Hey guys, enjoy some adorable father daughter moments, Also, a little awkward. Poor Poseidon is so uncertain.
Replies:
Yazinz: So do I. Thank you.
Undeath9087: A bit of both I think. And yeah Aphrodite took one like and she was like 'Ooooh, my daughter's bagged a genius beautiful daughter of Athena and probably the current most successful teen actress in all of America. I'll take it'.
Guest: Thank you, And don't you worry about Chaos. You will get some answers fairly soon I assure you.
Guest: Athena was just there like 'Wait, wait you did what for my daughter? You sat reading her- okay. Okay, you barely knew my daughter and you still did that? I can understand the reaction now that makes sense' and then when Percy's like 'Yeah I didn't do this to like, bribe you or anything I wanted to do this before I met Annabeth' before showing her the marbles Athena is like 'Oooooh. Okay so Poseidon is capable of having good children- oh shit I can't admit that. I can't admit that this kid is winning me over fuck off Aphrodite!'.
Krypton Writes: Poseidon is so hesitant. He wants to hug his baby but he's like 'What if she doesn't want to hug me? I was an absent father I wasn't there!'.
DualEquinox: Athena's proud like her daughter, if not worse. You think she'd admit that she likes Percy so easily? Nah, nah. Inside she's like 'Damn it all Annabeth's actually found the only child of Poseidon who might just be worthy of my respect.'
Zephyr0f: Yeah uh, that's basically the way he's thinking. Honestly poor Poseidon is a little bit lost and unsure right now.
Ryan Fowler: I'm glad you enjoy! I hope you enjoy what's coming soon.
Venus Jackson: Poseidon is just there desperate to be a good dad but also like 'What if I mess up oh gods I missed most of her life I thought she was dead how do I do this?!
NuzhatT: Yep, Poseidon gets what he wants in this chapter. And it is very cute.
Guest: You'll have to wait for the Oracle situation. But for your other question from what I can tell, yes they do class as clear sighted. I mean they're technically mortals with no godly blood who can see through the Mist/Duat. Though I will say Neither Sadie or Carter will do the guiding.
It didn't take long for Percy to spot Poseidon. The god looked stressed to say the least, his eyes flicking to and fro, scanning the room for any sign of her. Percy honestly felt a little bad, He'd be looking for blue/green hair and her hair was back to white again. He was so out of the loop about her that he didn't stand a chance of spotting her.
And gods but it was strange to think that he'd thought her dead for so long. That he'd been in mourning for almost ten years, that he'd nearly gone to war against his brothers because he mourned her so deeply.
She wondered how hard this was for him. Having their reunion, his realisation be so public. Percy wished she could have done it more privately but by the time she'd realised that he didn't know it had already been too late. There was no way to properly reach out before the solstice not with the deadline.
Hopefully in time they could make up for that. It was a nice thought though possibly a little naïve given the Greek gods reputations. They didn't seem to be very present parents. Though who knew? Given the circumstances Poseidon might well decide he wanted to actually be a father. It was a nice thought.
Percy made short work of weaving through the crowds. She was getting a lot of curious looks from gods who seemed uncertain what to make of her. Well that was fine by her. She'd done enough to prove herself in her own mind and she'd never really cared what other people thought of her.
Why should she?
Percy knew who she was she knew what she was. They could think what they wanted. The gods who's opinions she cared for did like her and that was what mattered.
Then she managed to push through the crowds and she saw her father, his brows furrowed as his head turned back and forth, still scanning the crowds to try and spot her.
Even so, despite Poseidon's best efforts it was Triton who spotted her first, smiling warmly when he saw her and tapping their father's arm, pointing towards Percy, even as she drew closer.
"Hey. So... uh... you're my father then."
That had Poseidon swinging around, eyes going wide. "Persephone?" his voice was a little breathless. "There you are. You shot away so quickly when the meeting was over-" he focused on her hair, "You look... different." and gods this felt strange.
"Lady Aphrodite got rid of the dye." Percy gave a sheepish grin. "There are downsides to being one of the most famous girls in all of America. The biggest is that everyone knows your face and posts about seeing you online. It makes it pretty hard to travel incognito. Hence the hair dye. When you have white hair that's what people spot first when they see you."
"Your hair was not naturally white." it was almost comical how hesitant Poseidon was when he said that, as if he was somehow uncertain.
"You're not wrong." Percy resisted the urge to laugh at the flash of relief behind his eyes. "It was black. My hair used to be black but a magical incident when I was nine turned it white. Permanently. At first I found it pretty weird, but I like it."
"I have missed so much." Poseidon's voice was soft. Pained. "I know I wouldn't have been able to be a large part of your life regardless but even so I can't help but feel guilty for my lack of a presence in your life."
"It- I mean no disrespect by it but I haven't really felt the absence since I was five." Percy shuffled her feet awkwardly, face flushing a little. "Mom told me the truth when I was like six with dad. And after that... I mean I had a dad who was there raising me, and I had you and you were more of a distant concept sure, but I always felt a connection. I knew that the sea was a second home to me and that it was a symbol of my connection with you. Every time I felt that I felt you."
"I fear you give me far more credit than I deserve." Poseidon reached out, stepping away from Triton- who was watching with a soft look on his face.
Poseidon's fingers almost seemed to hesitate for an instant before closing the small gap and brushing against Percy's cheek, his expression soft and pained. "Your mother raised you well. A beautiful powerful young woman. I wish you to know how proud I feel of you. Even knowing as little as I do about you, I am proud Persephone. And I hope that you will give me a chance to know you more. I feel as if my brother knows you more than I do."
"It feels mean to say but right now he probably does." Percy's grin was sheepish. "Uncle Hades even gave me one of my favorite birthday presents."
"In a way I am glad." Poseidon said slowly. "Jealous but glad. It is better that at least one of my brothers doesn't dislike you. Though the fact that you managed to win Hades over is most impressive."
"It was not hard." Percy gave Poseidon a look. "Maybe if you guys treated him better instead of acting like he's some sort of villain he'd like you guys too."
"Why do I get the feeling that we should get used to such lectures." Triton's lips were twitching. "You do seem good at them."
"Well, I have excellent role models." Percy grinned innocently. "Mainly mom if I'm honest. She's the best at that sort of thing and she made sure to teach all of her kids."
"Well that I can agree with." Poseidon's lips twitched into a small smile, "She was a Queen among women I must admit. I should have known that she was more than just a clear sighted mortal."
"In your defence mom didn't know she was more than a clear sighted mortal. She didn't find that out until I used magic like I was born for it and dad thought that was really weird, so he decided to look into it."
"I want to know more. I need to know more." Poseidon admitted. "I have no right to demand to know about your life, but I can't help it. I feel that I need to know more." he looked so much like he wanted to drag her into a tight hug.
"Perhaps Percy can visit us in Atlantis." That was from Triton, "I doubt now is the right time for long drawn-out talks about her past. And mother would love to meet the daughter you've been mourning for so long."
"I'm sure I could find time to visit." Percy remarked, "I mean, I'll have some travelling to do after going home. I'll need to see dad and Carter and uncle Amos will probably want me to show my face at the First Nome for the look of the thing- make sure people can see that I'm just fine. But I mean, other than that I can find some time to visit you."
"That-" Poseidon's eyes shone with emotion, "Would be wonderful. It would mean the world for me to be able to show you around my home. We could discuss your adventures over a meal. You could bring your girlfriends perhaps-" his lips twitched, "They are your partners, yes?"
"Yeah, yeah they are." Percy's face flushed, "We're that obvious huh?"
"It's the way they look at you." Poseidon chuckled, "If you weren't dating them then I would still know that they're clearly deeply in love with you. I'm pleased for you Percy. Though they best not upset you."
"They are amazing." Percy grinned, a goofy little smile on her lips. "And I actually think I've sort of won over Lady Athena a little. Lady Aphrodite adored me right away, but I think Lady Athena likes me too now."
"Oh, now that is a story I would like to hear." Triton laughed, "Athena usually hates anything to do with father, especially his children. Knowing that her precious favorite daughter is in love with a daughter of father... I'm surprised she isn't plotting your downfall."
"It would be like her to be so petty." Poseidon grimaced, "You say she seems to be at least somewhat approving? You don't need me to step in?"
"No offence father but I think that would just make things worse." Percy snorted, "I don't need you to fight my battles for me. I never have and I never will. I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles." it wasn't pride in Percy's voice but confidence born of experience. And Poseidon seemed to recognise that because after a moment he gave a small nod.
"Very well. Perhaps I am being a tad overprotective." Poseidon conceded. "If I had known... if I even suspected that the mortal was lying-"
"Except he wasn't." Percy gave Poseidon a look, "Was he? He gave you half-truths. He didn't tell any outright lies from what I was told, but you made assumptions based on the half-truths because you didn't know. You knew he stunk. You didn't know that he was an abusive stench monster."
"I suppose you're right about that." Poseidon admitted, "Though I can't help but regret all the years I missed. I feel like I know so little about you." he brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. "My beautiful grown-up Persephone. A Princess in your own right. It does seem fitting. I imagine your mother is incredibly proud."
"Mom's proud of all her children." Percy gave a wry smile, "All five of us. And her honorary legions of children."
"Ah-" Poseidon chuckled, "Legions of honorary children, why does that not surprise me."
"We should probably make sure that this Sally never meets mother." Triton piped up, a wry smile on his lips. "The world may well never recover if they're allowed to form an alliance."
And it was honestly comical how Poseidon paled, his eyes going wide at that thought. "No." his voice was a little strangled, "The world might recover but I doubt if I ever would."
"I'm glad to see you still have a fitting amount of respectful fear for my mother." Percy declared lightly, a gleam in her eyes, "As you should."
"It seems you're your mother's daughter as well." Triton chuckled, an amused look flashing across his face. "I'm proud to be able to call you sister Percy. And it will be a relief, now that father won't dedicate at least one day a year to mourning you."
"You really spent an entire day just mourning me?" Percy aimed that at Poseidon, who looked unashamed.
"Of course I did. You, Persephone are my first mortal daughter. I knew from the moment your mother told me you were a girl that you would be something special. I mourned for your innocence and the potential that I believed was lost."
"Mother and I were the only people he'd allow close." Triton's lips twitched teasingly. "He'd spend the whole day locked away clutching at that stuffed toy."
"Stuffed toy?" Percy raised an eyebrow at her father, who looked unashamed- in fact he was actually smiling.
"Yes. I got it from your family's apartment." Poseidon told her, waving a hand. And in his hand was suddenly an old and worn looking stuffed toy. "It was the only thing I took. To remind me of my sweet beautiful little one."
"Oh my gods." Percy breathed the words, eyes going wide.
She'd thought he was lost. Had been sure she'd never see him again, that Gabe would have disposed of him in the trash.
The one Carter had given her was wonderful of course, she adored it, and she kept him on her bed at all times, but he still wasn't the Flounder she'd been so attached to at the start. The Flounder Carter had given her was well kept. The colors were still vivid, the soft fuzzy fabric still smooth and unmarred. She'd looked after him well. Treasured him even.
The Flounder her father was holding out to her... Wasn't. His colors were faded. Not dirty- Sally had always kept him clean, washing him every time Percy had spilled something on him. But he was worn and battered. Well loved.
"You kept my Flounder?" she met her father's gaze, felt her own eyes burning a little with tears, and then she was surging forward, throwing her arms around him and pressing her face into her father's chest.
Because really there was no better sign of love in her eyes.
He'd protected her Flounder for her. Had loved it just as she would, and in the end that meant everything.