Percy sat with his regular group consisting of the sea gang, sky gang and underworld gang but Nico wasn't there yet because he was talking to Will. Annabeth had joined them for a while before she would go and sit with Leo to map out some plans for the underworld. Just because there was a new prophecy, it didn't mean that they weren't going to do what they promised.
Percy wanted to make virgin mojitos and instead of proper mint leaves, he wanted to put crushed ones so the rest of the people were watching him crush mint leaves with the most amused expressions.
"This gives me satisfaction." Persephone smirked. Hades chuckled.
"Now, my love, lets not antagonize leaves." He said. Persephone snorted in amusement.
"Honestly, I say, tear them to shreds and shove it into somebody's-" Amphitrite said but Poseidon clapped a hand over her mouth before she could start giving out much more violent threats, leading Amphitrite to lick Poseidon's hand but the sea god smirked at her.
"Did you really expect me to remove my hand after that? You're going to have do something that I don't like." he said to her, making Amphitrite blush to the roots of her hair. Percy choked on his own saliva and had to duck under the table to calm down while Triton looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. Honestly, he had no interest whatsoever in whatever foreplay was going on here.
"I think that somebody shoving crushed mint down his throat is going to be me." Triton muttered to Percy, making the demigod burst into laughter.
"I think I'm just going to make regular mojitos now." He joked.
"May the gods bless you." Triton told him and Percy snickered. Poseidon and Amphitrite looked at them in amusement and the sea god smirked at them.
Percy was still crushing mint leaves when Nico decided to join them as well. He looked at his cousin and raised his eyebrows.
"What are you doing?" he asked. A wicked smirk found its way onto Percy's face and Annabeth braced herself for some crack answer from her boyfriend.
Percy looked Nico dead in the eye and went "I'm smashing your dad's ex." He said. Water burst out of Poseidon's nose as the sea god burst into uncontrollable laughter. Amphitrite and Triton looked prouder than ever of Percy. Hades stared at his nephew in sheer amusement and even he and Persephone dissolved into laughter. Zeus raised his eyebrows at Percy and a grin found its way onto his face as well. Annabeth was laughing along with the others and couldn't help but be proud of the perfect reply that her boyfriend gave.
Nico, the poor guy, was looking heavily traumatized and everybody could point out the exact moment that they saw his soul leave his body.
"I swear, I'm going to throw up in your face." He said to Percy, eyes wide.
"Nah, you wouldn't reach there." Percy smirked. Nico hit him upside the head and flipped him off with both hands.
"You're totally fine with this?" Nico whined to Annabeth.
"You serious?" Annabeth snickered. "I love it." She said. Nico flourished a dramatic hand to his chest.
"I feel betrayed." He said.
"Honestly, uncle P. He really is your and Aunt S's son." Thalia chuckled. Poseidon winked at Percy.
"That he is." He said.
After a couple of moments of silence in which Percy finally got around to making the virgin mojitos, Apollo came upto Zeus and both of them nodded and looked at Percy.
"Perce, here's a gift." Apollo said and plopped down a huge book onto the table. Percy raised an eyebrow at Apollo who was grinning. Percy kept his glass on the table and flipped through the book and grinned once he realized what it was.
"It's the law book of Olympus!" he said happily.
"First time I'm seeing you excited about reading something, Kelpy." Thalia chuckled.
"It's the law book!" he said excitedly. "Thanks guys." He grinned at Apollo and Zeus who nodded with smiles on their faces, the latter surprising his brothers.
"That's your official copy." Zeus told him.
"Brilliant! But I have a question. Are there law books for Atlantis and the Underworld as well?" Percy said.
"There's one for Atlantis." Poseidon told Percy.
"Do you think I could have that too?" the demigod asked, sincerity in his eyes.
"You want to read the law book of Atlantis?" Triton asked Percy who nodded. "Enjoy, brother. Its lengthy." Triton told him.
"Eh, I don't mind." Percy shrugged. Poseidon smiled at Percy.
"Of course you can have it, Perce. Atlantis is your home too and you are a prince, after all." He said and Percy grinned.
"I'll get you a copy." Triton grinned. Percy grinned back.
"Once you finish the Olympus book, you'll be working with both of us and getting a hang of how everything works." Apollo told him and Percy nodded.
"The making of our very own Mike Ross." Nico grinned.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and everybody had retreated to their own quarters by 8pm.
Percy, Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton and Tyson were playing Monopoly and Tyson was totally dominating all of them with Percy holding up the next best, seeing as he was fairly used to playing with Tyson.
"This is ridiculous. Why are the rents so much?" Poseidon complained.
"And why in Atlantis do the houses cost so much?" Amphitrite added on. The kids grinned at each other and chuckled. Eventually Tyson won…obviously.
"I can beat you guys in any video game but Tyson's invincible in Monopoly." Poseidon sighed.
"I'm sorry? Any game?" Amphitrite said innocently. Poseidon grinned sheepishly at her.
"Except Call of Duty, my love. You're unbeatable." He told her and Amphitrite smirked smugly.
"You play Mortal Kombat and FIFA, dad?" Percy asked and Poseidon nodded.
"Then I'm going to have to take you up on that challenge." Percy grinned.
"Done." Poseidon told Percy with a matching grin as the kids got ready to sleep.
"Should we keep the sound locks on tonight?" Triton asked his parents dryly, remembering the events of the evening. Poseidon and Amphitrite looked at each other and smirked at their son.
"I'd say we want two sound locks." Percy told Triton as he took one look at the couple. Triton gagged.
"That'd probably be better." Amphitrite said innocently.
"I'm gonna be taking this then." Triton said, picking up a bottle of vodka from the bar.
"Oh hell nah, keep that back." Poseidon told Triton with raised eyebrows.
"Dam it." Triton said. Percy chuckled at his brother.
"You gonna have to be smoother than that, bro." he said.
"Really, what should I have done then?" Triton shot back.
"Pretended to break something and then take it up your shirt." Tyson supplied. Percy nodded and the two high fived while the rest of them stared at Tyson in surprise.
"Percy, you have to stop corrupting Tyson." Triton chided. Percy smirked at Triton.
"You'd be surprised at how little I had to do." He said. Tyson grinned sheepishly and Poseidon shook his head fondly. The three kids then scurried upstairs and went to their rooms and did not forget to switch on the sound locks.
Percy changed into his pajamas as he got ready for bed, thinking about just how crazy his family was and chuckled. He got into bed and fell asleep within minutes but this one time it wasn't all that peaceful. He ended up in a place that had given him nightmares for weeks if not months-Tartarus.
He heard a voice that he knew all too well, one like that of a scraping knife. But only this time, something was different. This one time, it wasn't Percy that Kronos was talking to.
"Well well, if it isn't the sacrificial bait." The titan's chilling chuckle came out of the shadows.
"Well well, if it isn't the psychotic titan." Came a voice similar to that of Percy's and yet Percy knew that he was looking at a memory which didn't belong to him and he knew that the person who answered had been Poseidon. He was proven right as the sea god's face came into view.
Percy twitched in his sleep as he saw the bloodied face of his father. Kronos grabbed Poseidon's chin and smiled maniacally.
"What was the first rule again?" the titan cooed. Poseidon stared straight into Kronos' eyes, his sea green ones filled with determination. "You do NOT call me psychotic." The titan growled as applied more pressure on Poseidon's chin who spat a concoction of blood and saliva at the titan.
"What else should I call somebody like you?" he said.
Kronos chuckled evilly as he grabbed a whip from the wall and loomed over Poseidon's smaller form.
"You will call me my lord. See, you're already kneeling as you should." Kronos said in a scathing voice as he tested the whip on the sea king, making Percy who was asleep, scream but seeing as the sound lock was on, nobody heard him. The god managed to hold in the shouts of pain in, making it clear that this was not the first time that this was happening but at one point, Percy could see the determination fade out of his father's eyes and that's when Percy heard one of the most tortured and pained screams in his entire life.
Percy was shaking in his sleep and was clinging onto the sheets with everything that he had in him due to which his nails had dug in to the cloth and ripped small holes in them. What he had seen was not the last memory of his dad's torture and it was made horribly clear to him in possibly the worst way ever that Poseidon had not only been trapped in Tartarus but had been tortured in some of the most painful ways possible. In ways that Percy hadn't thought existed in the first place.
The demigod woke up screaming and covered in sweat. He could feel bile rise up in his throat but he swallowed it and tried to take deep breaths. He took a mug that was on the side table and threw it against a wall, making it shatter when breathing didn't work. Percy looked at himself in the mirror and all he saw in his eyes was violence. Kronos was rising again and Percy was going to make him pay so bad that he wouldn't be able to reform even if he was covered with the fleece.
Percy's fists were shaking in anger but eventually his throat started closing up as his eyes got watery. He would have preferred seeing some memory of his own. At least he would have known what was coming. He paced the length of his room and made himself some Turkish coffee with barely any sugar. There was no way he was going to go back to sleep that night. And even if he wanted to, doubt that he would be able to.
Once Percy calmed down as much as he could in the situation, he figured that he couldn't let anybody see his room because there were such as heck going to think that some raccoon broke in except the raccoon was him.
He sighed as he dumped the sheets in a shelf in his wardrobe and pulled out new ones and cleaned up the shards of the mug he broke. When the coffee would finally settle down in Percy, the memories would shoot right back into his mind. The same thing happened if he sat still for too long which is for more than 30 seconds. He sat at his table, plopped open the Olympian law book and figured that the best way to pass his time without seeming suspicious was to prep for his job. He also really did not want to go downstairs because fates knew what was going on there.
He started reading the book but then an idea hit him and he mist travelled to a book store.
"Hey, Percy." Rosa greeted him. Percy smiled at the kindness in the woman's voice which was refreshing after his dream.
"I need an account of the recent law cases." He said.
"You have verification because that stuff's restricted." Rosa told him sheepishly. Percy nodded and pulled out an identification card that Apollo and Zeus had given to him. Rosa grinned.
"That's quite some verification." She chuckled, making Percy chuckle as well as he followed her into the restricted section and got the necessary book, paid and mist travelled back to his room.
Percy watched the sun rise slowly and he was still poured over his books. His trash can was filled with Red Bull cans, Gatorade bottles and an empty coffee container. His hair was standing up worse than Albert Einstein but in all of this, the good news was that he was nearly done with the law book and a good way through the case book. Jeez, that's the fastest he'd ever read anything. The book pages were covered in notes that he had made and as he got up, he rubbed his neck, staring at his trash can. He drank some coffee and got about to cleaning the evidence of the energy drinks before anybody could see it. Honestly, reading the law book made him realize just how important it was for him to get rid of this evidence. Wow, he thought, he was supposed to learn not to hide evidence and here he was doing the exact opposite. Well, he shrugged, all kids hide certain things from their parents. Of course, most of them don't get nightmares about their parent's torture but eh, technicalities.
He cleverly spread the cans and bottles over multiple dustbins so it wouldn't look like it had all been consumed in one night. He couldn't help but laugh at his idea and went to brush. He'd just finished when Triton buzzed his room. That was the only thing that would get through the sound lock so Percy figured it was safe to go downstairs. He got out of his room and Triton almost choked on air.
"What the hell happened to your hair?" he asked.
"I was studying." Percy snorted.
"What, how to look like Albert Einstein?" Triton deadpanned.
"Something like that." Percy smirked. Triton shook his head.
"Did you sleep?" Triton asked. Percy shook his head.
"Brother." Triton groaned but gestured to Percy to walk with him.
"Lets go. Its time for breakfast. Everybody thought you were sleeping-" Triton said, paused to dramatically roll his eyes getting the same gesture from Percy and continued –"But most of the people are asleep right now. Mom and Dad are in the breakfast garden and Tyson's with Hephaestus, learning how to combine his powers with forge work." Triton explained.
"Great." Percy said and ran a hand through his wild hair. Percy had grabbed his coffee tumbler as he'd left and was casually sipping from it as they walked toward the garden. He and Triton reached and saw Poseidon and Amphitrite talking to Hades and Persephone.
"Hey guys. Good morning." Poseidon grinned at his sons as he saw them reach, his eyes glinting. Percy controlled his flinch as the image of the same god's dull eyes flashed in his brain. He gulped some coffee before reciprocating the greeting.
"Guess what?" Triton snorted.
"What?" Amphitrite asked.
"Perce didn't sleep the whole night." Triton informed his parents.
"Oh, you little snitch." Percy muttered. "Snitches get stitches, you little shit." Percy told his brother who winked at him.
"What?" Poseidon and Amphitrite asked. "For what joy?" Poseidon asked in surprise.
"I was studying." Percy answered.
"The whole night?" Amphitrite asked dryly and Percy nodded.
"And we thought you were asleep and that's why you weren't up yet." Hades chuckled.
"Well, uncle, I was born to defy expectations." Percy said with his natural charm. Hades snorted in amusement. Percy pulled out his book again and continued reading and pulled out Riptide, using its pen form. He scribbled some notes aggressively. For a moment he zoned out, his mind flashing back to the dream and he rubbed his temple and winced as he grabbed the coffee.
"How much of that did you drink?" Persephone asked him as she saw the demigod reach for his tumbler.
"Not much." Percy lied and went back to the cases.
"You started the law book?" Triton asked.
"I'm done with it." Percy answered.
"What?" Everybody asked in surprise. Percy shrugged.
"That had more than 500 pages." Poseidon pointed out weakly.
"537." Percy clarified.
"What the fuck?" Hades muttered.
"What happened that he's already swearing by 10?" Zeus chuckled as he, Thalia and Jason joined the others.
"Your apprentice finished the Olympian Law Book." Hades answered. Zeus looked at Percy in shock.
"That had 537 pages? What the fuck?" he asked.
"I was up for almost 10 hours. I made myself productive." Percy defended.
"What are you reading now then?" Jason asked.
"Cases." Percy said, holding up the book and showing his brother the cover because the son of Jupiter was leaning over the table to read the cover.
"When did you get that though?" Thalia asked.
"I feel like I'm sitting in an interrogation." Percy said, amusement trickling into his voice. "I went and bought it in the night." He said.
"The store is 24/7?" Jason asked in surprise and Percy nodded.
"I can't believe I didn't know that. I waited the whole night to buy the third maze runner book." He complained, making Percy and Thalia chuckle.
"You mind if I see the book?" Zeus asked, looking intrigued by Percy's scribbles on the paper. Percy nodded and passed him the book.
"Also, did you get electrocuted?" Thalia asked.
"Unfortunately not." Percy answered. Thalia sighed as if she was disappointed.
"Wow. I wake up and the first sight I see is Albert Einstein." Nico drawled as he joined them, making Triton laugh.
"Oh shut up." Percy grumbled and chugged another mug of coffee and later attempted to fix his hair.
"I cannot believe I'm saying this but that is seriously enough of coffee, Perce." Poseidon shaking his head in amusement. Percy almost snorted, remembering the amount of red bull cans and Gatorade bottles that he had had and nodded. He finished the one in his tumbler and held his hands up in surrender.
"Drink." Amphitrite said and tossed him a water bottle. Percy chuckled lightly as he caught it.
The amazement on Zeus' face was growing progressively as he read the notes Percy had made in the case book. Honestly, his nephew was going to be a much better lawyer than he'd anticipated and much quicker by the looks of it as well. He'd made such notes that had he been the lawyer on the case, the ones that had been lost would have ended in a victory.
"I have to say this is the most impressed I've ever seen him look." Poseidon mused as he looked at his younger brother. Zeus chuckled as he gave the book back to Percy and looked at the demigod approvingly.
"It is not often that people impress me, after all." He said. Percy almost choked on his water.
"You liked it?" he asked. Zeus nodded.
"It sounds like you're already a lawyer." He said. Percy couldn't help but grin. Poseidon looked at Percy with pride.
"Well, we have to read now." Persephone sighed. Everybody huffed and nodded as they went to a cabin in the forest which was now the location for the reading. Percy stayed back a little longer and as about to follow when Zeus stopped him. The king of sky was looking at Percy as if he was doing an X-ray.
"Are you all right?" Zeus asked hesitantly. Percy nodded.
"I'm fine." He said with a smile. Zeus rolled his eyes internally. They'd read so many books from the demigod's perspective that even he'd come to understand that Percy said 'I'm fine' for literally everything especially when he wasn't fine but he nodded.
"Okay then." He said and the two joined the others.
"I'll read." Percy said "As its not my point of view." He said, just glad for a distraction.
PIPER HAD TROUBLE FALLING ASLEEP.
Percy groaned internally. Of course that would be the first line.
Coach Hedge spent the first…back to Long Island!"
"That's one way to make somebody abide by curfew." Hermes snickered.
"We shouldn't even be having curfew." Frank complained.
"You are teenagers after all. Most of whom are dating one or the other. I'd say curfew is important." Amphitrite smirked.
"And that's the exact reason why you shouldn't expect them to follow curfew either." Aphrodite chuckled.
"That's true."
"See, the main logic is that when we're told to not do something, we do everything we can to do it." Ares stated.
"Finally, somebody who gets it!" a couple of the demigods yelled out, making everybody chuckle.
He banged his baseball bat…for anyone to go to sleep
Grover groaned. He hated not being able to sleep. Annabeth and Percy noticed it and snickered.
"I remember the time I found that you got grouchy when you didn't get enough sleep." Percy told him.
"Yeah and you mimicked me." Annabeth said dryly but even she was smiling.
"That's when I knew that he was my best friend." Percy grinned and he and Grover high-fived.
"Ha-ha so funny." Annabeth said but even she was close to laughing.
Piper figured this was the…Leo had assured her
"Then how'd you make them?" Poseidon asked Leo.
"Foam and cotton with a bit of water mattress concepts." Leo grinned.
"Huh. The thought of them is making me fall asleep." Poseidon nodded.
"That was the goal." Leo informed, making the sea god chuckle.
So they were über-comfortable…woke to the breakfast bell
Everybody groaned, understanding the pain.
"It is actually so annoying. It takes you hours to fall asleep which feels like eternity and then when you do fall asleep, it feels like you didn't even sleep for 10 seconds." Rachel complained.
"Yeah and even if you're sleepy it takes you hours to sleep and when you wake up and it feels like seconds, its just like it wasn't even worth it." Nico nodded in agreement.
"I can assure you that it is definitely worth it." Will told him.
"Medically but like the effort-" Thalia groaned.
"Plus the occasional nightmares is like bitches lets not even sleep. Lets us stay awake on our problems." Katie added. Demeter raised an eyebrow at the language and then Hades raised an eyebrow at her as if to say hypocrite and Demeter rolled her eyes playfully at her younger brother. Honestly, she sometimes forgot that Hades was the eldest among the brothers and even he needed his elder sister to have his back.
Will groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Y'all need better coping mechanisms." He declared.
"Coffee." Half the demigods chorused.
"Happy meals." Nico nodded.
"None of that is healthy. The amount of caffeine you guys consume is ridiculous. It's enough to make a cow high." Will chided.
"Well then, its good we have higher caffeine tolerance than cows." Dakota grinned.
"Yo, Piper!" Leo knocked…peeking through his fingers. "You decent?"
Artemis raised an eyebrow at Leo whose eyes widened.
"What if I wasn't?" Piper teased.
"I'd run, jump into the sea and wash my eyes with as much salt water possible." Leo informed.
"Yikes." Percy said.
"Leo!"… You weren't in control of yourself."
"The last part sounds so sus." Pollux said, trying to lighten the mood and it definitely worked. The demigods and the gods who understood the meaning of 'sus' burst out laughing.
"You guys have such dirty minds. We should wash your minds with soap if anything." Hermes snickered but couldn't make himself look serious enough to make it sound like he was chiding the demigods.
"Yes well, its genetic without being genetic." Nico shrugged. Hades pouted at Nico and Persephone gave the demigod a high five.
"Well, a point for those who bet on Uncle H as the one whose gonna cry first after the wives and children team up." Apollo grinned. Poseidon looked cheerful about that.
"It could actually go either way." Hermes informed in a commentator voice.
"Yeah, but still…you…"Uh…thanks?"
"It's a compliment." Demeter assured the son of Hephaestus.
"Yeah, when we call elder sisters call you annoying, it means that they love you." Thalia told him. Percy, Nico and Jason gasped dramatically.
"You love us so much then!" they said, wiping fake tears.
"Oh I just had to say something." Thalia groaned but then she smirked. "So are you admitting that I am elder?" she said. Percy and Nico shook their heads and grinned in unison.
"When younger ones call you annoying, it also means that they love you." Percy grinned. Thalia made a finger gun and shot Percy with it, making the demigod fall back dramatically.
"I am wounded!" he cried out with equal drama. "Medic!" he yelled.
"Medic's busy. Sorry, bro." Will grinned. Percy pouted at the young doctor and the son of Apollo smirked.
From above, Coach Hedge…some reason surprised Piper.
"Waitt. Hold up. Did she seriously think that you're a moody and grumpy one?" Rachel burst out laughing as she looked at Percy who was pouting at Piper.
"Bruv, I am full of smiles." He said to her.
"Yeah well, technically, the first interaction that I had with you consisted of you looking like you're going to make the sea explode or something." Piper defended. Percy withdrew and nodded.
"That's fair." He said.
"Yes but even I know that you're the biggest cinnamon roll ever." Piper smirked and the two fist bumped.
"Cinnamon roll? Whaaat?" Hermes grinned but winked at Percy to let him know he was only teasing.
"See, its like to us, yeah but then like the enemies are close to shitting themselves." Beckendorf said fondly.
He was wearing faded jeans…his arm around Annabeth.
"Definitely did." Percy smiled and gave Annabeth a light kiss.
Piper was happy to see Annabeth…stealing each other's breakfast.
Piper and Annabeth grinned at each other.
"How'd that start?" Jason mused.
"Piper kept stealing my food when I wasn't looking so I did the same and then eventually we just took it out of each other's hands. It didn't even matter if we were going to eat it or not." Annabeth explained.
"Yeah, that won't sit with me." Thalia chuckled.
"Yeah, it'd lead to murder." Percy nodded in agreement.
"Experienced that all right." Grover snorted and the two demigods grinned sheepishly at their friend.
What's the plan?... "Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason said
"Even Dionysus isn't." Artemis told Jason, surprising the hell out a few people but Jason nodded.
"I know that now." He smiled at her and Dionysus.
"I don't like his followers much."
"Yeah, it can be a little risky hanging out with them unless you're going to join the party. Many of the maenads highlight the ecstasy part of my domains more." Dionysus admitted.
Piper shuddered…Frank scowled at him
"C'mon man. Its not Leo's fault that he looks exactly like Sammy." Travis frowned at Frank who nodded.
"Yeah, I know. Its just that Hazel and I had just started dating and…I don't know…I was jealous." He admitted sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Whoa. You should've just told me, mate. I would have done everything so that you wouldn't feel so awkward around me." Leo said, holding up his hands and Frank nodded as Hazel squeezed his hand.
"Yeah, you're right. Would've sorted out a lot of things before itself." He said with a small smile.
"Then who knows what's…it made Piper's heart ache.
Jason sighed and Piper squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"Hey, we knew each other for years. We hadn't even hit puberty then-. Even you know how awkward it used to be but it was easier because we were always friends first." Annabeth told Piper with a small smile.
"She's right. We had a friends to lovers trope and we'd done a lot of crack shit together. And honestly, knowing each other for as long as we have makes it easier for anybody in any kind of relationship because we've seen all the awkward phases. Its like that for any relationship, romantic or not." Percy smiled. Jason gave him a grateful look to which Percy smiled.
Jason was great, of course…the color of the Romans.
"Of course we'd get past those barriers, Pipes. We're strong that way. The only reason that I was hesitant to talk about the Roman legend was because I'd just recently got that part of me back and the whole story behind the legend and me learning about the legend was quite complicated and would lead to discussions that were more than just about the legend. I'd obviously talk to you about it but I just really wanted to process it myself first. I'm sorry if that made you feel like I didn't trust you because I'd trust you with every one of my secrets in my life." He said to Piper.
Piper smiled at her boyfriend as she gave him a light kiss.
"Its not your fault, sparky. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to understand your side of things. I should have known that it was going to be hard for you as well. It was my first relationship and I just didn't think that if I was expecting things from you then so were you, one of which was understanding. And of course, we'd get past those barriers. I definitely don't think that we won't anymore." She said and Jason smiled widely at her. Aphrodite looked like she was going to burst with joy but she kept calm for the sake of her daughter.
Frank slid his bow off his shoulder…you should consider it, Mr.—"
"Wow, you guys really didn't get along well before, huh?" Connor snorted.
"Jealousy jealousy." Frank said.
"Did you just quote the name of an Olivia Rodrigo song?" Leo squinted with a grin at Frank who blushed.
"It's a good song." He said and shrugged.
"No doubt. No doubt." Leo agreed.
Hazel stepped between them…shooting Leo an evil look
"Great. Now I'm the evil witch of Narnia." Leo groaned but gave Hazel and Frank a small smile to let them know that he was joking. He understood why Frank was weird around him initially and yeah, it didn't feel great then but eventually they'd talked it out and just clarified everything. And yeah, Leo knew that to cover his awkwardness, he'd use humor and he'd eventually realized that he had to make sure that it didn't agitate anybody else because humor shouldn't do that.
"I can summon Arion…if you're on better terms with him-
"Are you?" Jason asked Dionysus who looked amused.
"As Bacchus, I'm on better terms with you but if I'm being honest, as Dionysus I'm on better terms with Peter." Dionysus answered after thinking about it.
"Yes, Mr. B, I love you too." Percy grinned and Dionysus rolled his eyes lightly.
"Yeah," Jason said…whose friend gets here first.
"Oh great. The rivalry is about to kick in." Nico rolled his eyes. Percy and Jason had sheepish looks on their faces.
"Hey, at least we get to see Blackjack." Thalia said.
"Honestly, I kinda want to see how this pans out." Travis said curiously.
"You really don't." Percy assured him.
"Huh."
Jason whistled. Piper knew…slightly longer, much darker hair.
"What?!" Jason and Percy both yelled out. Piper held her hands up in surrender.
"Jason's my boyfriend, bro." Piper told Percy.
"Bros before hoes. That's the rule." Percy told her and Piper stuck her tongue out at him.
"Also, I am soo not slender than he is-" he said dramatically.
"Yeah nah. You are." Jason smirked.
"All right. Stand up." Percy told Jason. Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other, trying not to laugh and Demeter and Hades rolled their eyes in unison at them.
"How is this, more slender?" Percy questioned as he pulled up his shirt and Jason did the same with his.
"All right, I didn't see that before." Piper smirked.
"Yeah you're biased. Annabeth?" Percy said.
"I agree with Percy." Annabeth said genuinely.
"You're his girlfrie- Ahh, I see, I see." Jason nodded with a grin.
"I'll give you an unbiased opinion. You're both idiots. Sit the fuck down." Katie told them, making Percy and Jason pout at her while Hades, Poseidon and Zeus burst out laughing, Katie reminding them exactly of Demeter.
He wasn't really Piper's type…She had enough trouble in her life.
"That is the first time I've ever heard somebody say that about Percy." Rachel said.
"Well, I'd be a little concerned if she did say that while she was dating my brother." Percy said with an arched eyebrow.
"One second ago, you both were ready to beat each other up and then sit shirtless for the whole reading." Nico said dryly.
"That' just how it works, bro. I can argue with my bro but I will not let anybody else hurt him." Percy said with a grin as he and Jason exchanged high fives.
"That's true." Poseidon nodded. Zeus and Hades arched their eyebrows at him and the god of the seas shrugged.
"But you ever reconsider that opinion?" Percy asked Piper sheepishly, making Piper and Jason laugh.
"See you're not my type but there is no denying that you're pretty good looking and seeing as you're like a brother to me, it'd actually be weird if I say that you're my type." Piper chuckled and Percy grinned.
"That's true." He said.
But she could see why Annabeth…that under control, it was Annabeth
Annabeth frowned, Percy tilted his head and the sea gang glared at Piper.
"Percy doesn't need me to keep him under control. He doesn't need anybody to do that. He's one of the people that has the best control over himself. Percy and I need each other because we love each other but not because we're controlling." Annabeth told Piper and nobody missed the edge in her voice. The sea gang smiled at Annabeth but glared at Piper.
"She's right. He's not psychotic and he keeps himself under control just as much is needed. I don't see any reason why you may even think that Percy is somebody that needs to be controlled by anybody." Poseidon glared at Piper who grimaced. Percy, himself, didn't look too happy about what he'd just ready. Honestly, it was a little hurtful that Piper thought that he needed to be kept under control.
"Percy, I'm really sorry. Look, I didn't know you at all back then. I was just going by the incident that had happened earlier and I messed up there. The last thing that I would think about you is that you need to be controlled at all. You're not somebody who's out of control or anything close to that." Piper apologized, sincere regret in her eyes.
"Its fine, don't worry about it. Its all before we knew each other." Percy said.
Thunder crackled in the clear sky…inquisitively toward Piper and Jason
"Ha! L!" Percy grinned at Jason who rolled his eyes playfully.
"I still summoned him with a clear sky." Jason told him.
"Brother, I summoned Blackjack almost and basically from Long Island." Percy grinned and Jason groaned.
"Damn it." Jason said and Percy smirked.
"Blackjack," Percy said…while he agrees to help me."
Jason grinned happily, thinking about Tempest.
"Does Blackjack finally get along with Tempest?" Triton asked amusedly.
"Nope." Percy snickered.
"Blackjack doesn't like it when there's another kinda cool horse that I find cool. We're very possessive of each other." Percy chuckled.
"That's always the way it is." Reyna laughed, remembering Guido.
Blackjack landed. Both horse…"No sign of the wine dude?"
"Are you serious?" Dionysus raised an eyebrow at Percy "Do youwant to end up in a bottle of Merlot?" he asked.
"Uh uh uh, no?" Percy said but it came out more like a question. Dionysus hid a smile and rolled his eyes playfully.
"See it's a thing. You call me Mr.D and I get to call you the wine dude." Percy told him. Dionysus tilted his head and then shrugged.
"I suppose that's fair even if Nico was the one came up with the name." he said. Nico smirked.
"The best part is that I don't even use that anymore so like, Percy can buy the copyright." He said.
"How much is it for?" Percy asked.
"A drop of blood." Nico grinned. Percy snorted in amusement. Some of the others just looked taken aback.
"Nah, I'm just joking. 10 drachmas." Nico said. Percy grinned.
"Done." He said.
"I beg your pardon?...-Please-Don't-Kill-Me-Lord-Bacchus."
Everybody laughed at that.
"The same in both forms, huh?" Pollux grinned at his dad who chuckled and shrugged.
"No reason to not be." He said.
Percy urged Blackjack forward…"Ah…yes. John Green."
The Greek campers roared with laughter.
"Never lose that trait!" Silena told Dionysus and the wine god smirked.
"That is his name, isn't it?" he said. Jason groaned playfully but nodded.
"It is indeed. I am officially going to change my name to John Green." He said.
"Jason Grace…little grapes with tiny assault rifles.
"You just want to piss him off in his Roman form as well, don't you?" Poseidon chuckled fondly at Percy and the demigod shrugged.
"It's a hobby." He said.
"Great. That's flattering." Dionysus drawled.
The god narrowed his eyes…Stop thinking about me in Greek
Dionysus flinched as the migraine hit him and he groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Oh, this was bad." He muttered.
"So this is going to happen every time we read about a god switching between our Greco-Roman identities." Apollo said grimly.
"Sounds fun." Hades sighed.
Percy blinked…"I think you were just too lazy to do it."
Everybody especially the Greek campers were snickering.
"You two are just the bloody same whether that be in Mr.D's Roman form or not." Clarisse chuckled.
"Its great, really. Some things shouldn't change." Chris grinned.
Dionysus and Percy couldn't help but grin each other. Honestly, they'd gone from annoying each other because the other was irritating to annoying each other for the fun of it.
Piper had been watching…pouring respect into her charmspeak.
There was pindrop silence in the cabin.
"Did you just attempt to charmspeak me, ?" Dionysus asked quietly. Piper thought it better to not say anything seeing as she had been trying to charmspeak the god.
"She was trying to calm you down seeing as you were already threatening to turn them into dolphins." Aphrodite defended her daughter.
"Still, I would not have blasted anybody or turned her into a dolphin if she stepped forward and made her point anyways. My argument was only with Percy. Not with her and Jason. You think that I'd misdirect my anger?" Dionysus snapped.
"She didn't know that, did she now?" Aphrodite shot back.
"Then maybe she should have tried before using the charmspeak! She could've talked to me normally first and then if it would have just made things much worse then she could have considered it." Dionysus said exasperatedly.
"That's my bad, Mr.D. I didn't know exactly how to deal with the situation. I was pretty new at all this stuff seeing as it was the first quest the seven were having together. I should've known when my powers should have been used and when they weren't required." Piper told Dionysus who nodded at the demigod and she gave him a small smile which he returned.
The god frowned…avoid giving wine to minors
"Oh well." The demigods said innocently.
"You gave them wine?" Zeus asked Dionysus incredulously but the god shook his head.
"I did no such thing." He defended.
"Oh that wasn't on him." Nico assured Zeus.
Bothersome, but there you have it…"You can fight?" Percy asked.
"Seriously? Didn't you see me with a bandaged head after my chariot crashed?" Dionysus shook his head at Percy in amusement.
"Oh righttt. Sorry." Percy said sheepishly.
"That's fine but you're not making this easier on yourself." Dionysus said, gesturing to the book. "Seeing as you're just not holding back." He said with an arched eyebrow.
Piper wished he hadn't sounded…"Heracles?" Piper suggested politely.
Everybody snickered.
"I like that." Artemis smirked, not fond of Heracles.
"Whatever," Bacchus said…lifting a jar from a deep pit.
Ares flinched and Nico grimaced. This was going to be fun.
"That's why we're here…She didn't like the sound of tribute.
"Hunger games style." Nico nodded sagely.
"Nope." Percy said, popping the p. "More like, dramatic style." He grinned.
Frank snickered as he remembered the dolphin incident.
She remembered the maenad…nonbelievers with their bare hands
"Shun the non-believers!" Castor, Pollux and Dakota yelled dramatically, making everybody burst out in laughter.
"I am so proud." Dionysus said with equal drama, wiping away a fake tear.
And that was when they…Is he a Giant? A Titan?
"Neither." Hermes said.
"He's the son of Pontus and Gaia." Apollo informed.
Bacchus laughed. "Neither…"Its unlike Ceres to be late."
"Now, that is something that I can testify to." Hades said with faux annoyance.
"Its called punctual, Hades." Demeter chided.
"Even when me and my wife are on a date? You weren't even invited!" Hades said, throwing his hands up in dramatic exasperation. Some of the people snorted in amusement at that.
"How'd you even know about it in the first place?" Persephone chuckled at Demeter.
"I have my ways." Demeter smirked.
"That is just plain creepy." Hades said, holding up his palms.
"So you say." Demeter said with a dramatic maniacal laugh.
"That's her true form, you all. You are now witnesses to this." Hades said, gesturing to Demeter and looking around at everybody, making them all laugh.
Unless she sensed something…resonating in the ground at Piper's feet.
"Oh no. This is not good." Triton said, shaking his head.
"If it's the eidolons again…especially when Gaia is involved and both Percy and Jason there together. This is going to be bad." Hades shook his head.
"That too the fact that you guys didn't get along as well…it will be much easier for the eidolons to manipulate you two." Katie told Percy and Jason.
Percy and Jason rubbed the back of their necks nervously, genuinely not looking forward to reading about their fight. They'd got around to finally being able to laugh about it but the others hearing about it was what it made them anxious.
Percy and Jason drew their swords…choosing one of the boys?
"Okay, you should take a deep breath and the important thing is to not panic." Grover said to Piper, taking a deep breath himself.
"Gaia just loves tearing us apart from the inside rather than any external challenge." Annabeth shook her head.
"That's a good strategy, to be honest but not when used against you." Ares sighed.
Why would Gaea let either of them…They glowed solid gold.
"Oh shit." Zeus groaned. Jason winced.
"Percy, help!" Piper stumbled…in the same hollow voice.
"Holy shit." Nico said.
"This sounds like it came straight out of a Shakespeare play." Hermes shook his head and he didn't look to happy about it. Shakespeare plays like those were always increasingly dramatic and dark at a lot of times.
"No!" Piper yelled…at each other, their weapons ready.
"Well, fuck." Poseidon said tiredly.
"Hey at least we figured something out." Percy said, trying to lighten the mood.
"And what is that?" Jason asked amusedly.
"That I could easily beat you in a fight." Percy smirked. Jason rolled his eyes playfully.
"You wish." He said.
"I don't have to because I know I will." Percy grinned.
"Oh you wanna do this?" Jason said with a half smirk.
"You bet." Percy said with a grin.
"Now that's fun." Nico grinned. Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other with raised eyebrows, worried about what was going to happen in the next chapter between their children but they were just glad that at least Percy and Jason were trying to let it go and take it lightly. Sometimes, that reminded them of them. They could have the worst fights and yet move past it like nothing happened. At least they used to be able to. Both of them hated that they weren't able to anymore.
"Chapter's done, by the way." Percy said.
"I'll read." Athena said.