Would you like to hold her?"
"Yes, please," Annabeth hastily replied, her voice an octave higher than usual, and hurried over to his mother and then very carefully accepted the bundle.
Finally, Thalia joined Annabeth, grinning from ear to ear.
"By the gods, she is cute," Thalia admitted.
"What is her name?" Percy finally asked. "Estelle," Paul declared proudly. "So, you are now a big brother."
"I guess I am," Percy agreed, a grin spreading across his face.
Ladies and gentlemen, I here offer you a little Christmas special. Time for lemons again, or do you want me to stick with plot for now?
With regards,
Henry Locker over and out.