"Mom? I'm home," Percy called out as he hurried in the door. It was cold outside, and while that didn't bother him much, it would bother her. Besides, he did still get cold if he didn't focus on regulating his temperature (something that had been automatic as a god), and he'd had enough training for the day. He focused on taking his coat off and hanging it up behind the door before going for his boots. They had dirty snow all over them, slowly melting. He waved a hand and cleaned it all up.
"Percy?!" she asked, looking up from the kitchen table. She sounded a little nervous. Like she'd been caught red-handed. She'd also immediately stood. He frowned and looked up to see her coming towards him, blocking the dining room from view. "How was the park?"
"It was fine. I got att—" he started, but she cut him off. Weird. She never did that.
"I've got a friend over," she said hurriedly.
Percy blinked, then leaned around her to see a man sitting at the table. He almost jumped for joy. Paul! He looked exactly as Percy remembered him from his early teens. Brown hair just beginning to gray at the temples, sparkling eyes that took in the situation, laugh lines and wrinkles barely noticeable around the corners of his eyes and mouth. It always struck Percy that he looked so… normal. Sometimes, he couldn't help but be jealous. Average human features that didn't strike an automatic sense of power or superiority. Accepting.
He loved it.
Wasn't this a little early though? Hadn't his Mom met Paul just before Artemis got captured? And that was at least a year in the future…
Hmm. He didn't know. This may very well be on track. And he really didn't want to complain.
Gift-horses and all that.
"Oh. Hi," Percy said, grinning. "I—"
"Percy," his mother said, eyes darting down to his hands. He blinked and looked down. He followed her gaze to the ball of dirty water hovering just under his palm. Oh. He swallowed and looked up, meeting his mother's fondly exasperated expression. He closed his hand around the water.
"Sorry about the snow, mom. I'll wipe it up."
She smiled, shook her head, and brought him in for a hug. "Don't worry about it. It'll dry. Just, be careful."
"I will," he said, returning the hug. After a moment, she turned back to Paul, who was watching them with a soft smile.
"Percy, this is Paul Blofis." She gestured to their guest, who stood up with a hand outstretched. "Paul, this is my son, Percy."
"Pleased to meet you," Paul said as Percy took his hand. He had to mentally will all the water away from said hand before Paul saw it, but it wasn't difficult. More difficult to make sure it wasn't seen than anything. What was this, 'Now You See Me?'
"You too," Percy said before glancing at his mother. "I'm guessing he's staying for dinner?"
For once, his mother seemed flat-footed. "I… we hadn't discussed it."
"It's fine," Paul waved his hand. "We were just finishing up."
"Finishing up what?" Percy asked innocently.
"Studying," his mother said. "Paul is in my creative writing class. We have an assignment due and I asked him for help."
"Oh?" Percy asked, hoping it sounded at least somewhat like he'd just heard new information. Judging from his mother's narrowed eyes, he didn't succeed. Why did that just make it all the more amusing?
"Well, you've been just as much help to me," Paul said, turning to Sally. "Some of your ideas… I never would have come up with anything that good."
His mother blushed, much to Percy's amusement. "Oh, well…. Thank you. It's really not much."
"It is," he insisted. If Percy had still been a god, he would have conjured some popcorn. This was too cute.
"Well, I—" Sally's response was cut off by a loud thumping at the door. Even Percy jumped.
"Oh, Tyson!" he said, giving into his recent habit of reaching up and grabbing one of his necklaces when he'd forgotten something or got upset. He always had three necklaces: A prism maker so he could contact someone if necessary, his camp necklace, and the Lethe Water he got from Hades. This time, he grabbed the vial of water. "Sorry, Mom. I told him he could stay here tonight."
His mother seemed somewhat relieved. Hmm. There was something to that, but he'd have to look into it later. "Oh, that's fine. I told you—and him—that he could stay here whenever he isn't with your father."
Because of course Percy had sought out Tyson. Tyson and he had remained close far into the future and was one of the siblings he loved the best. He'd never become a good conversationalist, but that was part of what made him so easy to be around, at least in Percy's opinion. And they'd understood each other on a level no one else really had.
Naturally, almost as soon as they'd been alone that first time, Percy had explained the whole Poseidon thing and even taken him to the ocean. Not Atlantis—even he hadn't been there yet this time around—but their father had shown up to greet them. He'd asked Percy to show Tyson the ropes up top so he could get some experience before trying the forges, if that was what he wanted to do. Since they were going to Meriwether again this time around, the only thing to do was introduce his brother to his mother. She'd practically adopted him, and even though they didn't really have another room, Percy didn't mind sharing his. Some days he would go back to his refrigerator box (much to the Jackson's consternation), but those were getting fewer and farther between.
Also, Percy may or may not have taken care of a certain sphinx as soon as he could when he'd returned initiallh. He didn't think he'd been fast enough, but it had been something he could do to help Tyson. Because he'd tried to find the cyclops before then, but something had stopped him every time—be it a monster attack or just the inability to see through the Mist surrounding Tyson's living space. He'd even asked his father, but Poseidon had only answered that until Tyson wanted to be found, he wouldn't be. Percy had had to accept that, but that didn't mean he'd had to like it. So finally seeing the cyclops again had been nothing short of relieving. Definitely one of the best days that year, even if Matt Sloane was still a borborópēs** and bully. Percy had dealt with worse. Besides, it was amusing using subtle water powers to screw with Matt's clique.
"You have another son?" Paul asked as Percy reached the door, sounding surprised.
"Oh, no," his mom said. "That's Percy's half-brother. His father's son."
"Oh."
"Buddy!" Percy said as he opened the door.
"They're very close," Sally whispered loudly.
Tyson swept Percy into a hug and spun him around like they hadn't just seen each other the day before. Percy didn't care, laughing loudly and hugging the cyclops back. "I'm back!"
"Welcome back," Sally said.
"Hi, Percy's Mom!"
Percy's mother sighed. "You don't have to call me that, honey. You can call me Sally. Or Auntie. Or 'Mom' if you want."
They'd been through this before, but Tyson didn't seem to grasp what they were trying to tell him. Like usual, he just tipped his head to one side. "But you aren't my auntie. Or my mom."
Percy and his mother exchanged fondly exasperated glances. He'd catch on eventually. It didn't help that Tyson had grown up on the streets and was literally eight years old. He wouldn't stay in that mindset forever.
Tyson set Percy down suddenly, stiffly. His single eye narrowed on Paul. "Who are you?"
"Oh, buddy, this is Paul! He's a friend of Mom's! A good guy," Percy said hurriedly. He also whispered, "Mortal," under his breath. Tyson should be able to hear that and not Paul.
The cyclops glanced suspiciously between the other three people in the apartment before nodding and holding out a hand like they'd taught him.
"Tyson."
"Good to meet you," Paul said, shaking the cyclops' hand. Judging from his slight grimace, Tyson may have squeezed a little hard. "Anyway, I think it might be time for me to make my exit."
Percy's frown dimmed. "You don't have to," he started, but Paul shook his head.
"No, I think having to cook for two extra people is too much for anyone."
Sally frowned, but didn't protest. "Alright."
"Though," Paul said, cheeks darkening a little, "I wouldn't mind something next Wednesday, after Christmas? Just you and me." Sally's blush darkened, but her eyes lit up.
Too.
Cute.
"Oh, um… sure!"
"Tyson and I will make plans with Dad then," he spoke up. His mother's eyes narrowed in suspicion again. "I wanted to anyway," he preempted before Paul could object.
Paul tipped his head at Percy, pleasantly surprised. He glanced back at Sally. "I'll text you the time?"
"I should have the necessary research data," she said softly.
Smiling, Paul reached to take her hand and bent down to kiss it. "Until then, goodnight my lady."
Oh, he was almost as bad as Dad. No wonder his mother had fallen for him.
"What—" Tyson started, but Percy shushed him.
"I'll explain later, buddy."
His brother frowned, but nodded.
While Sally walked Paul to the door, Percy rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat. Tyson still liked Peanut butter, but his mom would probably want something healthier than that for dinner.
"Percy," his Mom said just a couple of minutes later. Tyson already had a sandwich in his hands, ready to swallow it whole. He froze, looking at Sally with a big eye. She didn't like him eating just before dinner. Which was probably why her ignoring that made Tyson's eye widen even more.
"Yeah, Mom?" he said innocently, putting the peanut butter back in the cupboard.
"Did I meet Paul in the future?"
He grinned but didn't turn to face her, shrugging instead. "Even if I did know, you know I wouldn't tell you."
A sigh. "Percy."
"Come on, Mom," he said, schooling his features and turning to her. "Let's say you didn't, and neither of us know where it's going, which makes it pointless. Or I could tell you you did and exactly how your relationship goes. Do you really want me to do either of those?"
Sally pressed her lips together for a moment, but then she shook her head. "No, I suppose not."
Percy smiled. "Okay then. So, what's for—"
Before he could ask what was for dinner and if he could help, another loud knock on the door cut him off, making everyone jump.
"Oh," Sally said, blinking. "I'll bet Paul forgot something." She glanced around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Neither did Percy.
"I'll be right back."
Percy shook his head fondly and went back to rummaging through the cupboards when he heard his mother speak.
"Oh! Oh my… Annabeth, right?"
Percy froze.
"Y-yeah." He heard the soft, familiar voice and dropped the boxes of pasta in his hands as he sprinted into the other room. Why would Annabeth come here?
"Annabeth?" he asked, breathless. Sure enough, she stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot nervously. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "What's wrong?"
She didn't answer for a couple of seconds. When she did, she cleared her throat. "Well, I thought about what you said, about my family, and… you're right. I think I should give them another chance. So I'm going home for the rest of the year." She fiddled with her necklace absently.
"What are you doing here then?" he asked, hand reaching for his own camp necklace this time.
She bit her lip. "My train doesn't leave for another couple of days. There… may have been a monster fight that canceled the one I was supposed to leave on tonight. I don't want to make anyone from camp drive all the way down here just to get me, so I… um… can I stay here until then?"
That was suspicious. The Annabeth he knew—especially at this age—wouldn't have come unless she felt she had no other choice. And she always put safety above comfort. Actually, she likely wouldn't even be comfortable here, and yet, here she was. No, that didn't make sense. Something else had happened. That train-of-thought zoomed through his head in seconds, but before he could open his mouth to say something, his mother had already answered.
"Of course, honey! Come in." She opened the door wide. "With Percy's brother here, we'll have to get you set up on the couch, but that shouldn't be a problem."
Annabeth froze. "Percy's… brother?"
She caught sight of Tyson just then and paled significantly.
"You know, this was a bad idea. I'm… just going to call someone from camp."
"Tyson won't hurt you," Percy said, folding his arms.
Annabeth rounded on him. "Do you know what he is?!"
Percy nodded. "Yes. He's a cyclops and my brother. He's never met his mother, but father sent me to help him." Well, he had in another life. It counted.
He hated seeing the hurt bordering on betrayal in her eyes, but she needed to address her biases. At least when it came to Tyson.
"Sent you to… but…"
"I know he's just a child now, only eight, right buddy?" he asked Tyson, who looked up and nodded, grinning. Globs of peanut butter caked his teeth. Okay, not the best introduction, but it could have been worse too. Percy went on anyway. "He's just eight now, but he grew up to help lead my father's armies in the future."
"I did?" Tyson asked. Percy wasn't entirely sure Tyson grasped the concept of time-travel, but he'd been told anyway. Percy refused to treat Tyson like anything other than a normal kid—a kid who was still learning, but who was more intelligent than most people gave him credit for. The time-traveler would not fall into that trap.
"Yup. You're gonna do great things, buddy."
Annabeth shifted from foot to foot again. Then Sally put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Honey, if you want, you can sleep in my room. It has a locking door. I can take the couch."
The blond looked so surprised at Sally's offer, Percy almost broke into a hearty laugh. Although, once he thought about it, that was kind of sad. That someone offering something so kind was foreign and a surprise to the daughter of Athena …
"No, no! I couldn't do that to you!"
"Nonsense," Sally waved her hand. "You need a place to stay, and I refuse to let you not be comfortable and safe enough to sleep. I can't kick Tyson out either, though, so this is the best solution."
"But…" Annabeth started again.
"Don't fight her on it," Percy said, amping up the drama. "You'll lose. My mom just has a way of doing that."
That just made the blond even angrier and she turned to Sally. "No, I can't let you give me your room."
But Percy knew Annabeth Chase had met her match, because Sally could out-stubborn gods.
He'd seen it happen.
Annabeth's defeated, tired look after she'd finally finished speaking with Sally Jackson a half-an-hour later stirred both a vindictive pride and sort of pity for the girl. He wouldn't voice it, Annabeth would hate that, but it was still there. It was similar to the first time his mother and girlfriend had clashed in the previous universe. Well, for something a little more mundane than the end of the world in any case.
"That's my mom," he said from the kitchen where he'd started dinner with Tyson. "Dad said she's a queen among women. He's not wrong."
"I heard that!" Sally called from the other room.
"Good!" Percy called back. "He never stopped talking about you, you know!"
"Percy!" his mom said back. He could just imagine the look on her face and her cheeks burning. Teasing her about her love life was kind of cathartic. She'd had no problems teasing him about his.
"You told your Mom you came back in time?" Annabeth asked, incredulous.
Percy blinked at her. "Well, yeah. She's the first one I told."
"Percy, she's mortal!"
More blinking. What did that have to do with anything? "And?"
Annabeth took a deep breath, looking like she wanted to strangle him. "Some gods can read mortal's minds!"
Percy snorted. "Most gods know about me anyway, and even if they didn't, gods only pay attention to the mortals that catch their eye personally. They don't really care otherwise." He sighed. "Unfortunately. But, their loss. Besides, becoming a Greek God doesn't make you suddenly able to listen to every single voice out there. Trust me, I know."
He shuddered.
Annabeth didn't seem to know what to say to that, just watching him with a troubled expression. Finally, she shook her head. "And what about that?" she pointed to Tyson. "Does it know?"
Right. This. Percy couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "He is right here and can hear everything you say. Right, buddy?"
"Yes," Tyson said, nodding firmly. "But you're hard to understand sometimes."
Percy patted him on the shoulder. "Tell me when something doesn't make sense. I may not be able to explain right then, but I will later."
"He can speak?!" Annabeth asked, eyes wide in horror.
"Yes," Tyson said, grinning. "You're pretty."
"Ew!" She backed away defensively. Tyson immediately shied away, confusion and hurt in his eye.
"Hey, that's not you, buddy. She's had bad experiences with people who look like you before."
She hissed, about to verbally tear into Percy, but Tyson beat her to it.
"Others who look like me? But they're not me."
"No, they aren't," Percy said, meeting Annabeth's angry gaze. "There are plenty of good cyclopes in the myths and around today. Dad has armies of them in his palace."
"Yeah, under the sea," Annabeth hissed. "Not up here on dry land where cyclopes kill demigods. And it wasn't just once! Do you remember Polyphemus?!"
Percy nodded. "Yes. I also remember multiple demigods who wanted to hurt other demigods. Should I judge all demigods like that?"
"That's different!"
He shrugged. "Not as different as you might think." He sighed. "But I also get it. Where you're coming from. Grandfather has plenty of cyclopes and demigods working for him too. Even before that… well, it's understandable to be wary. You should be. But plenty of monsters are good and helpful, too. The cleaning harpies at camp. Technically Chiron could be considered a monster like most centaurs. And Tyson here." He clapped the cyclops on the shoulder. "Best brother anyone could ask for. Don't tell Triton I said that."
Tyson, who may or may not have followed all of that, did get that last part as he suddenly burst into tears and threw his arms around Percy.
"You're the best big brother!"
Percy patted him where he could (difficult to do with his arms pinned to his sides). "I try, buddy. I'm not perfect, but I do try."
"Big?" Annabeth asked. From her expression, her entire world may have just turned upside down. Good. Percy hoped so.
"Well, I am older," Percy said. "Not even counting the future. Like I said, Tyson, here, is only eight, like I said." He smiled as Tyson finally put him down, using an arm to wipe away tears. "Fortunately, cyclopes aren't mortal."
Annabeth's eyes widened. "Wait. He was still alive. In the future, I mean."
Percy stiffened. He really didn't want to think of everyone who had died. Again. He also didn't want to think about how he'd left Tyson behind when he'd come back here. So he just turned back to the stove and the… fudge, how long had they not been stirring the pot?
"Yeah," he muttered.
Thankfully, she didn't press it. Sally came out just a couple of seconds later with a bundle of sheets and blankets in her hands, saying she'd fixed everything up so Annabeth could have clean sheets and privacy. The daughter of Athena still didn't seem to know what to say to that.
Sally and Annabeth set the table and they all sat down to eat the blue-dyed spaghetti that… actually looked less blue and more brown, but it tasted good. Thankfully, Annabeth seemed to perk up as the night wore on. By the time Sally brought out games to play afterwards, they were all laughing and joking, even if Annabeth avoided Tyson as much as she could. Ignoring was a step above actively hating and harassing. Baby steps.
When they finally cleaned up in preparation for bed, Annabeth tried one more time to get Sally to sleep in her own room, but his Mom would have none of it, setting up her own bed on the couch. Percy even asked his mom if she wanted his bed. He hated sleeping on the couch (he did not fit, even now) but he'd be willing to do it for those he loved.
Naturally, his mother rejected his offer and he just sighed in resignation. Tyson got his typical blanket and pillows spread on Percy's floor. He'd broken their air mattress long ago. Percy was considering filling one with water that he could keep control of, but didn't want to experiment in the apartment so his mom could get her deposit back. Annabeth went into his mother's room and locked the door while his mother finished setting up the couch and they all finally settled in.
Of course the third unexpected knock on the door woke them all up later that night. Tyson and Percy both sprang up, ready to fight before another knock on the front door had them relaxing a little.
"Stay here, buddy," Percy said quietly, grabbing Riptide. "I'm going to go see what's going on."
He'd already heard his mother get up. "I'm coming," she called out tiredly.
"Mom, no!" Percy said, rushing out of his room. "We have two demigods and a cyclops here!"
Sally blinked as her mind kept waking up from sleep. Then her brow furrowed in worry. "Right."
"Let me…" Percy said, sneaking up to the door and peeking out.
The sight that greeted him made him step back and wonder if he was still sleeping.
"What?!" Sally asked. "What is it?"
"Percy?" Annabeth's slurred voice came from down the hall. He almost didn't register because his mind wasn't wrapping around what he'd seen.
After several seconds, he looked through the hole again. No change.
He scrambled to unlock the door.
"Percy?!" his Mom said again, but then he threw open the door to face the old man standing there.
"What the…" he started, blinking and shaking his head. "Neptune? What are you doing here?"
xXx
AN: Dun, dun, DUNNNNN!
LOL! Well, I hope you enjoy this one! Note that this will be significantly longer than the other two. Just as a warning. So yeah, for those of you who are new, this is the third story (fourth if you count the one-shot) in a series. They are as follows and can be found on my author page:
1. It's The Mindset
2. Saving A Sunbeam
3. Regaining Perspective
4. (This one) The More Things Change
There will also be at least two (maybe three, haven't decided yet) more in this series.
For those of you who have been following and would like updates on Hubby, we're working on getting him home next month. Though I'm not sure how well that will go... and I'm worried, but also excited. I really want him home again. For those of you who don't know, he had a bleeding stroke last year and lost most of his ability to do more or less anything. He's getting much better now though.
That leads into my next comment: I've gotten a lot of comments saying "Wow! I love your work! It was so amazing! I want you to pay me to make it into a visual novel!" Which, yeah, would be cool, but I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY. Guys, I'm taking care of my severely handicapped husband. Please stop. I love revies, but I'd like ACTUAL reviews. If I keep getting them, I will have to start reporting them. I'd really prefer not to, so please, just don't.
Phew. Now that that's over with: I do read every single review I get. And I want to thank you all for reading this. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks to my beta readers and my tier 3 and 4 pa*trons: Srinikha, Snow, Asterius Daemon, Shadow Slayer, Starlight3, The Chromancer, Fiah, Pan_theytic_idiot, aaron E., Rayanne E., Splashbear, Shelby A., Rodger44777, and Quathis for their help on this!
Check out my discord for a link (#announcements or #Obis-podfics-and-youtube) to my youtube and my original book on Amazon! I do have more videos on writing and English in general if you're interested.
Discord: www. discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)