"Would you explain to us one more time what happened?" Chiron asked gently, mucn more than he should have in this situation.
"I was listening to the fat guy in the middle talk about Grover, and I just blacked out. He said, "As if the wild God would speak to him.", and I remember coming to, about to make him eat my sword." I told him for the fourth time, listening to him think about it.
"There are several mythical reasons for this, but perhaps there is a mortal one as well. I recommend seeing the Apollo cabin and asking about their therapy and counseling. If that doesn't solve your problems outright, then we may have to consider other options." He suggested, and I didn't take it as well as possible, but at least I didn't yell.
"What do I need therapy for?" I asked, a little insulted. Therapy was for rich assholes with no problems.
"You're a man out of time." Percy suggested.
"You're literally hiding somewhere from me right now." Annabeth chimed in.
"You, like many half-bloods, were just dropped in a crappy situation and told to fix it." Grover added, concerned for me instead of himself.
"You're so focused on keeping us alive that you aren't worried about yourself." Thalia told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"A ton of shit. Go talk to them." Clarisse growled, and I had to admit that if Clarisse was suggestions therapy, I might need it.
Still, I argued.
"I'm not crazy, I'm just -" I paused, unsure of how to continue.
"My dear boy, we aren't saying you're crazy. All we're saying is that your mental health may be related to your anger and outburst." Chiron told me gently, and I thought about it.
"I'll talk to Lee about it later." I mumbled, only half committed.
"Alexander." Annabeth scolded, which meant I was for sure going now.
"Will you come with me?" I asked her, feeling my face heat up, but I didn't want to go alone.
"You're fourteen. Sooner or later, you'll have to make doctors appointments alone." She told me, even if she did take my hand.
"I'm fifteen. My birthday was in April. But your point still stands." I told her, not thinking too much of it.
"Seriously, dude, why didn't you tell anyone?" Percy asked, and I tried to shrug it off.
"I've been so busy trying to save people, making sure they have the gear they need, or armoring them up properly, I just forgot. Then, when i remembered, it didn't seem worth mentioning. There's too much to do." I admitted, feeling awkward with all of their eyes on me.
"Wow. See, this is why we all agreed on therapy. Your mental health needs to be boosted asap." Grover told me,
"I can't stop for my birthday, I'm trying to prevent war!" I yelled, losing what little cool I had and pulling my hand away from Annabeth as I slammed them on the table.
"Keeping everyone alive, talking to people before they can switch sides, keeping spies out. It's just too much for me to have a birthday party, because if I do, someone dies! If I'm not constantly working, people will die, and I can't lose anyone else!" I screamed, breathing heavy before turning on my heel and leaving, slamming the screen door behind me.
"Fuck you lookin' at?!" I yelled at a group who'd seen me coming out. I was pissed and looking for a fight, so I did the dumb thing and walked up to them, watching them scatter.
"That's fuckin' right!" I yelled, still angry and no one to challenge, heading to Cabin three and getting in my hammock before I noticed the cyclops sweeping the floor.
"What th-" I jumped up, uncapping Riptide as Percy walked in.
"Woah! Do not kill Tyson!" He yelled, getting between the two of us.
"Tyson? Like Uncle Tyson?" I asked, confused for a moment before I capped my sword.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know." I mumbled, rubbing my head. How could I know that this guy was my uncle?
"Look, Percy, there's... a lot of people who don't make it another twenty years. I've never even met him." I told him, looking at the scared and confused person in front of me.
"Hello. My name is Alex. Uh, we're, uh, we're related." I told him, putting my pen away and watching him think about it.
"Daddy did it! He made my family grow!" He bellowed with joy, easily taking me and Percy in his arms and giving us a bear hug. At least he didn't seem angry.
"Tyson, dinners gonna start soon. Why don't you go ahead? Alex and I are gonna talk." Percy told his brother, who looked a little upset but did as he was asked anyway.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know Tyson was gonna be here. Those bedtime stories you write down for me, they aren't memorized. I forget things." I tried to defend myself, Percy just putting his hand on my shoulder.
"After dinner, you're signing up for therapy. You can't run off and challenge people to fight you." He told me, pinching the bridge of his nose before leaving.
I wanted to yell, to tell him I was fine and that It was everyone else who was wrong, but I couldn't. He was right. They all were.
When I'd managed to come to that revelation that should not have been a revelation, I got up, heading to the Apollo table so I could find Lee.
"You're in charge of the whole therapy thing, right?" I asked, sitting next to him and causing a minor fuss.
"Yep. You got signed up about twenty minutes ago. I'll make sure to tell you well in advance about your appointment and a twenty-four hour warning too." He told me, shooing me away in favor of his dinner.
"What now?" I asked, not having to wait before I was dragged along by my right ear.
The sharp pull on my ear signaled her frustration, each tug sending a jolt of pain through me.
"Ow! Annie, can you please slow do- ow!" I cried out, getting dragged a little further, away from others, before she let go.
Silence fell between us before she spoke, choosing her words carefully.
"Percy told us what happened. I want to be mad about earlier, and I am, but I think I understand. That doesn't mean you can just challenge people to fight you."
"I know." I told her, feeling helpless about the whole thing. I didn't want to be angry, I just wanted to feel better. But I'd been hiding so many secrets, I didn't want to keep so many anymore.
"Annabeth. Not everyone makes it. Uncle Tyson, Uncle Jay, Silena, Beckendorf." I paused and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. I didn't want to admit it, I'd pushed the thought away a thousand times, but now I was telling her because she deserved to know.
"I've never met you before I got here. You die in the most important battle for Olympus, and you're just forgotten about like everyone else because something else happens soon after." I told her, just kind of letting the words spill out.
"I die, and no one remembers me?" She asked, looking a little hurt, but being a half-blood meant that death could be at your door at any moment. She knew that as well as anyone else.
"No, you died. Past tense. That won't happen this time, not to you." I told her, wrapping my arms around her and holding her. I had friends back in my time, but I'd never gotten this close to anyone. Looking back, I was too young to know what love was.
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She told me, her ear pressed to my chest, and I wondered if she could hear my heartbeat pick up as I did something stupid.
"I've saved people before, so I can save you. I swear on the river Styx that the future will be changed, and you'll live." I swore to her, finding her hand so I my pinky could wrap around her own.
"You're an idiot." She told me, getting a kiss on the forehead as we pretended that it was just us as we were dancing in the dark.