Chapter Title: My Dad Makes Me A Deal

Alternative Chapter Title: I Get The Talk From Kayla's Siblings

(A/N: Part of this is inspired by AO3 user Laurellins, though this is more from her headcanons of Apollo kids than anything else, mainly the headcanon that whenever an Apollo kid starts dating someone, their siblings become super overprotective.. to very overreacting levels. And also given how much Michael tried to get Colton and Kayla together earlier, I think it's fun to demonstrate that the Apollo kids can be both the sweetest things on the face of the planet, but still be devils in disguise. Plus another shout-out to Askinar-The-Dark since part of this is also inspired by his fanfic.)

As soon we got out of the big house, I got plowed into and group hugged by all of my siblings, Clarisse being especially emotional. I ended up at the bottom of a pile of my siblings, with Kayla just looking on in adoration at the sight. Gods, that girl is beautiful in every conceivable way.

"Don't.. leave.. me.. again.." she said while sobbing. I hugged all of them, having really missed all of them as much as Kayla. The younger ones were about as emotional as Kayla was earlier, oddly enough.

"Hey guys.. yeah.. I missed you all too.." I said to them from the bottom of the pile. "I could have been back to you all and Kayla sooner.." Kayla beamed at the mention of herself. "..had Jackson not blown up."

"He literally destroyed a damn mountain in that explosion.." Sherman muttered, to which one of my other siblings - I forget which - called out "language!"

"Did he really?" I asked Sherman, who was on the upper end of the pile. He nodded.

"Wow.. unbelievable.." I muttered, even as I was petting heads, calming down siblings, and just feeling happy with the group hug. "Percy really does not know his own strength.."

Even with that revelation, it was a good long while before my siblings all got off of me after I calmed them down.

- — - — - — - — -

Chris decided to spend the night in the Hermes Cabin that night, much to Clarisse' chagrin. I'm guessing he needed a break after managing her for two weeks. In any event, Clarisse slept in my bed out where I used to sleep, and Kayla and I slept in the cabin counselor's bed.

Looking into her beautiful face in that bed as boyfriend and girlfriend, for the first time.. god was it sweet as hell. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a goddess?" I teased.

She blushed. "C-Colton.." she stuttered. "..I'm not that beautiful.."

"You so are.." I said back, kissing her forehead. She sighed happily as she nuzzled my neck. I moaned a little from it, and she giggled. Her eyes were still twinkling like diamonds, and it was so beautiful. "Percy apparently had the winning bet on when we hooked up.." I admitted. She gasped in surprise.

"Sherman admitted it when I was running up to you about to confess my feelings earlier.." I continued. "..safe to say, I'm honestly surprised, considering that I tried - and failed - to get him to realize that Annabeth is in love with him on the raft ride back. Percy is so dense it's illegal."

"Yeah it is.." she replied, both of us keeping our voices down so we wouldn't wake up the cabin. "..so did anything happen to the two of them while they were down there?"

"Right before Typhon crowned me Monster King.. she kissed him on the lips in Hephaestus' forge before fleeing with the aid of invisibility. I watched, and they didn't see me.." I said, and she gasped again.

"Awweee.." she cooed, before toning it down. "Too bad he couldn't take the hint."

"Yeah.. big oof on Percy's part indeed.." I replied.

We fell asleep snuggled up to each other not long after that. To be fair, we should have noticed the lone human figure watching us from up on top of the ridge near the amphitheater. Because I would end up fighting this person quite a few times down the road due to reasons that originated from what went on in Hephaestus' forge. (A/N: I let you all guess who the mystery figure is. I'll give you two hints: they're related to Gaea and they are an elder sibling to others.)

- — - — - — - — -
From The Journal Of Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Blessed be honorary,

Multiple times god,

Multiple times titan,

Monster King.

This stupid confusing patch of words has been stuck in my head since last week ever since that weird lady said it in my head. I think it has something to do with that world that Percy is a part of. I am not sure.

- — - — - — - — - (Back To Colton's POV) - — - — - — - — -

The next morning dawned with cloudy skies, which was bit of an omen honestly. But still, waking up with the most beautiful girl in the whole world to you (next to the Goddess Of Love herself of course) still asleep, nuzzled snugly up against you and snuggling you in the cutest possible manner, words fail to describe it. They really do fail to describe this, if I'm being honest right now.

I mean, it would have been cute if it had been just the two of us. Unfortunately, a shuffle of feet near me made me turn my head and just get really annoyed. The door to the room was open, and a mixture of my siblings combined with campers from the other cabins were either crowding in the doorway trying to get a view of me and Kayla or on either side of our side of the doorway, grinning like idiots.

I let out a low growl, causing Kayla to wake up, and then blush profusely once she noticed everyone standing there.

"You people really don't know the meaning of the term 'privacy', do you?" I asked the unwanted observers. Clarisse, who was at the front of the group, snickered.

"I mean.." she said. "It was cute watching the two of you snuggle like that for the past fifteen minutes."

Cue my free hand lunging for the nearest object to throw at them, causing everyone to start running, while Kayla just sighed.

- — - — - — - — -

After that train wreck of waking up as boyfriend and girlfriend for the first time, pretty sure the sight of Kayla and I holding hands as we walked into the dining pavilion for breakfast that morning brought out reactions from everyone, and why wouldn't it?

Though, not all of it was friendly. Travis was holding an ice pack to his forehead after I had chucked an alarm clock at everyone watching me and Kayla snuggle earlier this morning, which just so happened to clock him in the forehead by chance while he was trying to get out. He definitely was a little annoyed by it. Katie kept looking at him concerned as well.

Percy and Annabeth were already gone by this time, since I didn't see either of them around, so at least I didn't have to deal with them in the aftermath of what had happened. Chiron, however, had put me on kitchen cleaning duty again after he heard what happened - which in my defense, compared to last time, it was deserved this time around.

Anyway, the sight of me.. the taller five feet and eleven inch tall boy holding hands with the shorter five feet and five inch tall beauty known as Kayla Knowles generally caused looks of adoration and support to arise from almost everyone present, especially the Aphrodite Cabin. Silena couldn't stop giving us thumbs up.

I didn't look where I was going, so I bumped into someone when I wasn't looking. I started to apologize, but then got a little bit concerned with the sight in front of me. Standing right in front of me was Lee, Michael, Victoria, Matthias, and Aruna. Michael had a look of reluctance on his face.

I knew everyone except Matthias. He had been an Apollo kid that had left college just a year before Percy came to camp, and had only just come back after hearing about the situation from Lee personally, from what Michael had told me. Even so, the fact that they all had gone from happy faces to looking like I had done something that annoyed them greatly was really conceding, if I were to be very and completely honest.

"My dear younger sister.." Lee calmly began, in a manner that sounded a bit creepy as well. "..would you mind your older siblings having some time alone with your boyfriend for a bit? We need to have a chat."

I sighed.

I knew what this was.

The talk.

It was well known throughout camp that Apollo's kids reacted to the news of any of their siblings dating someone in much the same matter that their father himself swore he would to anyone who dated Artemis after Orion broke her heart. Keep in mind, this was prior to the goddess swearing off men and forming the hunt. And by much the same matter, I mean take those dads who threaten to hunt you down if you broke their daughter's heart and crank it up to eleven. It was that bad.

Austin, the former head counselor of my cabin, found this out the hard way. After he started dating Caeli, a daughter of Apollo, about five months after I arrived at camp.. he was jumped by Matthias, Lee, and Michael.. and per Austin' own words, even though he was a son of Ares, the fact that they came at him with Michael having an arrow drawn and pointed at his head and Matthias with a sword in his hand while they gave him the talk made him feel like he was going to die. No joke, he actually pissed his pants too. He and Caeli are still dating as of now, as he still sends Clarisse letters every now and then.

So yeah.. you might as well be praying that you don't have to go through this if you start dating an Apollo kid. Unfortunately for me, I was about to be the next victim. My eyes looked left, and noticed that Clarisse and my siblings looked concerned and worried. I looked at Kayla to my right, and believe me, I just wanted her to say no. I really did.

She nodded, instead.. and then let go of my hand, walking over to her table, a little bit concerned from the way she moved. I turned to Lee, and believe me, the grin on his face made me sweat at probably one of the hardest levels I've ever sweated at. It was downright psychotic.

Out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

- — - — - — - — -

Michael still had the look of reluctance on his face a couple minutes later, as he held an arrow drawn and pointed at my head from behind Lee, who was holding me up by the shirt collar while he held a damn knife to my throat. Aruna just looked on, flashing another psychotic smile, while Matthias held a sword near Lee and Victoria kept watch to see if anyone was coming.

This was all taking place at the armory, where they had told me to come with them, by the way.

"Lee.. look man.. you all need to chill.." I pleaded. I'll be honest, if I had a sword, the MG42, or my Whitworth, this situation would be different, but I was without a weapon, and therefore at their mercy. I definitely knew how Austin felt now.

"Colton.." Lee said, glaring. "I would tell you to stay away from her now that you all are dating but.."

"You all weren't doing much to stop me from falling for her!" I countered, and Matthias raised his sword before Lee stopped him with a wave of his hand. "True.." Lee replied. "..but since you make her happy, I'm going to allow this. But know this.. and I gave the same promise to Austin.. you ever break her heart, you're dead."

I gulped, and nodded. "Understood."

They all left, leaving me standing there a little unnerved by it all. It took me a while before I shook it off though.

- — - — - — - — -

A few hours later, I was walking through the streets of NYC with Kayla and Michael in tow, headed for the Empire State Building. We had already spent a couple hours gathering materials for camp. Percy had been able to secure magical weapons from Hephaestus for camp, even though he hadn't gotten the task to do so, meaning that in a way, he completed the task I failed to do because of him.

Our current task though? Camp needed celestial bronze, and given that the labyrinth was unsafe as it was, there was only one location where we could potentially find it. Under Mount Olympus, which potentially meant under the Empire State Building. I didn't know if that was true or not, but Chiron and camp needed the celestial bronze, so with my girlfriend and my MG assistant in tow, we were going to find out.

Strangely, while we had encountered monsters on our way to where we currently were, heading down Madison Avenue towards West Thirty Third Street and currently in between Fortieth and Thirty Ninth Streets, all of them had kept a safe distance from us for some reason as soon as they had noticed the three of us. None of us knew why, but then again, it made our lives easier.

Either way, it meant that we could approach Olympus without having to worry much about monsters along the way. Kayla was to my left, holding my hand in hers, and Michael was right behind us. Just as we were about to pass this store called Rico Bagel just before Thirty Seventh Street, someone tapped my shoulder before a very familiar voice spoke.

"Are you looking for something, kid?"

I stopped and turned. Black jeans, combat boots, black leather duster, bulletproof vest, the total biker look.. there was no mistaking the taller man that stood leaning up against the wall next to us. It was my father Ares.

"Yeah.." I replied. "We do happen to be looking for something."

"And I might be willing to provide you with what you need, my son.." Ares replied. "But I would like to speak with you first.. inside."

He walked into the shop/restaurant, and the three of us followed him inside. I had no idea how in the world Ares knew that we needed celestial bronze, but I guess he could sense it. Maybe.

- — - — - — - — -

Soon enough, me and Ares were in the family restroom, alone. Ares had locked the door behind him, so it was just the two of us. Kayla and Michael just waited at a table just a few yards from the restrooms, not ordering anything.

"Look.. Colton.." he started, the god's voice more apologetic, which was unexpected. "I know that the ancient laws - and Zeus - forbid us from helping demigods with quests and missions and what not, but for once, I say fuck that. Fuck him. Fuck the fates."

He kept his voice down so people wouldn't hear us. To be honest, this was surprising and in of itself. "I heard what Typhon did.. and it will not surprise you at all that Zeus has issues about your loyalty now. So, I'm here to offer you a deal on the following conditions. Apollo may or may not have let it slip during a private conversation between me and him that Clarisse, in addition to Apollo's own kids, might be in grave danger during the upcoming battle. So my deal is this. I'll give you enough celestial bronze that you and the others are able to defend Camp Half Blood and enough bullets that you'll be able to prevent such an event from happening - it'll be down to you - and try to convince Zeus that we Olympians need to take a part in this war and stop neglecting our kids if you promise to both defend Clarisse, your girlfriend, and her siblings no matter what it takes" he told me, and I gulped.

It was a tall order, to be honest. It was going to come down to me to make sure my elder sister - my dad's favorite child - as well as Apollo's kids - including my beloved girlfriend Kayla - and Michael all lived to see another day. Talk about a hold at all costs kind of order.

But on the other hand, we needed all the celestial bronze we could get our hands on, plus the gods actually not being lazy asses and helping us and actually caring would be nice too. Knowing my fatal flaw, I don't think that it was ever a contest inside of me as to what my choice would be.

"Deal. I'll do it" I said, without hesitation. "Fuck Zeus. Fuck the ancient laws. Fuck the fates. If we want to write our own destiny here, let's do it."

"That's the spirit, kid.." he said, patting me on the back. "I'll see you next time."

He disappeared, leaving two large sacks with spikes poking against the very durable and flexible material the sacks were made out of. I'm guessing that these were both loaded with Celestial Bronze, which meant he probably dropped off the bullets at the edge of camp. Still though.. this is definitely going to help a lot.

I unlocked the door, opened it, and then made a beckoning motion to Michael with my hand. He was sitting at the table him and Kayla were at on the side where he could see me. He got up, and walked over to me, Kayla behind him.

I let both of them inside, and shut the door, locking it behind me. "So.. what's in the bags? And what did Ares want with you?" Michael asked. Kayla looked interested as well.

I sighed. "He offered me a deal.." I told them. "Apparently, Zeus is suspicious of my loyalties because.. and before I say this, Michael.. I swear to god.. don't tell anyone at all.. Typhon crowned me Monster King.."

Both Kayla and Michael gasped in shock, and I think Michael was in disbelief. "..and apparently, your dad let it slip that your lives and that of my sister Clarisse are in danger during the upcoming fight.. and I don't mean danger in the obvious sense, I mean mortal danger.. he offered me the celestial bronze which are in both of these sacks and enough bullets to help us out in defending camp and try to convince Zeus to get the Olympians to join our efforts in stopping Kronos.. in exchange for me defending you two and the entire Apollo cabin as well as Clarisse no matter what it takes."

They were both shocked. "Yeah, I know.. it's a very tall order.." I explained. "No.. let's get these sacks back to camp. We don't have time to waste. Michael, you get one. I'll get the other one."

Michael complied, and we lugged one of the sacks over our shoulders, and with Kayla walking out after opening the bathroom door after unlocking it first, we made our way out of the Bagel Shop. I do think we might have looked suspicious to the mortals, but I doubt that any of them would really do something about it. Just as we had gotten out of there though, a familiar voice called out behind the three of us when we turned to walk back up Madison Avenue towards 60th Street.

"Colton? Michael? Is that you both?"

The three of us turned around, to come face to face with a pair of very familiar faces. Kayla didn't know them, but to me and Michael, they were faces that we'd thought we wouldn't see in a long time.

"Austin? Caeli?"

(A/N: Matthias and Caeli are OC demigod children of Apollo created by Laurellins, though in her fanfic "Tales Of Camp Half Blood" they are younger siblings of Lee rather than older siblings here.

And also, meet Austin Maxwell, former head counselor of the Ares Cabin. You'll be seeing more of him down the road.)