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Chapter Text

As per usual, Zeus and Poseidon were arguing about something or other during the council meeting, when there was a bright flash at the entrance of the hall, which dissipated into a group of teenagers and an older mortal. 

A moment later came another flash, in which a note appeared in Zeus' lap, along with a pile of books. "Ah, the work of the fates, of course." He commented, reading the note to himself, before reading it out loud.

'Gods, these are the stories of a possible future; one that will happen if you do not change your ways. We hope they will help you understand why you must change and soon.

The demigods and others are from this particular future and have lived through this.

Love, the fates'

"Introduce yourselves." Zeus ordered the group, before the thrones suddenly turned into a collection of couches and another note landed in his lap.

'Also we have taken away all your powers during this experience to ensure everyone's safety.'

Zeus sighed, before gesturing again to the group in front of them. After some squabbling, an androgynous looking person with navy hair was shoved forward. 

"Percy Jackson, genderfluid, she/her currently, daughter of Poseidon." 

"POSEIDON!" Zeus shouted to Poseidon.

"We've just been through this. You had a demigod child first." Poseidon replied, before patting the seat next to him, where Percy went and sat. 

After them came an older looking woman. "Sally Jackson, mortal who can see through the mist and mother of Percy Jackson." She went to sit next to her daughter.

The next person stepped forward, with gray eyes, and long, curly blonde hair. "Annabeth Chase, she/they, child of Athena." She went to sit with her mother. 

They were followed by a satyr, who introduced himself as Grover, and went to sit between Percy and Sally. 

The next person introduced herself as Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, and sat with her father. 

A punk rock teen with striking blue eyes came up after her, "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis." She made eye contact with her father before making a point of going to sit with Artemis, who looked a little upset, presumably realizing that it must mean that Zoë would die soon.

"Didn't you just turn her into a tree?" Demeter asked Zeus.

"Yes." He sighed.

Many of the demigods and others had a look of understanding at this, knowing when the gods were from. 

"It'll be explained how she's no longer a tree, I'm sure." Percy piped up, making the gods nod, and Zeus gesture for the next person to step up.

A girl with curly ginger hair stepped up next, and introduced herself as Rachel Elizabeth Dare, mortal and Oracle of Delphi, which made both Hades and Apollo smile, albeit for different reasons. After looking around the room, she went and sat with Apollo. 

She was followed by a younger teen who was clearly going through an emo phase. "Nico di Angelo, child of Hades, born before the oath." This last part was added hurriedly to prevent Zeus getting mad again. They went and sat with their father, who was looking at them intrigued, likely wondering where Bianca was and how they got out the hotel.

"Will Solace, son of Apollo." The next person said, stepping up and going to sit with his father. 

The rest of the group looked among themselves awkwardly, trying to work out who should go next, before eventually a native American looking person stepped forward. "Piper McLean, she/they, child of Aphrodite." They went to sit on the same couch as Aphrodite, but noticeably closer to Annabeth. 

"Leo Valdez, he/they, child of Hephaestus." He went and sat next to his father, and started fiddling with something or other. 

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Also born before the oath." All the gods looked at her and each other shocked that the Romans and Greeks knew of each other and weren't fighting, and it wasn't affecting them. Hazel went and sat with Nico, where Hades was even more shocked that she was even alive. 

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars." An Asian man came next, and sat a little way from his father. 

"Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Daughter of Bellona." She went and sat next to Annabeth, as Athena was the closest to her godly parent there (and she wanted to be near her partners).

"Gleeson Hedge, satyr." The next person grunted, going to sit with Clarisse and Ares.

"Calypso. Former Titan." She shrugged, looking around before awkwardly sitting next to Sally. 

"Meg McCaffrey. Daughter of Demeter." She went to sit next to her mother. 

"Lester. Mortal form of Apollo." The next person went to sit next to Will, and got surprised looks from most of the gods. 

"Magnus Chase, he/they, child of Frey." They looked around before deciding Apollo was probably the closest to their father and sat with his group. The gods also looked shocked that there were Norse demigods in the room as well.

"Alex Fierro. Genderfluid, he/him for now, child of Loki." He went and sat next to Magnus. 

"Sam al-Abbas. Daughter of Loki." She went to sit with Alex, and coincidentally also next to Hermes. 

"Blitzen, dwarf and son of Freya." He went to sit with Aphrodite, as she seemed fashion inclined. 

"Hearthstone, elf." He signed, with Blitz translating. He went to sit next to Blitz.

"Mallory Keen, daughter of Frigga." She ended up sat next to Hera. 

"TJ, son of Tyr." He went and sat with Ares and his children. 

"Halfborn Gunderson, Viking mortal." The last person introduced himself, sitting with TJ. 

"These books have been enchanted so you can all read them." Zeus announced, picking the first book up, before muttering below his breath, "although I don't see why.

"It has been suggested that the books are read by people that aren't the main characters." He added to the group.

"How are we meant to know who's in each book?" Demeter asked.

"Context. We've all lived through this so can probably work it out, besides only Percy and I have met Magnus and his friends, so most of us won't be in the books about them and vice versa." Annabeth explained.

"That makes sense I guess. What's the first book called?" Asked Artemis.

"Percy Jackson and the lightning thief." Zeus read the title. 

"Of course we're starting here." Percy muttered. "This is the story of my first summer at camp, age 12. Most of you won't be in this." She added, loud enough for everyone to hear. 

"I'll read first." Sam offered, getting passed the book. "Ok. Percy Jackson and the lightning thief.

Chapter 1: I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-algebra Teacher"

Chapter Text

"I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-algebra Teacher."

"How do you accidentally vaporize a Teacher?" Leo asked, confused. 

"By not knowing what on earth I'm doing." Percy replied.

"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood." 

"Absolutely."

"I agree."

"Definitely." All the demigods commented, all at the same time.

"If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:" 

"Oh no, Kelp Head trying to give advice." Thalia lamented.

"Oh, haha." Percy chuckled. 

"close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."

"That's decent advice, if it worked." Thalia decided.

"Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways." 

"Yep, yep and yep." 

"I can personally attest to that." Magnus chuckled, leaning on Alex, who put an arm around him and hummed in response, making Sam roll her eyes, before turning back to the book.

"If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened."

"Same." Leo chuckled.

"But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"You didn't warn me." Leo shouted.

"How was I meant to?"

"My name is Percy Jackson." 

"No, it's Samirah al-Abbas." Alex smirked at her, making her roll her eyes.

"I'm twelve years ago. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Am I a troubled kid?"

"Yes!" Almost anyone who knew Percy shouted.

"Rude." She muttered.

"Yeah. You could say that." 

"I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things started going really bad last May, when our sixth-grade class to a field trip to .......... the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff." 

Annabeth and Sam perked up at this.

"I know- it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were." 

"What?" Athena asked, shocked.

"It was more the school and the other pupils than the trip itself, Lady Athena." Percy spoke up.

"But Mr Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. 

Mr Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."

"Is that who I think it is?" Annabeth asked with a twinkle in her eye, earning a nod from Percy.

"I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

Boy, was I wrong.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway." 

"You accidentally blew up the school bus?" Nico asked, surprised.

"Yes." She muttered.

"And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong level on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim." 

"I genuinely thought the teacher told me to. Now I think about it, it was probably the sharks." Percy commented.

"Seaweed brain." Annabeth shook her head. 

"And the time before that... Well, you get the idea." 

"No, keep going!" Hermes, Leo and Alex all shouted.

"This trip, I was determined to be good ..........

Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in [Grover's] curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't anything to her because I was already on probation.

The headmaster had threatened me by death-"

"WHAT????" Poseidon shouted.

"Sam, continue." Percy told her.

by-in-school-suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip."

"Oh." Poseidon realised.

"'I'm going to kill her,' I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. 'It's okay. I like peanut butter.'"

"Not in your hair, Grover. Not in your hair." Piper told him.

"He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. 

'That's it.' I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. 

'You're already on probation,' he reminded me. 'You know who'll get blamed if anything happens.'

Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there."

"I forgot how violent 12 year old Percy was." Annabeth commented, chuckling a little.

"In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into."

"Surely, you'd have just ended up with both?" Piper asked.

"Probably." Percy shrugged.

"Mr Brunner led the museum tour. 

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years."

"Longer child." Hera sneered. 

"He gathered us around a four-metre-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to stay, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other chaperone, Mrs Dodds, would give me the evil eye." 

"Percy, finding something interesting?" Annabeth asked, faking shock, making Percy roll her eyes.

"I hate that they do that." Leo muttered at the same time.

"Mrs Dodds was this little maths teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last maths teacher had a nervous breakdown. "

"It was probably Percy's fault." Thalia joked. 

"Thanks Thals." 

"From her first day, Mrs Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn."

"Actually, that's her." Percy whispered to Grover. 

"She would point her crooked fingers at me and say, 'Now, honey,' real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old maths workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious and said, 'You're absolutely right.' "

"You're a terrible liar Grover." Thalia informed him.

"Mr Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, 'Will you shut up?' 

It came out louder than I meant it to."

"Always does." Leo and Alex responded, making Sam roll her eyes at them.

"The whole group laughed. Mr Brunner stopped his story.

'Mr Jackson,' he said, 'did you have a comment?'

My face was totally red. I said, 'No, sir.'

Mr Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. 'Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?'

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. 'That's Kronos eating his kids, right?' "

"It's always that story." Hestia complained. 

"'Yes,' Mr Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. 'And he did this because...'

'Well...' I racked my brain to remember. 'Kronos was the king god, and-'"

"GOD?" Zeus roared.

"I was corrected, don't worry." Percy smiled.

"'God?' Mr Brunner asked.

'Titan,' I corrected myself. 'And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-'

'Eeew!' Said one of the girls behind me."

"Living through it was worse." Hestia complained.

"He should have eaten cereal instead." Demeter complained, causing Hades and Nico to roll their eyes.

"'-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,' I continued, 'and the gods won.'"

"I'm impressed, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth chuckled, winking at her. 

"Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, 'Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, "Please explain why Kronos ate his kids"'.

'And why, Mr Jackson,' Brunner said, 'to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?'"

"Busted." Leo chuckled, making Percy and Grover chuckle too, and Sam try to hide her giggle.

"'Busted,' Grover muttered.

'Shut up,' Nancy hissed, her face even brighter than her hair."

"Is that even possible?" Hazel asked, confused.

"Yes!" Most of the Norse shouted, looking towards Mallory, while those who were close to Rachel had the same reaction, while looking at her. 

"At least Nancy got in trouble, too. Mr Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears."

"Maybe horse ears?" Will suggested, wanting to make the joke but not reveal Mr Brunner's true identity. Those who were aware of this laughed, and others from camp half-blood realised who he was.

"I thought about his question, and shrugged. 'I don't know, sir.'

'I see.' Mr Brunner looked disappointed. 'Well, half credit Mr Jackson.................

The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, It's time for lunch. Mrs Dodds would you lead us back outside?'"

"Happy note?" Clarisse asked. No one had a response to this.

"The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around like doofuses."

"Boys." Artemis sighed, shaking her head.

"Grover and I were about to follow when Mr Brunner said, 'Mr Jackson'.

I knew that was coming."

"You have prophetic powers?" Apollo asked, excitedly.

"No, I just knew him really well." Percy smiled a little at his enthusiasm.

"I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned towards Mr Brunner 'Sir?' 

Mr Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and seen everything.

'You must learn the answer to my question,' Mr Brunner told me.

'About the Titans?'

'About real life and how your studies apply to it '"

"I definitely know that now." Percy threw her hands up, causing those who had known her the longest to chuckle.

"'Oh.'

'What you learn from me,' he said, 'is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will only expect the best from you, Percy Jackson.'

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: 'What ho!' And challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped."

"That sounds amazing." Sam stooped reading to gasp.

"You think that because you're a nerd." Alex informed her.

"Thanks." She responded, sarcastically, before picking the book back up.

"But Mr Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No- he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr Brunner took one long look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral."

"Maybe... he had." Annabeth said in a way that seemed ridiculous but would be seen as real for everyone who had worked out who Mr Brunner was, causing all the teenagers to chuckle.

"He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along 5th Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in."

"What are you two arguing about now?" Hades asked, glaring at his brothers. 

"How are we meant to know?" Poseidon complained. 

"Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers."

"Poor pigeons." Piper complained.

"Nah, pigeons suck." Magnus mentioned.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Magnus Chase?" Mallory asked, affronted.

"Oh, shut up. Sam, continue." Magnus muttered, hiding a little behind Alex.

"Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's bag, and, of course, Mrs Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school- the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

'Detention?' Grover asked.

'Nah,' I said. 'Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean- I'm not a genius.'

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, 'Can I have your apple?'"

"Ah, good old Goat Boy." Thalia chuckled, earning confused looks from the Norse contingent. 

"I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it."

"Percy not having an appetite? Something must be really wrong!" Leo lamented.

"Thanks Leo." Percy rolled her eyes, before blowing them a kiss.

"I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where I sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand the sad look She'd give me." 

Sally stood up and pulled Percy into a quick hug, before sitting back down.

"Mr Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafè table."

"What is wrong with your brain?" Piper asked, laughing incredulously.

"It's full of Seaweed." Annabeth told her.

"I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends- I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists- and dumped her half-eaten sandwich in Grover's lap.

'Oops.' She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos."

"Eww." Aphrodite squealed, too high pitched and loud. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Nico, and Magnus all covered their ears at the sound, it setting their sensory issues off. While the majority of them recovered quickly, it took Annabeth and Magnus a bit longer. Annabeth buried her face in Reyna's chest while they tried to calm down, while Magnus did the same with Alex's shoulder. 

Once they had both recovered enough, Sam continued reading.

"I tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, 'Count to ten, get control of your temper.'"

"That does not help. At all." Reyna complained, while still holding a rather sensitive Annabeth close. 

"But I was so mad my mind went blank.A wave roared in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, 'Percy pushed me!'

Mrs Dodds materialised next to us."

"Monster!" Leo shouted, earning some glares as Nico and Magnus got overwhelmed again by the noise. 

"Some of the kids were whispering: 'Did you see-'

'-the water-'

'- like it grabbed her-'

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. 'Now, honey-'

'I know,' I grumbled. 'A month erasing textbooks.'

That wasn't the right thing to say."

"It never is." Alex said, directly to Percy.

'Come with me,' Mrs Dodds said.

'Wait!' Grover yelped. 'It was me. I pushed her.'

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs Dodds scared Grover to death."

"Holy Shit, Grover. You are insanely brave and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Annabeth insisted.

"She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

'I don't think so, Mr Underwood,' she said.

'But-'

'You - will - stay - here.'

Grover looked at me desperately.

'It's okay, man,' I told him. 'Thanks for trying.'

'Honey,' Mrs Dodds barked at me. 'Now.'

Nancy Bobofit smirked.

I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare."

"Scary." Hazel smiled.

"I then turned to face Mrs Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe  and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. "

"Yeah, that sucks. It's called dissociation by the way." Will commented.

"I wasn't so sure.

I went after Mrs Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting hid eyes between me and Mr Brunner, like he wanted Mr Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

I looked back up. Mrs Dodds had disappeared again.

She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall..........

Mrs Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front a  marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverise it...

'You've been giving us problems, honey,' she said.

I did the safe thing."

"Percy doing the safe thing?" Thalia asked, feigning shock.

"I do. Very occasionally." She shrugged.

"I said, 'Yes, ma'am.'

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. 'Did you really think you would get away with it?'

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. 

I said, 'I'll- I'll try harder, ma'am.'

Thunder shook the building."

"Did you send this monster after my son, brother?" Poseidon hissed to Zeus.

"Wrong brother." Percy whispered to Grover, making him chuckle.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson,' Mrs Dodds said. 'It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.'

I didn't know what she was talking about.

All I could think was...........

'Well?' She demanded.

'Ma'am, I don't...'

'Your time is up,' she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shrivelled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

'What ho, Percy!' He shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. 

Mrs Dodds lunged at me.

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen any more. It was a sword - Mr Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs Dodds spun towards me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.

She snarled, 'Die, honey!'

And she flew straight at me.

Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she was made of water. Hissss!

Mrs Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporised on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulphur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I was alone."

"Prissy, what the fuck?" Clarisse asked.

"There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something."

"Magic mushrooms? Really Perce?" Piper laughed.

"Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside. 

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tended over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, 'I hope Mrs Kerr whipped your butt.'"

"Who?" At least 10 people asked.

"I said, 'Who?'

'Our teacher. Duh!'

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.

She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

I asked Grover where Mrs Dodds was.

He said, 'Who?'

But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me."

"You really need to learn how to lie, Grover." Thalia told him.

"'Not funny, man,' I told him. 'This is serious.'

I saw Mr Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.

I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. 'Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr Jackson.'

I handed it over. I hadn't even realised I was still holding it.

'Sir,' I said, 'Where's Mrs Dodds?'

He stared at me blankly. 'Who?'

'The other chaperone. Mrs Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.'

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. 'Percy, there is no Mrs Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there had never been a Mrs Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?'"

"That's how you lie." Percy whispered to Grover.

"That's the end of the chapter." Sam announced. "Does someone else want to read or shall I continue?"

"I'll read while I can." Rachel put her hand up. Sam passed the book down to her.

"Chapter 2. Three old ladies knit the socks of death."

Chapter Text

"Chapter 2: Three old ladies knit the socks of death."

"What is going on with these chapter titles?" Alex chuckled, before seeing the expressions on everyone else's faces. "Ok, what am I missing?"

"Percy, you saw the fates?" Annabeth asked, shocked.

"Yeah." She nodded, uncomfortable with the way everyone was looking at her.

"Coral?" Leo asked, terrified.

"I'm OK, I'm still here, aren't I?" She pointed out. Leo didn't seem convinced, and ran over to Percy, curling up in her lap. "I'm not the one who died, am I?" She whispered to him.

"Hmph. Don't remind me."

"I'm sorry. I miss him too." She held Leo tighter. 

"Are you two done with your private conversation? Should I start reading?" Rachel asked teasingly.

"You're just jealous because you can't be in a relationship." Percy shot back. "But, yes, start."

"I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing a trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs Kerr- a perky blonde woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip- had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas."

"Wow. I knew the Mist was strong, but that strong?" Sally asked, surprised. 

"Every so often I would spring a Mrs Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was some psycho.

It got so I almost believed them- Mrs Dodds had never existed."

"It was Goat Boy wasn't it?" Thalia cackled.

"Almost.

But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. I knew he was lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat."

"She still hates you for that and because you still call her Mrs Dodds." Nico informed Percy, making her chuckle.

"Great. I'll keep calling her that then."

"Wait. Which one of them was it?" Hades asked, as the book's description didn't allow him to work out which of the Furies it was.

"Alecto." Nico shrugged.

"Of course." Hades rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat. 

"The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in Hudson Valley touched down only 50 miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year."

Everyone turned towards Zeus and Poseidon, who complained that they had no idea what was going on. 

"I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it felt good."

"Percy!" Sally reprimanded.

"Sorry." She hid her face in Leo's curls, pressing a kiss to the top of their head. 

"He didn't care about your dyslexia?" Frank asked.

"You'd be surprised how little teachers do." Piper said. Most of the others who had experience with schools agreed.

"There's a reason I chose to have Alecto tutor me in Math, rather than go back to public school." Nico told him.

"I assumed that reason was you disappearing for 70 years?" Percy teased.

"Well, that too, kelp head."

"The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy."

"Dang, Jackson? Is that 6 for 6? Impressive. Not even our little Firebug over there could do that." Piper commented. 

"Thanks." Percy chuckled. 

"Rude, Pipes." Leo mock complained to her at the same time.

"Fine, I told myself. Just fine.

I was homesick.

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties."

"Paul plays poker?" Nico asked, confused.

"No, my ex-stepfather." Percy gritted her teeth.

"And yet.... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees." 

"The best smell." Magnus sighed.

"I'll have to respectfully disagree with you there." Thalia shuddered. Annabeth walked over to wrap an arm around her. 

"I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me."

"Aww, thanks Percy."

"Anytime, G-man." 

The two of them cracked up a little, making Annabeth and Thalia roll their eyes.

"I'd miss Latin class, too- Mr Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I was starting to believe him." 

"Smart." Reyna commented. 

"Thanks. I have my moments." Percy smiled over at her. 

"The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge guide to Greek Mythology across the dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces."

"I was wrong. I definitely know now." Percy shrugged.

"And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.

I remembered Mr Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.

I took a deep breath. I picked up the Mythology book. I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat 'F' I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.

I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. 

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said '... worried about Percy, sir.'

"You really heard that whole conversation?" Grover asked.

"Sorry G-Man, but yeah." 

"I froze.

I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.

I inched closer."

"I would be mad at you Percy, but I probably would've done the same." Sally smiled, moving a little closer to her daughter.

"'... alone this summer,' Grover was saying. 'I mean, a kindly one in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-'

'We would only make matters worse by rushing him,' Mr Brunner said. 'We need the boy to mature more.'

Percy scowled at this, making Piper ask, "are you scowling at the conversation or being referred to as 'the boy'"?

"Let's go with both." She decided, resting her chin on the top of Leo's head.

"'But he may not have time. The summer Solstice deadline-'

'Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can.'"

"That's a great plan." Clarisse huffed, knowing exactly how well that went.

"'Sir, he saw her...'

'His imagination,' Mr Brunner insisted. 'The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that.'

'Sir, I... I can't fail my duties again.' Grover's voice was choked with emotion. 'You know what that would mean.'

'You haven't failed, Grover,'"

"Either time." Thalia and Annabeth insisted at the same time.

Everyone who didn't know what had happened the first time Grover 'failed' looked over at them, confused.

" Mr Brunner said kindly. 'I should've seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next Autumn -'"

"One step at a time." Alex chuckled.

"Sorry you heard that Perce." Grover seemed very sincere on this.

"It's not your fault, G-man. Besides, it wasn't you who said that."

"The Mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud."

"Never give away your position." Hermes groaned. 

"Mr Brunner went silent.

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.

A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound of an animal snuffling right outside the door. A large dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr Brunner spoke.

'Nothing,' he murmured. 'My nerves haven't been right since the winter Solstice.'

'Mine neither,' Grover said. 'But I could have sworn...'

'Go back to the dorm' Mr Brunner told him. 'You've got a long day of exams tomorrow.'

'Don't remind me.'

The lights went out in Mr Brunner's office.

I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever."

"You got away with that?" Alex asked, shocked. Others had the same reaction.

"Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.

Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

'Hey,' he said, bleary-eyed. 'You going to be ready for this test?'

I didn't answer.

'You look awful.' He frowned. 'Is everything okay?'

'Just... tired.'

I turned so he couldn't see my expression, and started getting ready for bed.

I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to belive I'd imagined the whole thing."

"It would certainly be easier." Percy mused.

"But you wouldn't have me." Leo pouted, making her chuckle, and give them a quick kiss.

"You and Beth make it all worth it." She whispered back.

"But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr Brunner called me back inside."

"A three hour exam? That sounds like torture, and I'm fluent in Latin." Reyna complained, surprising most people. 

"Honestly, I forgot how bad it was because of what happened next." Percy shrugged. "Rachel, continue."

"For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

'Percy,' he said. 'Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's... it's for the best.'

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could still hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, 'Okay, sir.'

'I mean...' Mr Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. 'This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.' 

My eyes stung.

Here was my favourite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

'Right,' I said, trembling.

'No, no,' Mr Brunner said. 'Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-'

'Thanks,' I blurted. 'Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.'

'Percy-'

But I was already gone.

On the last day of term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase 

.............

What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the autumn."

"Percy." Sally scolded. "None of that was yours to worry about."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I just wanted to take some of the load of you.

'Oh,' one of the guys said. 'That's cool.' 

They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.

The only person I dreaded saying goodbye to was Grover but, as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted more nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't stand it any more.

I said, 'Lookimg for Kindly Ones?'"

"Way to scare the living daylights out of him, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth teased.

"Sorry, Wise Girl, it's the ADHD."

"I have ADHD too, dumbass."

"Oh, I know." Percy smirked over at her. 

"Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. 'Wha- what do you mean?'

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. 'How much did you hear?'

'Oh... not much. What's the summer-solstice deadline?'

'He winced. 'Look, Percy... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon maths teachers....'

'Grover-'

'And I was telling Mr Brunner that maybe you were overstretched or something, because there was no such person as Mrs Dodds, and....'

'Grover, you're a really, really bad liar.'

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. 'Just take this, okay? In case you need Mr this summer.'

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like: 

Grover Underwood, Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800)009~0009

"

"If all you Greek demigods have dyslexia, then Why's it in fancy script?" Sam asked, causing all the Greek demigods, others that had spent a reasonable amount of time at Camp Half-blood, and Sally to stare at Dionysius, who stared back at them. After about 5 minutes of this, he finally gave in.

"Fine. I'll change it. Happy?"

"What's Half-'

'Don't say it aloud!' He yelped. 'That's my, um... summer address.'

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others a Yancy.

'Okay,' I said glumly. 'So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion.'

He nodded. 'Or... or if you need me.'"

"Are we telling Percy he's a demigod or not? I'm confused now." Reyna complained.

"Not, but Grover's a terrible liar." Annabeth explained, coming to sit in her lap. 

"'Why would I need you?'

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. 'Look, Percy, I kind of have to protect you.'

I stared at him.

All year long, I'd gotten into fights keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defeated me.

'Grover,' I said, 'what exactly are you protecting me from?' 

There was a huge grinding noise beneath our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road- no place yous notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across 4 lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood-red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of the maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left kitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandanas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me. I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. 

'Grover?' I said. 'Hey, man-'

'Tell me they're not looking at you. They are. Aren't they?'

'Yeah. Weird, huh? You think this socks would fit me?'

'Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all.'

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors- gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

'Were getting on the bus,' he told me. 'Come on.'

'What?' I said. 'It's a thousand degrees in there.'

'Come on!' He prised open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.

Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear the snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up their electric blue socks, leaving me wonder who they could possibly be for- Sasquatch or Godzilla."

"Hey, Wise Girl, what do they do they actually do with the socks?"

"What is wrong with your mind, Percy?" Annabeth replied, sighing.

"I don't know."

"They like to try and put the bright socks up in my Palace. Weirdly enough I always spot them. I don't know what they do with the others though." Hades chimed in.

"Interesting." Percy mused.

"I've just worked it out!" Annabeth explained, getting confused looks from everyone.

"What have you worked out?" Percy asked.

"The string."

"Huh. Explain to me later to avoid spoilers."

"Alright." She nodded, letting Rachel continue.

"At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenchef a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

'Darn right!' Yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. 'Everybody back on board!'

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.

Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering."

"It's because the bus was too hot." Reyna informed them.

"Sounds about right." Percy chuckled.

"'Grover?'

"Yeah?'

'What are you not telling me?'

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. 'Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?'

'You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like... Mrs Dodds, are they?'

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling they the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs Dodds. He said, 'Just tell me what you saw.'

'The middle one took out her scissors and she cut the yarn.'

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might have been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost - older.

He said, 'You saw her snip the cord.'

'Yeah. So?' But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.

'This is not happening,' Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. 'I don't want this to be like the last time.'

'What last time?'

'Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth.'

'Grover,' I said, because he was really starting to scare me. 'What are you talking about?'

'Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me.'

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could."

"5 drachma Percy didn't stick to that promise." Leo declared.

"Sure." Meg declared.

"'Is this like a superstition or something?' I asked. No answer.

'Grover - that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?'

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking out the kind of flowers I'd like on my coffin."

"That's the end of the chapter." Rachel declared. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will." Reyna said; Rachel got up and handed the book to her. 

"Can we have a break soon?" Leo asked. "I need to run around or something."

"We can have a break after the next chapter." Hestia suggested.

"Can we have food too? I'm hungry." Halfborn asked.

"Sure, you can eat during the break."

"Great."

"Ok, are we ready to start the next chapter?" Reyna asked. When boone said anything else, she started. 

"Chapter 3: Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Trousers."

Chapter Text

"Chapter 3: Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Trousers 

Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal."

Meg groaned, getting up to hand Leo 5 drachma. He smiled, curling up tighter in Percy's lap. 

"I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering, 'Why does this always happen?' and 'Why does it always have to be sixth grade?'

Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.

'East One hundred and Fourth and First Avenue,' I told the driver.'"

At Alex's smirk, Percy quickly blurted out, "I don't live there anymore."

"A word about my mother, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck."

"Oh, Percy!" Sally moved so that she was sitting next to Percy, and wrapped an arm around her. 

"I feel awkward infringing on this family moment." Leo tried to get up from Percy's lap, but she grabbed him back down.

"I need support for this next bit." She whispered in their ear. Leo nodded, curling back up.

"Her own parents died in a plane cash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing programme. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school in her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family and no diploma. 

The only good break she got was meeting my dad.

I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of a smile."

"POSEIDON? Did you visit your son as a baby?" Zeus asked, angry.

"Most of us did." Hades shrugged.

"It's basically just you that doesn't." Apollo told Zeus.

"My Mom doesn't like to talk about him because it made her sad. She has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and never came back."

"Impressive. She didn't lie, but didn't let out the secret." Reyna commented.

"That's Aunt Sally for you." Nico smiled.

"Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid."

"It's not your fault, Percy." Sally reminded her daughter.

"I know, but I'm still sorry. And I'm sorry for what's about to happen. I was scared to tell you."

"Percy..."

"It's ok. He's gone now." Sally nodded, pulling Percy close.

Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colours as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. Im sorry but it's the truth. The guy reeked like mouldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts. 

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along... Well, when I came home is a good example."

Percy groaned, burying her face in Leo's hair. Annabeth saw this, and wriggled away from Reyna's lap, to go and sit between Percy and her father, for extra support. They rested her head on Percy's free shoulder.

"I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television was blaring. Crisps and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet. 

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, 'So you're home.'

'Where's my mom?'

'Working,' he said. 'You got any cash?'

That was it. No welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something."

Aphrodite retched.

"He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting pay cheques, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our 'guy secret'. Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out."

Percy covered her ears and whined to block out everyone's protests at this. Noticing this, Reyna quickly kept reading.

"'I don't have any cash,' I told him.

He raised a greasy eyebrow.

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.

'You took a taxi from the bus station,' he said. 'Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?'

Eddie, the superintendent of the apartment building,  looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. 'Come on Gabe,' he said. 'The kid just got here.'

'Am I right?' Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. "

"I'm sorry. I had no idea." Sally gently rubbed circles on her daughter's back. 

"It's alright Mom. He's gone now. " 

"The other two guys passed gas in harmony.

'Fine,' I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. 'I hope you lose.'

'Your report card came, brain boy!' He shouted after me. 'I wouldn't act so snooty.'

I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's 'study'. He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on the windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.

Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn."

Annabeth cuddled up closer to Percy, knowing how much she struggled with strong smells, and pressed a kiss on her cheek. 

"But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic- how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone- something - was looking for me right now, maybe pounding it's way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons."

"There was another attack while I wasn't there?" Grover squeaked.

"Then I heard my mom's voice. 'Percy?'

She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.

My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change colour in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few grey streaks in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I'd never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anything, not even me or Gabe.

'Oh, Percy.' She hugged me tight. 'I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!'

Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like all the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd bought me a huge bag of 'free samples', the way she always did when I came home. 

We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know about everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? 

I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, 'Hey, Sally- how about some bean dip, huh?'

I gritted my teeth.

My Mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.

For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really had. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit didn't seem so bad.

Until that trip to the museum...

'What?' My Mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. 'Did something scare you?'

'No, mom.' 

I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn but I thought it would sound stupid."

"That'll come back to bite you in the ass, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth sighed.

"Well, duh, Wise Girl." Percy rolled her eyes, pressing a kiss to the top of their head.

"She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.

'I have a surprise for you,' she said. 'We're going to the beach.'

My eyes widened. 'Montauk?'"

"You still went there?" Poseidon gasped.

"It's special." Sally shrugged.

"'Three nights- same cabin.'

'When?'

She smiled. 'As soon as I get changed.' 

I couldn't believe it. My Mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.

Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, 'Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?' 

I wanted to punch him, but I met my Mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.

'I was on my honey,' she told Gabe. 'We were just talking about the trip.'

Gabe's eyes got small. 'The trip? You were serious about that?'

'I knew it,' I muttered. 'He won't let us go.'

'Of course he will,' my mom said evenly. 'Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides,' she added, 'Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works.'"

"Aunt Sally makes great seven layer dip." Nico piped up, surprising everyone, after having been quiet for a while.

"Gabe softened a bit. 'So this money for your trip... it comes out if your clothes budget, right?'

'Yes, honey,' my mother said."

Aphrodite blanched at this.

"'And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back.'

'We'll be very careful.'

Gabe scratched his double chin. 'Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game.'

Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.

But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.

Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?

'I'm sorry,' I muttered. 'I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now.'"

"You are too sarcastic for your own good." Alex chuckled. 

"So are you." Magnus pointed out.

"And you, Chase." Sam sighed. 

"Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement. 

'Yeah, whatever,' he decided.

He went back to his game. 

'Thank you, Percy,' my mom said. 'Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?'

For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes- the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride- as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air. 

But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair, and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip. 

An hour later we were ready to leave.

Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking- and more important, his '78 Camaro for the whole weekend. 

'Not a scratch on this car, brain boy,' he warned me as I loaded the last bag."

"You were twelve? You wouldn't have been driving?" Hazel asked, confused.

"Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.

Watching him lumber towards the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain."

"Isn't that everything you do?" Rachel asked, laughing.

"As Gabe reached the doorway, I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement towards Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon."

There was a collective gasp at this.

"Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out. 

I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.

Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken in the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets an d spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in."

Annabeth shivered at the mention of spiders.

"I loved the place.

We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew  why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad. 

As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the colour of the sea.

We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work. 

I guess I should explain the blue food."

"Please!" Almost everyone who had met Percy after the Battle of the Labyrinth exclaimed. 

"See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But even since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This- along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs Ugliano- was proof that she wasn't completely suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me. "

"You don't have a rebellious streak, Kelp Head. You have an obedience streak." Thalia smiled.

"Screw you, Grace. Wise Girl over here has broken more camp rules than me."

"You know what, Seaweed Brain, that's fair." Annabeth chuckled, snaking an arm around Percy's waist. 

"When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.

Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk- my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.

'He was kind, Percy,' she said. 'Tall, handsome and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes.' "

"Hmm, no. Don't see it." Nico chuckled, looking between Poseidon and Percy, and earning themself a light slap on the arm from their sister.

"Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. 'I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.'"

"I am." Poseidon insisted, reaching over Annabeth and grabbing Percy's hand, making her smile.

"I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.

'How old was I?' I asked. 'I mean... when he left?'

She watched the flames. 'He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin.'

'But... he knew me as a baby.'

'No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born.' 

I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.

I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told he'd never even seen me...

I felt angry at my father."

"I don't anymore. I understand." Percy quickly insisted.

"Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.

'Are you going to send me again?' I asked her. 'To another boarding school?'

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.

'I don't know, honey.' Her voice was heavy. 'I think... I think we'll have to do something.' 

'Because you don't want me around?' I regretted the words as soon as they were out. 

My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. 'Oh, Percy, no. I- I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away.'

Her words reminded me of what Mr Brunner had said- that it was best for me to leave Nancy Academy. 

'Because I'm not normal.' I said.

'You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe.'

'Safe from what?'

She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me- all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.

During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

Before that- a really early memory. I was in pre school and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My Mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangled to death with my meaty toddler hands."

Everyone turned to stare at Percy, who looked very embarrassed, once again burying her face in Leo's curls. 

"Like Hercules?" Apollo asked, causing Percy to squeeze her eyes shut, and Annabeth to hold her close. 

"In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.

I knew I should tell my mom about the ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my maths teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.

'I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could,' my mom said. 'They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy. The place your father wanted to send you... I just can't stand to do it.'

'My father wanted me to go to a special school?' 

'Not a school,' she said softly. 'A summer camp.'

My head was spinning. Why would my dad- who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born- talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she mentioned it before?

'I'm sorry, Percy,' she said, seeing the look in my eyes. 'But I can't talk about it. I- I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying goodbye to you for good.'

'For good? But if it's only a summer camp..'

She turned towards the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.

That night I had a vivid dream."

"Ah, I do love the weirdness of demigod dreams." Piper smiled.

"Not when they're scary though." Leo reminded her.

"It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden Eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The Eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I ran towards them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the Eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!

I woke with a start.

Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There were no horses or eagles on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and five-metre-high waves pounding the dunes like artillery."

Hestia rolled her eyes, and shook her head, at the actions of her brothers.

"With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, 'Hurricane.'

I knew that was crazy. Long Island never saw hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice- someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover."

"Percy?" Annabeth sighed.

"Yes darling." She smiled at her.

"Why are you so dramatic?"

"Family trait." Thalia chuckled. 

"'Searching all night,' he gasped. 'What were you thinking?'

My mother looked at me in terror- not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

'Percy,' she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. 'What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?'

I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.

' O Zeu kai alloi theoi!'  He yelled. 'It's right behind me. Didn't you tell her?'

I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly."

"What does it mean?" Alex asked, excited.

"Zeus and all the other gods." Annabeth translated.

"Oh, that's boring." Alex sagged back against Magnus's chest.

"I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had got here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his trousers on- and where his legs should be... where his legs should be...

My Mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tome she'd never used before: 'Percy. Tell me now!' 

I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs Dodds, and my Mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

SHe grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, 'Get to the car. Both of you. Go!' 

Grover ran for the Camaro- but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.

Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves."

"As I said, Perce, overdramatic." Annabeth pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

"I'm done." Reyna said. "Who wants to read next?"

"I thought we were getting a break?" Leo pouted. 

"We are. I just want to know who to pass the book to."

"Oh, ok." 

"I'll read, Rey." Piper said, grabbing the book while resting her head on Reyna's shoulder. 

Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and a doorway appeared, as well as two people, both of whom looked like they spent a lot of time outside in nature.

Chapter Text

The new arrivals turned towards each other, a little confused, before introducing themselves to each other. 

"Love?" Lester asked, looking over towards them.

"Polly!" The taller one smiled, running over to him, pulling him close. 

"Dad?" Magnus asked, unsure.

"Magnus, my boy." Frey smiled, pulling away from Lester to give them a hug. 

Upon realizing everyone was looking at something behind them, Nico turned back and smiled. "Seph?" They asked, unsure if she recognized or liked them. 

"Nico, darling." She smiled, opening up her arms to them. They climbed over the couch to hug her. 

"My dove." Hades smiled, also walking over to her. 

"Wait? When are they from?" Piper asked.

"I guessing the same time as us, as Lester seems to be in a relationship with someone that Apollo isn't." Annabeth suggested.

"That makes sense, I guess." 

"I'm going to investigate the doorway." Alex decided, walking towards it, quickly followed by Leo. "There's food in here." He announced, sticking his head back out. 

All the mortals quickly walked into the room where there was a buffet table and some long tables so they could all sit together. 

"Annabeth. You said you'd tell me who's string I saw the fates cut." Percy walked over to them, wrapping an arm around her. 

"Yeah, I want to know too." Grover walked over to them, along with a few other people. 

"All right. Rey, Sam, Leo, Meg, I'm not going to tell you because it's spoilers for you." They walked away, despondent.

"The hero of the first great prophecy. Who we all thought was Percy." 

"Ah! That makes sense." Nico decided, before walking over to the buffet table, where almost everyone else was.

A few minutes later, the group had separated out into small groups. Reyna, Leo and Alex were having a conversation in Spanish; Sam was intrigued by the Greeks so had gone over to Annabeth, where they were joined by Magnus and Piper; Blitz, Hearth, Hazel and Frank were having a conversation about magic; Clarisse, Hedge, TJ and Halfborn were sat together, discussing the merits of different weapons; Sally, Grover,  Rachel, Thalia and Meg were having a conversation about nature, which Magnus joined after having caught up with his cousin, along with Nico and Will.

After they had all eaten, and moved around a bit, they returned to the main room to continue reading, in approximately the same arrangement as before. 

"Alright. Are we ready to continue?" Piper asked. 

"Wait, we don't know who most of you are." Frey asked, from his seat between Lester and Magnus. 

Everyone reintroduced themselves, going around the circle, starting with Zeus (obviously). 

"Zeus, leader of the Greek gods and God of the sky."

"Poseidon. God of the sea, and unfortunately his brother."

"Annabeth Chase. She/they, child of Athena, and yes, Magnus is my cousin."

"Percy Jackson.  I'm genderfluid and currently using he/they pronouns, child of Poseidon."

"Leo Valdez, he/they, child of Hephaestus." Leo was once again sat on Percy's lap.

"Sally Jackson. She/her, mortal who can see through the mist and mother of Percy Jackson."

"What's the mist?" Frey asked.

"The Greek version of the Glamour." Magnus answered him, having asked the same question previously.

"Grover. He/him. Satyr."

"Calypso. She/her Sorceress and former immortal."

They then moved onto the next couch round.

"Hermes. God of travellers and thieves and son of Zeus."

"Sam al-Abbas, she/her, Valkyrie and daughter of Loki." She scowled at this.

"Alex Fierro, genderfluid, he/him currently, also a child of Loki, unfortunately."

"Magnus Chase, he/they, child of Frey."

"Frey. Norse god of summer and Fertility."

"Lester. Mortal form of Apollo."

"Apollo. God of music, healing, poetry and the sun."

"Will Solace. He/him. I'm the camp medic and son of Apollo."

"Rachel Dare, she/her. Mortal and Oracle of Delphi. I basically the vessel for the Oracle to tell prophecies through sometimes." She explained, expecting Frey to ask.

"Thalia Grace, she/her, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis."

"Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon and childbirth."

"Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter."

"Demeter, goddess of agriculture."

The people on the next couch had actually moved around without anyone noticing.

"Persephone. Goddess of springtime and Queen of Hell."

"Nico di Angelo. They/them. Child of Hades."

"Hades. God of the dead and Underworld, and riches."

"Hazel Levesque. She/her. Daughter of Pluto, the Roman god of the Underworld and Riches."

"Hephaestus. God of fire and the forge."

"Dionysius. God of wine and leader of camp half-blood, unfortunately."

"Hestia. Goddess of home and hearth."

"Gleeson Hedge. Satyr." Hedge grunted from the final couch.

"Clarisse La Rue, she/her. Daughter of Ares."

"Ares, God of war and bloodshed." 

"Frank Zhang. He/him. Son of Mars, Roman god of war."

"Halfborn Gunderson. He/him. Viking mortal."

"TJ. He/him. Son of Tyr, Norse god of war and challenges."

"Hearthstone. He/him Elf and rune magician." Hearth signed, with Blitz translating.

"Blitzen. He/him. Dwarf and son of Freya. Norse goddess of beauty and Fertility."

"Aphrodite. Goddess of love and beauty."

"Piper McLean. She/they Daughter of Aphrodite."

"Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. She/her. Daughter of Bellona, Roman goddess of battle strategy."

"Athena. Greek goddess of Wisdom."

"Mallory Keen. She/her. Daughter of Frigg, Norse goddess of marriage and family."

"Hera. Goddess of marriage." Hera finished from where she was sat next to her husband. 

"Ok, you may start." Frey announced.

"Alright. Chapter 4: My Mother Teaches me Bullfighting." Piper started. Percy tensed up, tightening their arms around Leo.

"I don't know if I'm in this chapter or not, but I'd like to apologize now. 12-year-old Annabeth was a bit of a bitch." Annabeth announced to lighten the mood a little.

"It's ok, Wise Girl. I forgive you." Percy decided, pulling her into a quick kiss. 

"I know. I'm still sorry."

"Babe, you ready for me to start?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, go on."

"We tore through the night along dark Country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro.  Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything but she kept her foot on the gas.

Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane of if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet trousers. But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo- lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal. "

"Thanks for that description, Perce."

"No problem G-man."

"All I could think to say was, 'So, you and my mom… know each other?'

Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there would no cars behind us.  'Not exactly,' he said. 'I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you.'

'watching me?'

'keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend ,'he added hastily. 'I am your friend.'

'Um ... what are you exactly?'

'That doesn't matter right now.'

'It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey -'"

"That was the wrong thing to say Perce." Thalia said.

"I know that now Thals." They sighed.

"Grover let out a sharp, throaty 'blaa-ha-ha!'

I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat. 

'Goat!' he cried.

'What?'

'I'm a goat from the waist down.'

'You just said it didn't matter.'

'Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!'"

"Yeah, like me." Hedge grunted.

"'Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like... Mr. Brunner's myths?'

'Where those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs Dodds a myth?'

'So you admit there was a Mrs Dodds!'

'Of course.'

'Then why-'

'The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract, ' Grover said like that should be perfectly obvious. 'We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are.'"

"Grover, who's fault is it Percy didn't believe it was a hallucination?"

"You've already told me I'm a terrible liar 10 times today, Thalia."

"Doesn't make it less true." She shrugged.

"I don't think Percy had any clue what was going on at this point." Hazel suggested.

"I didn't, but I knew something weird was happening." Percy explained.

"'Who I - wait a minute, what do you mean?'

The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.

 'Percy,' my mom said, 'there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety. '

'Safety from what? Who's after me?'

'Oh, nobody much,' Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. 'Just the Lord of the Dead and some of his blood-thirstiest minions. '"

"HADES!" Poseidon roared, making said god roll his eyes.

"'Grover!'

'Sorry, Mrs Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?'

I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening,  but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination."

"What are you on about Jackson? You have a crazy good imagination." Rachel informed him.

"I could never dream up something this weird.

My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and pick your own strawberries signs on white picket fences. 

'Where we going?' I asked.

'The summer camp I told you about.' My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. 'The place your father wanted to send you.'

'The place you didn't want me to go.'

'Please, dear' my mother begged. 'This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger.'

'Because some old ladies cut yarn.'

'Those weren't old ladies,' Grover said. 'Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means- the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to... when someone's about to die.'

'Whoa. You said "you".'

'No I didn't. I said someone".'

'You meant "you" as in me.'

'I meant you, like "someone". Not you, you.'

'Boys!' my mom said.

She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of the figure she swerved to avoid- a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.

'What was that?' I asked.

'We're almost there,' my mother said, ignoring my question. 'Another mile. Please. Please. Please.'

I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive."

"Your mother literally just told you where you were going, Prissy?" Clarisse pointed out.

"Look, I was kind of freaking out there." Percy sighed.

"Outside, nothing but rain and darkness- the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs Dodds and the moment when changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.

Then I thought about Mr. Brunner... and the sword he thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that,  the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.

I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried and hosed down all at the same time.

I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, 'Ow.'

'Percy!' My mom shouted.

I'm okay...'

I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch.  Our driver's- side doors were wedged in the mud.  Our roof had cracked open like an egg shell and rain was pouring in. Lightning. That was the only explanation."

"ZEUS!" Poseidon cried at his other brother.

"We'd been blasted right of the road. Next to me in the back seat was a big motionless lump. 'Grover!'

He was slumped over,  blood tripling from side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!"

"So kind of you, Perce." Grover chuckled.

"Then he groaned, 'Food,' and I knew there was hope.

'Percy,' my mother said, 'we have to ... ' Her voice faltered.

I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering towards us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns."

"No imagination my ass, Jackson." Rachel shook her head with a smile.

"I swallowed hard. 'Who is-'

'Percy,' my mother said, deadly serious. 'Get out of the car.'

My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked desperately at the hole in the roof. It might have been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.

'Climb out the passenger side!' my mother told me. 'Percy - you have to run. Do you see that big tree?'

'What?'"

"It's me!" Thalia thrust her arms in the air, making some people chuckle, and getting confused looks from others.

"Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas-tree-sized Pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

'That's the property line,' my Mom said. 'Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door'

'Mom, you're coming too.'

Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.

'No!' I shouted. 'You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover.'

'Food!' Grover moaned a little louder.

The man with the blanket on his head kept coming towards us,  making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head because his hands- huge meaty hands - were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head... was his head. And the points that look like horns...

'He doesn't want us,' my mother told me. 'He wants you. Besides I can't cross the property line.'

'But...'

'We don't have time,  Percy. Go. Please.'

I got mad, then- mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns as lumbering towards us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.

I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. 'We're going together. Come on, Mom.'

'I told you...'

'Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover.'

I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He he was surprisingly light , but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid. 

Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.

Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was 7 feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine - bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear- I mean bright white Fruit-of-the-looms, which would have been funny, except the top half of his body. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes and horns- enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from electric sharpener.

I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one the first stories Mr. Bruner told us. But he couldn't be real.

I blinked the rain out of my eyes. ' That's-'

'Pasiphae's son,' my mother said. 'I wish I had known how badly they want to kill you.'

'But he's a min-'

'Don't say his name,' she warned. 'Names have power.'"

"Ah, a lesson Percy never learnt."

"Oh, shut up Nico." Percy rolled their eyes.

"Can you tell us what he was?" Sam asked.

"I think it should say later on. But do you know about Theseus?" Percy asked, suspecting Sam knew of some of the Greek myths.

"Ah, yes. The monster he fought?" She confirmed.

"Yep." Percy nodded. 

"The pine tree was still too far- a hundred metres uphill at least. 

I glanced behind me again.

The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows- or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about 15 meters away.

'Food?' Grover moaned.

'Shhh,' I told him. 'Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?'

'His sight and hearing are terrible,' she said. 'He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough.'

As if on cue ,the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.

Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.

Oops."

There were a lot of chuckles at this.

'"Percy,' my mom said. 'When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He he can't change direction very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

'How do you know all this?'

'I've worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.'

'Keeping me near you? But-'

Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. 

He'd smelled us.

The pine tree was only a few more metres, but the hill was getting steeper and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.

The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he be on top of us.

My mother must've been exhausted but she shouldered Grover. 'Go Percy! Separate! Remember what I said. '

I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right - it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.

He lowered his head and charge, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.

The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last minute I jumped to the side.

The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not towards me this time, towards my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.

We'd reached the crest of the hill. D own the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it."

"And that's why we now have border control." Annabeth smiled.

"No it's not?" Clarisse looked confused.

"Situations like that are why we kept border control." Annabeth replied.

"Is it true that some mortals have tried to buy strawberries from the border control?" Leo asked.

"Yes, they all have strawberries on hand now." They chuckled in reply.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"Our cover is a strawberry farm. I'm sure it'll be mentioned soon." Percy joined in the conversation.

"The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back towards the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.

'Run, Percy!' she told me. 'I can't go any further. Run!'"

Percy whispered something gently to Leo, warning them of what was about to happen, knowing it would hurt him, bringing back memories of his mother's death.

"Can you warn Alex too? Magnus is going to take it hard too, but I don't want to spoil it." Annabeth added, quietly.

Leo nodded, getting Alex's attention, before hurriedly saying something in Spanish, causing him to say "thank you" and pull Magnus close against him. 

Reyna, who had also heard, cuddled up close to Piper, knowing it may bring up memories of their father being kidnapped.

"But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummelling the air.

'Mom!'

She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: 'Go!'

Then with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting until light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply gone.

'No!'"

Everyone turned to face Sally, before turning away to focus on the rest of the story, to try and work out what had happened, as that's not what happens when someone is killed by monsters.

"Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs- the same rush of energy I got when Mrs Dodds grew talons.

The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.

I couldn't allow that.

I stripped off my red rain jacket.

'HEY!' I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of monster. 'Hey, stupid. Ground beef!'

'Raaaarrrrr!' The monster turned towards me, shaking his meaty fists.

I had an idea- a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I jump out the way at the last moment.

But it didn't happen like that.

The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I try to dodge.

Time slowed down.

My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head using it as a springboard, turning in midair and landing on his neck.

How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later the monster's head slammed into the tree, and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.

The bull-man staggered around trying to shake me.  I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.

The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat but I was starting to realize this thing only had one gear: forward.

Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off. 

'Food,' Grover moaned.

The bull-man wheeled towards him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and pulled backwards with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then- snap."

"Impressive, Prissy. Always wondered how you got that." Clarisse nodded.

"The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up,  my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.

The monster charged.

Without thinking,  I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry ribcage. The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate- not like my mother in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs Dodds had burst apart.

The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped. Yhe storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry, but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley towards the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover- I wasn't going to let him go.

The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blonde hair curled like Cinderella's. They both looked down at me and the girl said, 'He's the one. He must be.'"

"Aaaww!" Aphrodite squealed, once again at the wrong pitch, making a few people freak out more. Piper looked around before deciding to quickly finish the chapter.

"'Silence, Annabeth,' the man said. 'He's still conscious. Bring him inside.'"

Chapter Text

Piper put the book down, shakily, before hiding her face in Reyna's neck, who pulled Piper into her lap, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm here Pipes." She gently whispered. 

Annabeth looked over at them. "Hey," a shaking Percy stroked her arm. "I've got Leo and Mom. You can go to Piper if you want."

"Thanks." They kissed his check before running over to Piper and wrapping an arm around them. Reyna shuffled so that she could wrap an arm around Annabeth too, and run a hand through her hair. Annabeth sighed and rested their head on top of Piper's.

Sally had an arm around Percy, rubbing their arm, and had her other hand on Leo's lower back. Percy leant their head on his mom's shoulder, while pulling Leo close. Grover, who was on Sally's other side, leant across to pat Percy on their back. 

Alex had Magnus half on his lap, and was running a hand through their hair, where their head was buried in his shoulder. Alex pulled Magnus close, with both arms tightly around him. Sam moved so that she was on the other side of Magnus, and was holding and stroking their other hand, in a sisterly manner.

Nico had moved over so that they were now sat in Will's lap, and trying to hide the pain they were in.

Meg was attempting to curl up in a ball, while off in her own little daze.

Frank had moved over to sit with Hazel, so that she could lean against him.

Halfborn, who still struggled with the fact he never got to say goodbye to his mother, was being patted on the back by a very awkward looking TJ.

Blitz and Hearth had cuddled up to each other, Blitz remembering his father, and Hearth his brother.

While most people recovered quickly, it took Piper, Magnus and Leo almost 5 minutes to recover, and another 5 for Percy to.

"All right. Who wants to read next?" Percy asked, getting comfortable again.

"I can." Magnus suggested.

"Sure." Piper handed the book over to them.

Just as he picked up the book, another flash and a person appeared.

"Hi?" He asked, looking around.

"Jason!" Almost half the room shouted, looking over at him.

There was then a lot of people looking at each other, as they discovered that both the Greco-Roman and Norse knew him.

"You know him?" Annabeth and Magnus asked each other at exactly the same time.

While everyone chuckled at this, Leo snuck away from Percy's lap to run over to him.

A still confused Jason looked down at the feeling of someone against him. "Leo." He smiled, pulling them  close.

Percy smiled, getting up too, to go and also hug Jason. "I missed you both." Jason smiled, pulling them into a kiss, one at a time.

"I think you have some explaining to do Jace." Percy smiled, dragging him over to where he and Leo had been sat. 

"Hi, I'm Jason. Son of Jupiter. I somehow ended up in Valhalla when I died." He shrugged, seemingly awkward.

"You alright Jace?" Percy asked, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah."

"Do you know who everyone here is?" Leo asked.

"No."

"I'm not doing introductions for a third time." Clarisse complained. 

"Hey, Fates? Are you sending anyone else or is that it?" Percy asked the sky. When they didn't receive a response, he shrugged, deciding that noone else was coming.

"How about only the people that don't know him introduce themselves then?" Hazel suggested.

"Ok, who doesn't know Jason?" Annabeth asked.

Blitz, Hearth and Frey put their hands up, and Sam half put her hand up, shaking it as to say 'kind of'.

"Does that fit with you, Jay?" 

"Don't call me Jay, Thalia." He complained. "But, yeah. I've met Sam a couple of times and don't know the other three."

They quickly introduced themselves.

"Ok, can I start reading now?" Magnus asked. At Jason's nod, they opened the book. "Alright:

"Chapter 5: I Play Pinochle with a Horse

 I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me.  The rest wanted food. 

I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon- fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blonde hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.

When she saw my eyes open, she asked, 'What will happen at the summer Solstice?'

I managed to croak, 'What?'

She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. 'What's going on. What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!'"

"Wait. You didn't know what was stolen?" Percy asked, looking over at Annabeth. 

"Not exactly, we knew who it belonged to and who was being blamed, but not what it was." She shrugged.

"'I'm sorry,' I mumbled, 'I don't...'

Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.

The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.

A husky bonded like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes- at least a dozen of them -on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands."

"You- you had a crush on Argus." Piper burst out laughing.

"No. I didn't! I just thought he was hot." Percy shot back, bright pink. 

"

☆☆☆

When I finally came round for good, there was nothing weird around my surroundings, except that they were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deckchair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a large blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt. 

On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced Apple juice, with a green straw and paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. 

My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.

'Careful,' a familiar voice said. 

Grover was leaning against the porch railing,  looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoebox. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse high tops and a bright Orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy."

"Thanks, Perce."

"To be fair to you G-man, I was in shock at the time."

"So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were still on vacation and, we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And...

'You saved my life,' Grover said. 'I... Well, the least I could do... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this.'

Reverently, he placed the shoe Box in my lap.

Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.

It hadn't been a nightmare.

'The minotaur,' I said.

'Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-'

'That's what they call it in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. 'The minotaur. Half man, half bull.'

Grover shifted uncomfortably. 'You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?'

'My mom. Is she really...'

He looked down.

I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight."

"Why, thank you, I know I am beautiful." Thalia pretended to brush her hair behind her shoulder, receiving a few laughs.

"My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful. 

'I'm sorry,' Grover sniffled. 'I'm a failure. I'm- I'm the worst satyr in the world.'"

"No." Thalia and Annabeth said at the same time, going to sit with Grover.

"He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse high-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.

'Oh, Styx!' He mumbled.

Thunder rolled across the clear sky.

As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.

Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. "

"Rude." Grover muttered.

"But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even Minotaurs.

All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.

I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with... Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. "

"Understandable." Alex commented.

"I thought your death was a direct result of you living on the streets?" Jason asked, confused.

"Yes, and I lived on the streets to avoid an abusive father. I stand by what I said."

"I'd pretend I was seventeen and join the army. "

Annabeth laughed. "You could barely pass for 12, there's no way you'd get away as 17."

"Rude."

"You are baby-faced." Leo informed him, kissing their cheek.

"And you aren't?"

"Nope. Just tiny." He said, climbing into Jason's lap.

"I'd do something. 

Grover was still sniffling.  The poor kid - poor goat, satyr, whatever- looked as if he expected to be hit.

I said, 'it wasn't your fault.'

'Yes,  it was. I was supposed to protect you.'

'Did my mother ask you to protect me?'

'No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper,  at least I was.'

'But why...' I suddenly felt dizzy,  my vision swimming.

'Don't strain yourself,' Grover said. 'Here.'

He helped me hold my glass and put the straw up to my lips.

I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies- my mom's homemade blue chocolate chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was little and told me everything was going to be okay.

Before I knew it, I'd drained the grass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.

'Was it good?' Grover asked.

I nodded.

'What did it taste like?' He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty. 

'Sorry,' I said. 'I should've let you taste.'

His eyes got wide. ' No! That's not what I meant. I just wondered.'

'Chocolate chip cookies, ' I said. 'My mom's. Homemade'

He sighed. 'How do you feel?'

'Like i could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred metres.'

'That's good,' he said. 'That's good. I don't think you should risk drinking anymore of that stuff.'"

"Do you think I could drink too much of it? Like, I'm immune to fire, anf it makes you burn up?" Leo asked.

"Yes." Annabeth sighed.

"And we won't be testing it." Hazel added.

"'What do you mean?'

He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. 'Come on, Chiron and Mr D are waiting.'

The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.

My legs felt wobbly trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go."

"That is the point of spoils of war." Reyna smiled.

"As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.

We must be on the north shore of Long island, because on this side of house, the valley marched all the way up to Long Island sound, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I've seen. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture - an open air pavilion, an ampitheater, a circular arena- except they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright Orange T-shirts like Grover's chased each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blonde-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavour pudding was leaning on the porch railing next to them.

The man facing me was small,  but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels- what do you call them, hubbubs? No,  cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub that turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fitted right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could have out-gambled even my stepfather."

"Damn right I could." Dionysus puffed out his chest.

"'That's Mr. D,' Grover murmured to me. 'He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer just about anybody. And you already know Chiron...'

He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.

Fir st, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair.  Then I recognise the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.

'Mr. Brunner!' I cried.

The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all multiple choice answers B.

'Ah, good, Percy,' he said. 'Now we have four for pinochle.'

He offered me a chair to the right of Mr D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. 'Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you.'

'Uh, thanks.' I scooted a little further away from him because, if there's one thing I've learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr."

"He's gone now!" Percy squeaked, when all the attention was suddenly on them.

'"Annabeth?' Mr Bruner called to the blonde girl.

She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. 'This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why didn't go check on his bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now.'

Annabeth said, 'Sure, Chiron.'

She was probably my age,  maybe a couple of centimetres taller, and a whole lot more athletic-looking. With her deep tan and her curly blonde hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereo typical California girl would look like, except her eyes are in the image. "

"What are you laughing about?" Percy challenged Annabeth.

"I'm not laughing, I just find it funny that you thought I was a 'California girl' like just before I moved to California."

"They were a startling grey like storm clouds; "

"Like yours, Mags." Alex leant against Magnus, giving him a kiss on the cheek. 

"pretty, but intimidating too, as if she were analysing the best way to take me down in a fight.

She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You killed a Minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! Or something like that.

Instead, she said, 'You drool when you sleep.'"

Almost all the mortals laughed at this, as well as a couple of the gods.

"You still do, Seaweed Brain." She chuckled.

"Thanks, Wise Girl."

"Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blonde hair flying behind her.

'So,' I said, anxious to change the subject. 'You, uh, work here, Mr Brunner?'

'Not Mr. Bruner,' the ex-Mr Brunner said. 'I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You you may call me Chiron.'

'Okay.' Totally confused, I looked at the director. 'And Mr. D does that stand for anything?'

Mr D stop shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. 'Young man. Names are powerful things. You don't go around using them for no reason.'"

"That isn't a lesson Percy can learn." Nico chuckled.

"Oh, you're right. Let's all refer to him as 'the Wine dude' as 10 year old Nico did." Percy shot back, causing Nico to turn bright red.

"'Oh. Right. Sorry.'

'I must say, Percy,' Chiron-Brunner broken in, 'I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time.'"

"How kind of him." Hazel looked shocked.

"'House call?'

'My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course,  keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to... ah, take a leave of absence.'

I tried to remember the beginning of school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr Brunner had taken the class.

'You came to Yancy just to teach me?' I asked.

Chiron nodded. 'Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keep an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still have so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive and that's always the first test.'

'Grover,' Mr D said impatiently, 'are you playing or not?'

'Yes sir!' Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.

'You do know how to play Pinochle?' Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.

'I'm afraid not,' I said.

I'm afraid not, sir,' he said.

'Sir,' I i repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.

'Well,' he told me, 'it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilised young men to know the rules.'"

"I am very comfortable in saying I'm not a civilised young man." Percy sighed.

"You're neither civilised nor a young man." Annabeth shook their head in exasperation.

"'I'm sure the boy can learn,' Chiron said.

'Please,' I said, 'What is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun- Chiron- why would you go to Yancy academy just to teach me?'

Mr. D snorted. 'I asked the same question.'

The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pal.

Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I  was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.

'Percy,' he said. 'Did your mother tell you nothing?'

'She said...' I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. 'She told me she was afraid to send me her, even though my father had wanted her too. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her.'

'Typical,' Mr. D said. 'That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?'

'What?' I asked.

He explained impatiently, how you bid in Pinochle,  and so I did.

'I'm afraid there's too much to tell,' Chiron said. 'I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient.'

'Orientation film?' I asked."

"You never saw the orientation film?" Annabeth asked.

"No." Percy shook their head and shrugged.

"Di immortales, I feel like even more of an asshole now. I assumed you had."

"It's ok, Wise Girl, it's in the past now."

"I know, but still."

"'No,' Chiron decides. 'Well, Percy. you know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know- 'he pointed to the horn in the shoebox- 'that you have killed a Minotaur. No small feat either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods - forces you call the Greek gods- are very much alive.'

I stared at the others around the table

I waited for someone to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, 'Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!' He cackled as he tallied up his points.

'Mr. D,' Grover asked timidly, 'if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?'

'Eh? Oh, all right.'

Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminium can and chewed it mournfully.

'Wait,' I told Chiron. 'You're telling me there's such a thing as God.'

'Well, now' Chiron asked. 'God- capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical.'"

"Is God real though?" Leo asked.

"Thor tried to battle Jesus once." Was Sam's answer.

"Tried?" Meg asked, looking over at her.

"Jesus never turned up." Sam shrugged.

"'Metaphysical? but you were just talking about-'

'Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavours: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a small matter.'

'Smaller!'

'Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class.'

'Zeus,' I said. 'Hera. Apollo. You mean them.'"

The gods mentioned perked up at their name.

"And there it was again- distant thunder on a cloudless day.

'Young man,' said Mr D. 'I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you.'

'But they're stories,' I said. 'They're- myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believe before there was science.'

'Science!' Mr D scoffed. 'And tell me, Perseus Jackson-"

I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody.

'-what will be people think of your science two thousand years from now?' Mr D continued. 'They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. I love mortals- they have absolutely no perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me.'

I wasn't liking Mr D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can and keeping his mouth shut.

'Percy,' Chiron said, 'you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal. Can you imagine for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?'

I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.

'You mean, whether people believed in you or not,' I said.

'Exactly,' Chiron agreed. 'If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?'

My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. I said, 'I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods.'

'Oh, you'd better,' Mr. D murmered. 'Before one of them incinerates you.'

Grover said, 'P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock.'

'Lucky thing, too,' Mr D grumble, playing a card. 'Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe!'

He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with wine.

My jaw dropped, but Chiron barely looked up.

'Mr. D,' he warned, 'your restrictions.'

Mr D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.

'Dear me.' He looked at the sky and yelled, 'Old habits! Sorry!'

More thunder.

Mr D waved his hand again and the glass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily,  popped the top of the soda and went back to his card game.

Chiron winked at me. 'Mr D offended his father a while back, took fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off limits.'"

Hera, Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus all turned to stare at Zeus.

"What have I done?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"Cheated on me. Again." Hera seethed.

"That Wood Nymph wasn't your property, brother." Demeter added.

"I have to agree with my mother for once." Persephone sighed.

"'A wood nymph,' I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.

'Yes,' Mr D confessed. 'Father loves to punish me. The first time, prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time - well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away- the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. "Be a better influence," he told me. "Work with youths rather than tearing them down." Ha! Absolutely unfair.'

Mr D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.

'And...' I stammered, 'your father is....'

'Di immortales, Chiron,' Mr D said. 'I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course.'

I ran through D name from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.

'You're Dionysus,' I said. 'The god of wine.'

Mr D rolled his eyes. 'What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, "well, duh!"?'

'Y-yes, Mr D.'

'Then, "Well, duh!" Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?'"

Aphrodite looked at him, offended.

"'You're a god.'

'Yes, child.'

'A god. You.'

He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned into flippers, their  faces elongated into dolphin's snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would  leave me wearing a straitjacket in a rubber Room for the rest of my life.

'Would you like to test me child?' He said quietly.

'No. No, sir.'

The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. 'I believe I win.'"

"No, he didn't!" Most of the camp half-blood campers shouted.

"'Not quite,  Mr. D,' Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, 'The game goes to me.'"

"Chiron always beats him." Piper explained to those that were confused.

"I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. He got up and Grover rose,  too.

'I'm tired,' Mr. D said. 'I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment.'

Grover's face beaded with sweat. 'Y-yes, sir.'

Mr D turned to me. 'Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners.'

He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.

'Will Grover be okay?' I ask Chiron.

Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. 'Old Dionysus isn't really mad.he he just hates his job. He's been... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed back to Olympus.'

'Mount Olympus,' I said. 'You're saying there really is a palace there?'

'Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do.'

'You mean the Greek gods are here? Like... in America?'

'Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West.'

'The what?'

'Come now, Percy. What you call "Western civilization". Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are a part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know- or as I hope you know, since you passed my course- the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps- Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite and so on- but the same forces, the same gods.'

'And then they died.'

'Died? No. Did the West di e? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was the brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the Eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeeler center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not- believe me, plenty people weren't very fond of Rome, either - America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here.'"

"What the actual fuck? How does that make any sense?" Alex complained.

"I didn't understand either." Percy reassured him.

"It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be including in Chiron's we, as if I was part of some club.

'Who are you, Chiron? Who am I?'

Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible. He was paralysed from the waist down.

'Who are you,' he mused. 'Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be toasted marshmallows at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore them.'"

"Smooth topic change right there." Leo chuckled.

"And then he did rise from his wheelchair. "

"That must have seemed so weird to you." Piper looked over at Percy.

"It was very weird." They agrees.

"But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out the chair, taller than any man, I realized the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box onwheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobbly-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with couple of fake human legs attached.

I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.

'What a relief,' the centaur said. 'I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now come Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers.'"

"Ooh, suspense." Leo chuckled.

"I'll read next." Alex declared, grabbing the book out of Magnus's hands.

"Alright then, guess you're reading next." Magnus agreed, dragging Alex onto their lap. 

Alex sighed, leaning back into Magnus, before opening the book. "Chapter 6: I become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom." 

Chapter Text

"Chapter 6:  I become supreme Lord of the Bathroom"

Everyone chuckled.

"Just to be clear I don't regret it." Clarisse stated.

" Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper scooper patrol at Macy's Thanksgiving parade a few times and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front."

This got a few chuckles, and caused Percy to groan.

"We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said 'That's him'. 

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in Orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a cartwheel or something."

"Can you do a cartwheel?" Meg asked.

"I've never tried." Percy replied, awkwardly.

"You should." She suggested.

"Not try, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth sighed, rubbing her face.

"I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I had realized- four storeys tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upmarket seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vain on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched."

"Well, that's not at all creepy." Magnus commented.

"'What's up there?' I asked Chiron.

He looked where I was pointing and his smile faded. 'Just the attic.'

'Somebody lives there?'

'No,' he said with finality. 'Not a single living thing.'

I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain."

"It's a dead person, isn't it?" Alex asked, to no response.

"'Come along, Percy.' Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. 'Lots to see.'

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.

Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. 'It pays expenses,' he explained. 'And the strawberries take almost no effort.'

He said Mr D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just go crazy when he was around. It works best with wine grapes, but Mr D is restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse being lectured by Mr D."

"Aww you care about me, and my music abilities." Grover pretended to swoon.

"'Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?' I asked Chiron. 'I mean... he was a good protector. Really.'

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. 'Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable."

"That definitely wasn't true." Percy smiled at him.

"To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill.'

'But he did that!'

'I might agree with you,' Chiron said. 'But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York."

"Hey, Kelp, look. It's the consequences for your actions."

"Oh, fuck off, Nico."

"Then there's the unfortunate... ah... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part.'

I wanted to protest. N one of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really,  really guilty.  If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have got trouble. 

'He will get a second chance, won't he?'"

Annabeth shook her head, knowing how hard it was for Grover to get that second chance.

"Chiron winced. 'I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy.  The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait a little longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age...'

'How old is he?'

'Oh, twenty-eight.'

'What! And hes in 6th grade!'

'Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past 6 years.'

'That's horrible.'"

There were a few chuckles at this.

"'Quite,' Chiron agreed. 'At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now, he will find some other career...'

'That's not fair,' I said. 'What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?'"

"Percy, why?" Annabeth asked.

"I was just being curious." Percy pouted at them, getting an eye roll in response.

"Chiron looked away quickly. 'Let's move along, shall we?'

But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop."

"Are you really that stupid, kelpie?" Thalia asked, exasperated.

"Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea- a tiny, hopeful fire- started forming in my mind."

"Ok, never mind. You were being smart." Thalia corrected herself.

"'Chiron,' I said. 'If the gods and Olympus and all that are real...'

'Yes, child?'

'Does that mean the Underworld is real too?'

Chiron's expression darkened. 

'Yes, child.' He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. 'There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now... until we know more... I would urge you to put that out of your mind.'

'What do you mean, "until we know more"?'

'Come, Percy. Let's see the woods.'"

"We love Chiron's incredible abilities to change the subject." Leo chuckled.

"As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans."

"I can think of at least one Native American who's been in those woods recently." Leo smirked, getting a middle finger from Piper.

"Chiron said, 'The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed.'

'Stocked with what?' I asked. 'Armed with what?'"

"Tell Percy anything challenge. Level: impossible." Alex chuckled.

"'You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?'

'My own-'

'No,' Chiron said. 'I don't suppose you do. I think a size 5 will do. I'll visit the armoury later.'

I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armoury, but there was too much to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along ampitheatre, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.

'Sword and spear fights?' I asked.

'Cabin challenges and all that,' he explained. 'Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall.'

Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There was a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

'What do you do when it rains?' I asked.

Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a bit weird. 'We still have to eat, don't we?' I decided to drop the subject. "

"Uh, what?" Magnus asked.

"We control the weather. It doesn't rain." Annabeth explained, before pulling Piper into her lap.

"Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them nestled in the woods. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side."

"There's more than that?" Piper whispered to Reyna, confused.

"Not until after the war." Annabeth explained back.

"And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right) they looked absolutely nothing alike. N umber nine had smokestacks like a tiny factory."

Leo cheered.

"Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass."

Meg cheered.

"Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in sunlight it was almost impossible to look at."

Will smiled and Lester looked wistful.

"They all faced a commons area about the side of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed). In the centre of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick."

"I'm sorry I didn't say hello, aunt Hestia." Percy apologised.

"You don't need to worry, child. Barely anyone does, anyway." She smiled, serenely.

"The pair of cabins at the head of field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums,"

"That's an accurate description." Thalia chuckled.

"Yeah." Jason agrees.

"big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a holograph, so that from different angles lightning bolts seem to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

'Zeus and Hera?' I guessed.

'Correct,' Chiron said.

'Their cabins look empty.'

'Several cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two.'

Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?

I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.

It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough grey stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, 'Oh, I wouldn't do that!'

Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Come on, Percy.'

Most of the other cabins are crowded with campers.  Number five was bright red- a real nasty paint job, as if the colour had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both boys and girls, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared."

Clarisse smirked.

"The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. she wore a size XXXL camp Half-Blood T-shirt under a camouflage jacket.  She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camp girl was much bigger and tougher looking,  and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.

I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. 'We haven't seen any other centaurs,' I observed.

'No,' said Chiron sadly. 'My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at a major sport events. But you won't see any here.'

'You said your name was Chiron. Are you really...'

He smiled down at me. 'The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am.'

'But, shouldn't you be dead?'"

"Gods, Percy, you can't just ask people if they should be dead." Nico chuckled, getting snickers from most of the teens.

"Chiron paused as if the question intrigued him. 'I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see aeons ogo the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed.'

I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.

'Doesn't it ever get boring?'

'No, no,' he said. 'Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring.'

'Why depressing?'"

"That should be obvious, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't understand then, ok, Wise Girl?"

"Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.

'Oh, look,' he said. 'Annabeth is waiting for us.'

The blonde girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.

I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book."

"Annabeth is reading a book that looks exactly like an architecture book. Could she be reading an architecture book?" Leo chuckled.

"Absolutely not." Magnus replied.

"'Annabeth,' Chiron said, 'I have masters archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Cabin eleven,' Chiron told me, gesturing towards the doorway. Make yourself at home.'

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged poll with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it...? A caduceus.

Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation centre.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.

'Well then,' Chiron said. 'Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner.'

He galloped away towards the archery range.

I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools. 

'Well?' Annabeth prompted.  'Go on.'

So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything."

There were also some snickers from the room.

"Annabeth announced, 'Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.'

'Regular or undetermined?' somebody asked.

I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, 'Undeterminated'.

Everybody groaned.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.

'Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for.  Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there.'"

"Is that why it's so full?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, and people like Ethan, who's parent didn't have a cabin." Percy shrugged.

"I suppose, yes, unclaimed maidens could stay in my cabin." Artemis suggested.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." Annabeth smiled.

"The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals and a leather necklace with 5 different-coloured clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that run from just beneath his right eye to his jaw like an old knife slash.

'This is Luke,' Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. "

"Aww, Annie had a crush on Luke." Thalia cooed.

"So did you." Annabeth pointed out, making Thalia blush.

"She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. He's your counsellor for now.'

'For now?' I asked.

'You're undetermined,' Luke explained patiently. 'They don't know which cabin to to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron is the god of travellers.'

I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.

I looked around the camper's faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

'How long will I be here?' I asked.

'Good question,' Luke said. 'Until you're determined.'

'How long will that take?'

The campers all laughed.

'Come on,' Annabeth told me. 'I'll show you the volleyball court.'

'I've already seen it.'"

"Take the hint." Jason groaned, pulling Percy closer and pressing a kiss to their head.

"'Come on.'

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me. 

When we were a few metres away, Annabeth said, 'Jackson, you have to do better than that.'

'What?'

She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, 'I can't believe I thought you were the one.'

'What's your problem?' I was getting angry now. 'All I know is, I kill some bull guy-'

'Don't talk like that!' Annabeth told me. 'You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?'"

Annabeth looked embarrassed, immediately burying her face in Reyna's shoulder.

"We've all done embarrassing things. It's ok, love." Reyna whispered, playing with her hair.

"'To get killed?'

'To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?'

I shook my head. 'Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories...'

'Yes.'

'Then there's only one.'

'Yes.'

'And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right?"

"That sounds like an accurate amount of time." Leo chuckled.

"  Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So...'

'Monsters don't die,  Percy.  They can be killed. But they don't die.'

'Oh thanks. That clears it up.

'They don't have souls, like you or me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they're primal forces.  Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form.'

I thought about Mrs Dodds. 'You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-'

'The Fu... I mean, your maths teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad.'

'How did you know about Mrs Dodds?'

'You talk in your sleep.'

'You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?'"

Nico burst out laughing.

"What?" Percy asked them.

"It- it sounds like- like they- they torture Dad." They managed to get out through laughs.

"It does." A few more people started laughing. Persephone laughed into her very unimpressed husband's shoulder.

"Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. 'You shouldn't call them by name, even here."

"Annabeth. Love. You just nearly said it."

"Hush, Pipes."

"We call them the Kindly Ones if we have to speak of them at all.'

'Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?' I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. 'Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there.'

I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. 'You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or... your parent.'

She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.

'My mom is Sally Jackson,' I said. 'She works at the candy stone in Grand Central Station. At least she used to.'

'I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad.'

'He died. I never knew him.'

Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. 'Your father's not dead, Percy.'

'How can you say that? You know him?'

'No, of course not.'"

"Sorry, Perce. That was a valid question."

"How many times do I have to tell you it's OK?" Percy asked, going to sit next to them and kiss their cheek. 

Percy quickly got up, and went back to Jason and Leo when he noticed Athena's glare.

"'Then, how can you say-'

'Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us.'

'You don't know anything about me.'

'No.' She raised an eyebrow. 'I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you kicked out of a lot of them.'"

"Not that many though." Annabeth sighed.

"'How-'

'Diagnosed with dyslexia. P robably ADHD too.'"

"Are all demigods ADHD?" Sam asked.

"I'd expect so." Annabeth thought for a minute.

"Unless your name is Frank Zhang." Reyna added.

"Do you have any learning disabilities?" Reyna asked.

"All us Norse have dysgraphia."

"What's that?" Leo asked.

"Basically if it's written I struggle with it." Magnus explained.

"So like more severe dyslexia?" Leo asked confused.

"More like both dyslexia and dyscalculia." Annabeth told them.

"Oh, ok." He nodded.

"Are you all dyslexic?" Sam asked.

"Romans have dyscalclia. We're used to Roman numerals."

"Of course. The Norse only wrote very occasionally, on special occasions." Sam explained the dysgraphia.

"The book is literally about to explain the Greek dyslexia thing." Alex announced.

"I tried to swallow my embarrassment. 'What does that have to do with anything?'

'Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.  And the ADHD- you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they really are.'

'You sound like... you went through the same thing?'

'Most kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar.'

'Ambrosia and nectar?'

'The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your brains to sand and you'd be dead.  Face it. You're a half-blood.'

A half-blood.

I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.

Then a husky voice yelled, 'Well, a newbie!'

I looked over. The pig girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering towards us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean-looking like her, all wearing camo jackets."

"Thanks for that description, Prissy."

"Your welcome."

"'Clarisse, why don't you go polish your spear or something?'

'Sure, Miss Princess, the big girl said. 'So I can run you through with it Friday night.'

'Errete es korakas' Annabeth said,  which I somehow understood was Greek for "Go to the crows", though I had a feeling it was a worse insult than it sounded. 'You don't stand a chance.'

'We'll pulverise you,' Clarisse said,  but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned towards me. 'Who's this little runt?'

'Percy Jackson,' Annabeth said, 'meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares.'

I blinked. 'Like... the war god?'

Clarisse sneered. 'You got a problem with that?'

'No,' I said, recovering my wits. 'It explains the bad smell.'

Clarisse growled. 'We've got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy.'

'Percy.'

'Whatever. Come on, I'll show you.'

'Clarisse-' Annabeth tried to say."

Magnus looked between Clarisse and Annabeth, thinking.

Alex noticing, wriggled off his lap, and kissed his cheek. "Don't think too hard, Maggie, I don't want you hurting yourself."

"Thanks, Al. I was trying to work out who they remind me of."

"Who?"

"You and Halfborn."

"Omg it is."

Halfborn chuckled, and all the Norse snorted, nodding.

"'Stay out of it, wise girl.'"

This had all the Greeks and Romans laughing.

"Percy got his nickname for Annabeth, from Clarisse?" Will asked.

"Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I really don't want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.

I handed Annabeth my Minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me towards a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.

I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was  a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking- as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out- that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier toilets.

Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.

'Like he's "Big Three" material,' Clarisse said as she pushed me towards one of the toilets. 'Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid-looking.'

Her friends snickered.

Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers."

"Weak." Clarisse smirked over at her.

"Oh, fuck off."

"Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head towards the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes, and, well, like what goes in toilets. I strained trying to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.

Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making and arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.

I turned just as water blasted out for toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backwards into a shower stall.

She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming towards her. But then the other toilets exploded, to, 6 more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right of bathrooms,  spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. 

As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lesson, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.

The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.

I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of drive floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes.

Nothing.

I stood up, my legs shaky.

Annabeth said, 'How did you...'

"I don't know.'"

"Gods, it was so fucking obvious. How did none of you figure out who his parent was?" Thalia groaned.

"Denial." Annabeth, Grover and Clarisse all answered.

"We walked to the door.

Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was stopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. 'You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead.'

I probably should've let it go, but I said, 'You want to gurgle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth.'"

"You are a suicidal idiot, I swear." Piper chuckled, causing Percy to duck his head.

"Percy..." Annabeth warned. "I think we need to talk."

Percy nodded.

"Can it wait? I'm like right at the end of the chapter." Alex complained.

"Sure." Annabeth shrugged.

"Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her towards cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.

Annabeth stared at me.  I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.

'What?' I demanded. 'What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking,' she said, 'that I want you on my team for capture the flag.'"

"Alright, break time. I think we should leave the children alone." Hestia declared, getting up and shooing the other gods out of the room. 

Annabeth got up, gesturing for Percy to join them at the side.

"I know that look. That was a look of Piper's right." She started, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Back then, yeah. For a couple of years. Not anymore though. I'm in a good place now. Back then, the only thing that truly mattered to me was my mom and she was gone." 

"I know you, Perce. That wasn't the only time."

"I never got that bad again, but I have considered it twice since."

"When? If you're OK to tell me?"

"When I heard the first great prophecy. I felt that if I died, it would prevent a war and save lives. But, I didn't want to put that pressure on Nico, and, you know, down there."

Annabeth nodded. "Ok. You have to tell someone if you feel like that again, ever. OK?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Wise Girl." Percy smirked, pulling back a bit.

"If you don't, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Oh, I know. I swear on the river Styx I'll tell someone if I have those thoughts again."

"Good." Annabeth stood on tiptoes, to kiss him deeply, before pulling back and rejoining the group.

"You good?" Thalia asked, as they came back over. 

"We're good."

"If you'd died, I'd've come to the Underworld to beat you up." She smirked, knowing what they were talking about.

"I have no doubts of that."

As they sat down, Annabeth went over to a pained looking Reyna, and wrapped themself around her.

"You alright? Do you want to come sit with me and Percy?"

"If you don't want to die in the next hour, I'm staying here."

"What? Why? Oh. Leo and Alex."

"Yep." Annabeth shook her head, kissing Reyna's cheek, before going to sit with their cousin.

"Hey, cuz." Magnus smiled.

"Hey."

"Is Reyna OK? She looks stressed?" Sam asked, coming to sit with them.

"She's attempting to stop Leo and Alex from killing us all."

"Another Alex?" Magnus chuckled.

"Leo loves a good prank and built a flying warship that took us halfway around the world."

"So another Alex." Sam decided, making them all chuckle. 

Piper, Jason and Percy walked over to them, getting to know each other. "So, Sam. Don't tell me you're the only single one." Percy joked.

"She's not." Jason replied. "That's one of the few things I know about her."

"They aren't important enough to be here?" Percy chuckled, earning a slap from Annabeth.

"He, uh... Well, he's a mortal." Sam chuckled, embarrassed. 

"Oh, that's cool."

Magnus suddenly felt the weight of a body leaning against them, and sighed. "You fed up of scheming?"

"I'm fed up of Reyna stopping us scheming." Alex pouted.

"Aww. Poor baby." Magnus teased, patting the side of his head. 

"Oh shut up, Maggie."

Reyna also came over to them, pulling Annabeth into her lap. "Mine." She stated simply.

"Rude Reyna. They're ours too." Percy complained.

"Mine now." Reyna reiterated, holding Annabeth close.

Annabeth smiled, reaching out for Piper to come cuddle with them. 

Piper smirked, coming to sit next to them and play with Annabeth's hair, while resting her head on Reyna's shoulder.

"It isn't fair how cute they are together." Leo stated, coming over to plop themself down in Percy's lap. 

"Are you saying we aren't cute together?" Percy asked, mock offended.

"Of course not."

"Are you sure? That's what I heard." Jason teased, wrapping an arm around Percy.

Chapter Text

A few minutes later, the gods reentered and everyone went back to where they were sat, but this time Reyna was holding Annabeth possessively in her lap. Annabeth smiled, leaning back into her.

"All right. Who's reading?" Alex asked, holding the book up.

"Can I?" Persephone asked. Percy thought for a few minutes, before agreeing.

"Chapter 7: My dinner goes up in smoke.

 Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where campers were forging their own swords), the arts and crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava and clashed together if you didn't get the top fast enough."

"That... sounds dangerous." Sam decided.

"It is." Will sighed, as the leader of the infirmary.

"Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. 

'I've got training to do,' Annabeth said flatly. 'Dinner's at seven thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall.'

'Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets.'

'Whatever.'

'It wasn't my fault.'"

"Sure it wasn't." Meg laughed.

"She looked at me sceptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how but the toilets responded to me. I'd become one with the plumbing.

'You need to talk to the Oracle,' Annabeth said.

'Who?'

'Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron.'

I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me straight answer for once."

"Let's be honest. None of us are straight enough for that." Jason chuckled.

"Wait, am I the only straight one?" Hazel asked.

"I'm straight." Sam said.

"Same." Mallory and Halfborn put their hands up.

"Me too, I guess." Sally put her hand up.

"Haven't thought about it." Meg shrugged.

"I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when when I noticed two teenaged girls sitting cross legged at the base of the pier, about five meters below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long lost friend. 

I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.

'Don't encourage them,' Annabeth warned. 'Naiads are terrible flirts.'

'Naiads,' I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. 'That's it. I want to go home now.'

Annabeth frowned. 'Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us.'

'You mean, mentally disturbed kids?'"

"I wasn't exactly wrong. Most of us are mentally disturbed." Percy pointed out.

"'I mean not human. Not totally human anyway. Half human.'

'Half-human and half what?'

'I think you know.'

I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.

'God,' I said. 'Half-god.'

Annabeth nodded. 'Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians.'

'That's... crazy.'

'Is it?"

"The concept? No. It being my parent? Yes." Piper added.

"What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?'

'But those are just-' I almost myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. 'But if all the kids here are half-gods-'

Demigods,' Annabeth said. 'That's the official term. Or half-bloods.'

'Then who's your dad?'

Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.

'My dad is a professor at West Point,' she said. 'I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history.'"

"Wait. Are the entire Chase family just history nerds?" Alex asked.

"I'm not a history nerd." Magnus complained.

"You're half viking it counts." Alex patted their chest.

"Am I though?"

"Nope, we're not getting into that." Alex covered his mouth. "You're disgusting." He wiped his hand on Magnus's shirt and added, when Magnus licked the hand.

"'He's human.'

'What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?'"

"Most of us major goddesses are virgin goddesses." Hestia pointed out.

"I'm not." Aphrodite pointed out.

"We know." All the gods and some demigods deadpanned.

"'Who's your mom, then?'

'Cabin six.'"

"Percy has memorised whose cabin is whose in 20 minutes?" Frank asked.

"Bear in mind no-one had actually told me." Percy added.

"'Meaning?'

Annabeth straightened. 'Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle.'

Okay, I thought. Why not?

'And my dad?'

'Undetermined,' Annabeth said, 'like I told you before. Nobody knows.'

'Except my mother. She knew.'

'Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities.'

'My dad would have. He loved her.'"

"I did." Poseidon smiled over at Sally.

"Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. 'Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.'

'You mean sometimes it doesn't?'

Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. 'The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids they don't always... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us.'

I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin,  teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them."

"Is it bad that I wish my father did that?" Alex asked.

"He abused you, so no." Magnus said, wrapping an arm around him.

"My dad did that." Rachel added.

"But gods should behave better.

'So I'm stuck here,' I said. 'That's it? For the rest of my life?'

'It depends,' Annabeth said. 'Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force."

"Present company excluded." Annabeth smiled and nodded at Meg, before pulling Piper into a quick kiss. 

"The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble -about ten or eleven years old- but after that most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that.'

'So monsters can't get in here?'

Annabeth shook her head. 'Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside.'

Why would anybody wanted to summon a monster?'

'Practice fights. Practical jokes.'

Practical jokes?'"

"The Hermes cabin love their practical jokes." Thalia shook her head.

"'The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just as strawberry farm.'

'So... you're a year-rounder?'

Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her t-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring."

"So did you get to camp at the same time as this Luke person?" Sam asked.

Annabeth looked over at Thalia, before looking away and saying, "same summer, yeah."

"'I've been here since I was seven,' she said. Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college.'

'Why did you come so young?'

She twisted the ring on her necklace. 'None of your business.'"

"Why did you?" Leo asked.

"None of your business." Annabeth smirked.

"'Oh.' I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. 'So... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?'

'It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr D's or Chiron's permission. But they don't give permission until the end of summer session unless...'

"Unless?'

'You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..'

her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.

'Back in the sick room,' I said, 'when you were feeding me that stuff-'

'Ambrosia.'

'Yeah. You asked me something about the summer Solstice.'

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. 'So you do know something?'

'Well... no. Back at my old school,  I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the Summer Solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?'

She clenched her fists. 'I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there everything seems so normal.'

'You've been to Olympus?'

'Some of us year-rounders- Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others- we took a field trip during winter Solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council.'

But... how did you get there?'

'The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six-hundreth floor.' She looked to me like she was sure I must know this already. 'You are a New Yorker, right?'"

"Nah, the accent is just a play to trick y'all." Will chuckled.

"Whatever, Texan." Percy shot a fake glare at Will.

"'Oh, sure.' As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out."

"That was smart of you." Thalia chuckled.

"As I said earlier, I have my moments." Percy smiled.

"'Right after we visited', Annabeth continued. 'The weather got weird, as if the gods started fighting. A couple of times since,  I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer Solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping... I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something.'"

"Congrats on choosing a child of one of the two gods you mentioned there." Nico smirked.

"Shut up, death kid." 

 "I shook my head. I wish I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.

'I've got to get a quest,' Annabeth muttered to herself. 'I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem...'

 I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan."

"She probably was." Thalia smiled.

"Probably for capture the flag." Annabeth shrugged.

"Back at cabin 11, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time  I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids teachers pegged as troublemakers."

"For good reason too." Will shook his head.

"Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my Minotaur horn. 

The counsellor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family influence too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.

'Found you a sleeping bag,' he said. 'And here, I stole some toiletries from the camp store.'

I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part."

"He probably did. At least a suspicious amount of stuff disappears from the camp store. It's just assumed it's the Hermes kids at this point." Annabeth shrugged.

"I said, 'Thanks.'

'No prob.' Luke said next to me, pushed his back against the wall. 'Tough first day?'

'I don't belong here.' I said. 'I don't even believe in gods.'

'Yeah', he said. 'That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get even easier.'"

"Yeah." Most of the demigods chuckled.

"The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked like he could handle just about anything.

'So your dad is Hermes?' I asked.

He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was gonna gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal.  'Yeah, Hermes.'"

"I like how Percy went from he seems like an easygoing guy to I thought he was going to gut me in like 10 seconds." Meg chuckled.

"Absolutely." Percy chuckled.

"'The wing-footed messenger guy.'

'That's him. Messengers. Medicine."

"Stop stealing my job." Apollo complained.

"Hmm, no." Hermes smirked.

"Travellers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads.  That's why you're here,  enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsers.'

I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.

'You ever met your dad?' I asked.

 'Once.'

I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently he didn't.  I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.

Luke looked up and managed a smile. 'Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other.'"

"I don't want to think about that." Jason complained.

"He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was greatful for that, because an older guy like him - even if he was a counsellor- should have stayed clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day."

"Percy had a crush on Luke!" Thalia cried.

"Everyone had a crush on him." Will pointed out.

"That's fair." Clarisse sighed.

"I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. 'Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being "Big Three" material. Then Annabeth... twice, she said I might be "the one". She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?'

Luke folded his knife. 'I hate prophecies.'

'What do you mean?'

His face twitched around the scar. 'Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else."

"Oh." Annabeth sighed, looking down. Percy, Thalia, Clarisse, and Will had a similar reaction.

"The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Herispedes went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He he wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until somebody special came to the camp.'

'Somebody special.'

'Don't worry about it, kid.' Luke said, 'Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime.'

The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before."

"Percy really does have some weird powers." Frank shook his head.

"Luke yelled, 'Eleven, fall in!'

The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the Commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down."

"That's awesome!" Sam smiled.

"That is pretty cool, but why?" Alex asked.

"That would be my cabin. I'm the goddess of the moon." Artemis answered.

"We marched up the hill to the mass hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the Meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods- and when I sat out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill."

"Wood nymphs always surprise the new campers." Annabeth chuckled.

"All in all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table,  covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.

I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blonde boys who looked just like Mr D. Chiron sat to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids with her grey eyes and honey-blonde hair.

Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everyone fell silent. He raised a glass.  'To the gods!'

 Everyone else raised their glasses 'To the gods!'

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food:  grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, 'Speak to it. Whatever you want- non-alcoholic, of course.'

I said, 'Cherry Coke.'

The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.

Then I had an idea. 'Blue cherry Coke.'"

"Typical Percy move that." Nico chuckled.

"The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. 

I took a cautious sip. Perfect.

I drank a toast to my mother.

She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then some day...

'Here you go, Percy.' Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.

I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates towards the fire in the centre of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.

'Come on,' Luke told me. 

As I got closer I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest most buttery roll.

Luke murmured in my ear, 'Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell.'

'You're kidding.'

His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.

Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. 'Hermes.' 

I was next.

I wish I knew what god's name to say.

Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.

I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames. 

When I caught a whiff of the flames, I didn't gag.

'It smelt nothing like burning food. It smell of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke. "

"You do know they're immortal, right?"

"Really, Wise Girl, are they?" Percy faked shock.

"When everybody returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.

Mr D got up with a huge sigh. 'Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday.  Cabin five presently holds the laurels.'

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table. 

'Personally,' Mr D continued. 'I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson.'"

Everyone who was used to Mr D giving everyone the wrong names, especially calling Percy Peter Johnson, laughed.

"Chiron whispered something.

'Er, Percy Jackson,' Mr. D corrected. 'That's right.  Hurrah and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on.'

Everybody cheered. We all headed down towards the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate toasted marshmallows and joked around, and the funny thing was I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.

Later in the evening, when the sparks of the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my my borrowed sleeping bag.

My fingers curled around the Minotaur horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.

When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.

That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.

I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home."

"Do you mean Camp, or cabin eleven?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know." Percy faked a glare.

Chapter Text

Nico got up to take the book from their stepmother before settling back into Will's lap.

"Chapter 8: We Capture a Flag.

The next few days.......... I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache."

"Like Homer Simpson?" Alex joked.

Sam swatted him. "Like the Ancient Greek author."

"Gods, Sam, take a joke." Alex complained.

"The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail."

"That is impressively bad." Nico chuckled.

Percy rolled their eyes.

"Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree."

Most of the teens chuckled.

"And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me."

Clarisse smirked.

"'There's more where that came from punk.' .......... Dionysus' way with vine plants. "

"That's very rude, Perry Johanson." Dionysus raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry Mr D." Percy muttered, seeming not at all sorry.

"Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was trying to reassure me. He really didn't know what to make of me either.

.......... Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?"

"If only it was that simple." Annabeth sighed.

"Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.

..........

'Good luck, one of the campers told me. 'Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years.'"

"Not anymore." Annabeth smiled at Percy, almost proud.

"You reckon?" Percy asked.

"Oh, you've definitely got him beat." Thalia agreed.

"'Maybe he'll go easy on me,' I said.

The camper snorted.

..........I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag."

"Best part of getting a new camper: watch Luke destroy them in swordfighting." Annabeth smirked.

"You only say that because you had a crush on him." Thalia smirked.

"We've been through this multiple times. We all had a crush on him, okay?" Percy sighed.

"He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

'This is difficult', he stressed. 'I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique.'"

"Let me guess: Percy gets it immediately." Hazel smiled over at him.

"He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.

.........

I nodded and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily. I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force."

"In other words, he actually started trying." Will chuckled.

"The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. It was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?

I tried the disarming manoeuvre.

My blade hit the base of Luke's blade and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.

Clang.

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was a couple of centimetres from his undefended chest."

"Told you!" Hazel shouted, making Magnus jump, which in turn made Alex chuckle.

"The other campers were silent.

..........'Maybe,' he said. 'But, I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword...'"

"I don't think he wants to know." Rachel said.

"Swords aren't the only deadly weapon." Percy smiled over at her.

"Yep. So are hairbrushes." She nodded back.

"I'm sorry, what?" Reyna asked.

"Rachel hit our main enemy in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush. It was awesome." Annabeth nodded at her.

"That sounds awesome." Meg smiled.

"Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat,"

Annabeth sighed, raising an eyebrow at Percy.

"What?" He asked, feigning ignorance.

"but the lava had almost got me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.

We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr D.

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.

'Fine,' he said. 'Just great.'

'So your career is still on track?'"

"Dang, he's way too sarcastic to not recognise sarcasm." Thalia chuckled.

"Oh, fuck off, pinecone face."

"He glanced at me nervously. 'Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's licence?'

'Well...no"

.......... . The cabin's honorary."

"Not quite." Thalia pointed out.

"Sorry. I forgot to mention the hunters." Grover quickly corrected himself.

"If she didn't have one, she'd be mad.'

'Yeah, okay. But, the three at the end. Are those the Big Three?'

Grover tensed. I got the sense we were getting close to a touchy subject.

'No, number two is Hera's. That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job."

Almost everyone snorted at this, although Zeus and Hera looked mad.

"When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos.'

......... Grover shuddered. 'Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that.'"

Everyone looked at Nico, who chuckled.

"'But Zeus and Poseidon- they both had like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?'

.........

'And the brothers kept their word- no kids?'"

"No, only the one who was forced into it." Hades muttered.

"Grover's face darkened

.......... . They got all the way to the top of that hill.'"

Thalia was shaking, almost on the verge of a panic attack. Annabeth, Percy and Grover all ran over to her. Annabeth had her arms around her, pulling her close, while Percy and Grover each took one of her hands, rubbing it soothingly. 

Sally, who saw Thalia as her niece, walked over to sit with them too, talking her through breathing exercises to help her calm down. (Lester had moved into Frey's lap, and Alex into Magnus's to make room.)

Once she had calmed down, Annabeth nodded to Nico to keep reading.

"He pointed across the Valley to the pine tree where I'd fought the Minotaur. '.........

'No,' I lied. 'I was just wondering. So... is a satyr always assigned to a demigod?'"

"Yes, that's why Gr- one satyr had to look after three demigods." Thalia chuckled, quickly correcting herself, although some people noticed the slip up and realised Grover was the satyr in the story. 

"Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. 'Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they can cause really huge problems.'

'And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special.'

Grover looked as if I just led him into trap. 'I didn't... Oh, listen, don 't think like that. If you were- you know- you'd never ever be allowed to go on a quest."

"Yep, 100%" Clarisse sighed.

"I'd never get my licence.........

'Ares and Athena always lead the teams?'"

"Why those two?" TJ asked.

"They're the 2 war gods. Remember?" Sam said.

"'Not always.' he said. 'But often.'

'So if another cabin catches one what do you do- repaint the flag?'

He grinned. 'You'll see. First, we have to get one.'

'Whose side are we on?'

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. "

"I mean, you did just ask a question. If he knows the answer, of course, he does." Sam pointed out.

"The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. 'We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help.'

..........They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake."

Piper huffed. 

"Other than Silena." Clarisse defended.

"I wasn't disagreeing." Piper muttered.

"No, Clarisse is right, other than Silena. She was a true hero." Percy disagreed.

"Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty,"

"Rude." Leo muttered.

"and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. ...........  I will serve as referee and battlefield medic."

"I still don't understand why he won't let me sit out of capture the flag as the official camp medic." Will complained.

"Arm yourselves!'

........... You could have snowboarded on it fine,"

"I want to snowboard on a shield now." Leo chuckled. 

"Of course you do." Annabeth sighed.

"but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume. Ares and their allies had red plumes.

Annabeth yelled, 'Blue team forward!'

We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off towards the north.

I managed to catch up to Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. 'Hey.'

She kept marching. "

"She might have stopped to laugh at you if you had tripped over." Frank suggested.

"Are you saying I would do such a thing?" Annabeth asked.

"You do have to remember that the first thing you did in front of the entire Roman camp was judo flip Percy." He pointed out.

"'So, what's the plan?' I asked. 'Got any magic items you can loan me?'

..........

'Okay,' I mumbled. 'Glad you wanted me on your team.'"

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth smirked.

"And I'll never forget it." Percy agreed.

"It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.

Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.

There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?"

All the demigods chuckled.

"Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek and disappeared into enemy territory.

Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual."

"You definitely jinxed it." Meg said, sagely.

"Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.

........... Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords- not that that made me feel any better."

"Wait, what are you swords made of? They can't be bone steel." Sam asked.

"Celestial bronze. It doesn't work against mortals." Annabeth explained.

"Thankfully." Rachel muttered.

"They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.

I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid as Minotaurs."

"How kind of you, punk." Clarisse spat at Percy, before smirking.

"They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling along my body. My hair stood on end. ..............

'You do that without my help.' I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say."

"How about definitely?" Thalia suggested.

"Two of them came at me. I backed up towards the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear struck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armoured breast plate, I would have been shish-kebbabed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabin mates slashed his sword against my arm, leaving a good-size cut.

Seeing my own blood made me dizzy, warm and cold at the same time.

'No maiming,' I managed to say.

'Oops,' the guy said. 'Guess I lost my dessert privilege.'"

"That's the punishment for maiming another camper?" Magnus asked, shocked.

"Yes. I keep trying to convince Chiron to change it." Will sighed.

"He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were were done being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans."

"Why would you let Percy eat those?" Piper asked Sally. "They're hyper enough as it is."

"Thanks Pipes." Percy muttered.

"Clarisse and her cabin mates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard, I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumbled into the water.

Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horse hair plume. Both of them backed up. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust it, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and snapped it like a twig."

"Still can't believe you did that." She complained.

"'Ah!' she screamed. 'You idiot! You corpse-breath worm.'"

"That's Nico." Percy and Thalia shouted in unison, before bursting out in laughter.

Nico just sighed.

"She probably would've said worse, but I snapped up between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backwards out of the creek.

Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke running towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat and a few Apollo's behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse. 

'A trick.'"

"What a surprise." Hazel deadpanned.

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth repeated.

"They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. 

Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boat and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over, we'd won.

I was about to join in the celebration when Annabeth's voice right next to me in the creek said, 'Not bad, hero.'

I looked but she wasn't there."

"Spooky." Alex chuckled.

"Wait. How?" Sam asked.

Annabeth put on her cap and disappeared, before reappearing with it in her hand. "Invisibility cap."

"'Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?' she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankee's baseball cap, as if she taken it off her head.

.............As I watched it, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared."

"Magic." Alex wriggled his fingers playfully.

"'I- I don't get it.' I said.

Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear and said, '.............

'Oh, Styx.' She cursed. 'This is not good. I didn't want... I thought it would be Zeus...' "

"Wait, why's it so bad that it's Poseidon?" Nico asked.

"Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.

The campers' cheering died down, instantly. Chiron shouted something in ancient Greek which I would realize only later I had understood perfectly. 'Stand ready! My bow!'

Annabeth drew her sword.

There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers."

"A hellhound in camp?" Leo squeaked.

"It wasn't a great time." Annabeth sighed.

"It was looking straight at me.

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, Percy, run!'

...................

Clarisse yelled, 'It's all Percy's fault! Percy's summoned it!'"

"Yes. Percy summoned the monster that only attacked him." Hazel glared at Clarisse.

"'Be quiet, child.' Chiron told her.

...........

'Look, I-I don't know why,' I said, trying to apologize. 'I'm sorry...'"

"Weird thing to apologise for, but okay." Alex chuckled.

"But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.

'Percy,' Annabeth said, pointing above me. 'Um...'

By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could but I could still make out the holograph. Green light spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

'Your father,' Annabeth muttered. 'This is really not good.'"

"How kind of you, Wise Girl." Percy smirked, leaning into Annabeth.

"'It is determined,' Chiron announced.

All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, but they didn't look happy about it.

'My father?' I asked, completely bewildered.

'Poseidon,' said Chiron. 'Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.'"

"I think that was meant to be a surprise..." Thalia commented.

Chapter Text

Hazel stood up and took the book from her sibling, with a smile.

"Chapter 9: I am offered a quest.

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.

I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur horn, one set of spare clothes and a toiletry bag."

"If a cabin is designed for like 6 kids you must have had a lot of space for your limited amount of stuff." Mallory decided.

"More than six. More like 12." Annabeth offered. "But yeah."

" I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick my own activities, and call lights out whenever i felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.

I was absolutely miserable."

"Yeah, having your own cabin isn't fun." Jason decided.

"Yeah, there's a reason I always stay in cabin 8 when I'm at camp." Thalia agreed.

"Just as I'd started to feel accepted, to feel like I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid- or as normal as you could be when you're a half-blood- I'd been separated out as if i had some rare disease."

"Percy-itis. Highly infectious. Turns your brain into seaweed."

"Annabeth." Percy seemed affronted. Annabeth laughed in response.

"And your head to Kelp." Thalia added, laughing.

"Thalia!"

"Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but i got a feeling they were talking about it behind my back."

"We absolutely were." Clarisse informed him.

"The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one that I was the son of the Sea God; and two monsters will stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe."

"No, it meant we had a spy." Clarisse admitted.

"A traitor in our midst." Nico chuckled.

" The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible. ..................  Fifty more repetitions.'"

"Ouch." Will winced.

"Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes. "

"I would've hit you for poking me between the eyes." Annabeth pointed out.

"Ok, fair point." Percy admitted.

"After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: 'Quest.... Poseidon?....  Dirty rotten....got to make a plan.....'"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Seaweed Brain. How many times have my plans saved your life?"

Percy mimed counting on their fingers. "Yeah, too many to count."

"Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wish she would just yell or punch or something. I'd rather get into fights everyday than be ignored."

"You should've told me Prissy. I'd happily pulverize you."

"You know what. I'm OK thanks."

"I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a New York Daily news opened to the metro page."

"Who was reading the newspaper though." Thalia chuckled.

"The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page."

"Oh dear. That doesn't sound good." Meg commented.

"Boy and mother still missing

................

Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck,"

"Hope they didn't test the blood. They'd find out some of it belonged to a half-goat." Thalia chuckled.

"The mist would prevent that though. They'd only find Sally and Percy's blood." Hazel pointed out.

"but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. ................ violent tendencies in the past."

"Mostly towards him." Percy muttered.

"Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. "

"You were blamed?" Sally asked Percy, shocked.

"Just wait." He scowled.

"That doesn't sound good." Poseidon said.

"Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

The phone number was circled with a black marker."

"If there wasn't someone clearly after you, I'd blame the Stolls. Seems like something they'd do." Clarisse suggested.

"It does." Annabeth said through her teeth.

"I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.

'Lights out.' I told myself miserably.

That night, I had my worst dream yet."

"Oh, no." Annabeth muttered.

"Do you know what the dream was?" Percy asked.

"No, but I can imagine."

"I was running along the beach in a storm. ..............

I had to stop them. "

"It's a dream, Perce. You couldn't have stopped them." Jason pointed out.

Percy nodded. "I'd only been a demigod a week at this point, I didn't know that then."

"I didn't know why.  .................

Like a kindergartener fighting over a toy. "

"They are like that." Hestia sighed.

"The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.

I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting!

The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice."

"Hades?" Zeus and Poseidon turned to their brother.

"I wouldn't do that." He squeaked.

"Wouldn't you? We know what you did to Thalia, and you've already sent monsters after Percy." Poseidon pointed out.

Hades reared up to reply, before sighing and leaning back. There was no point.

"Have you decided you would?" Poseidon asked.

"No. But I hope I did. The alternative is much worse." That effectively shut the others up, allowing Hazel to continue reading.

"'Come down, little hero,' the voice crooned. 'Come down!'

The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the centre of the earth. My feet slipped, and the dark swallowed me.

I woke up, sure I was falling."

"I hate that feeling." Magnus nodded.

"I was in my bed in cabin 3. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.

I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold."

"Why wouldn't you use your hand?" Thalia asked, confused.

"I had, and it didn't wake Percy up. A hoof is louder."

"'Come in.'

...............  I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive."

"I mean, yeah, it kind of was." Grover pointed out.

"The other gods............. - two sets of cards hovering in the air."

"That's cool, but also kind of weird." Meg decided.

"After all we've been through, that's what you find weird?" Lester asked, looking over at her from his place still on Frey's lap.

"'Well, well,' Mr D said, without looking up. 'Our little celebrity.'"

Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Sam, Alex, Magnus, Jason and Leo all burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Dionysus asked, incredulously.

"Snape." Magnus got out between laughs.

"I waited.

...........

'Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr D,' Chiron put in."

"No." Halfborn decided.

"Being on fire is extremely painful!" Magnus countered.

"Unless you're me!" Leo added.

"Spontaneous combustion isn't like being on fire though, Magnus. It wouldn't hurt, or it would but you won't have long enough to register the pain before you're a pile of ash." Sam explained.

"Oh, ok."

"'Nonsense.' Dionysus said. 'Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father.'"

"A crazy one?" Frank asked, making Percy smile, and get confused looks from the others. "Inside joke." He added, at the looks.

"'Mr D-' Chiron warned.

'Oh, all right', Dionysus relented. 'There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness.' "

"Knowing absolutely nothing about this other option, Percy chose it." Thalia decided instantly.

"Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped on the table.............

Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he never got to use."

"Of course." Annabeth smiled.

"'Tell me, Percy,' he said. 'What did you think of the hellhound?'

Just hearing the name made me shudder.

Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast."

"A very nutritious breakfast." Will said, mock seriously, before bursting out laughing, along with many others in the room.

"But I didn't feel like lying.

'It scared me,' I said. 'If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead.'

'You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done.'"

"Ominous." Magnus commented.

"'Done... with what?'

'........... . As far as I could see, the sky and sea were boiling together."

"1. That's weird. 2. That doesn't sound like a good thing." Alex counted on his fingers.

"'Poseidon and Zeus,' I said. 'They're fighting over something valuable.....  .............. Then I talked to Annabeth and she'd overheard something about a theft. "

"Don't bring me into this Seaweed Brain."

"You brought yourself into it, Wise Girl."

"And... ............... 'I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second grade play. "

"It would've been much easier if he had." Grover muttered.

"I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade ............... hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers.'"

"That sounds..... dangerous." Jason suggested.

"Awesome." Leo and Alex corrected at the same time.

Annabeth and Magnus had matching looks of horror on their faces.

"'And it's missing?'

'Stolen.'

'By who?'

'By whom.' Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. 'By you.'"

Zeus glared at Percy.

"I think the boy may have noticed if he had stolen it, brother." Hades pointed out.

 "My mouth fell open.

'At least'- Chiron held up a hand - 'that's what Zeus thinks. During the Winter Solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: "Mother Rhea always liked you better," "Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters," etc cetera."

Zeus and Poseidon glared at each other.

"Afterwards, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, .............. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid."

"That's some nice Spooky imagery there Percy." Nico nodded approvingly.

"'Er, Percy...?' Grover said. 'We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the sky.

Perhaps paranoid?' Chiron suggested. 'Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam...' He looked at me as as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight."

"That is crazy." Thalia said.

"I wouldn't have remembered even if all this chaos hadn't happened in their life." Even Sam agreed.

"How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? ................ . That's June twenty-first, ten days from now."

"Of course there's a tight deadline. When isn't there one?" Magnus threw their arms up, making all the teenagers chuckle.

"Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that democracy may prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make their brothers see sense."

"We try." Demeter sighed.

"We really do." Hestia groaned.

"Do you Mother? Or do you just ask them to eat cereal all day?" Persephone asked, scowling.

"But your arrival has caused inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither God will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the Solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?'

'Bad,' I guessed."

"Very descriptive. Well done." Piper nodded.

"Are you telling me I'm wrong?" 

"Oh, absolutely not. You're completely right."

"'Imagine the world in chaos. ......................

I had brought this storm to Half-Blood hill. "

"No, Zeus had brought the storm, because of you." Annabeth corrected.

"Same thing." Percy waved her off.

"Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious.

'So, I have to find the stupid bolt,' I said. 'And return it to Zeus.'

'What better peace offering,' Chiron asked, 'than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus' property?'

'If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?'"

"Good start." Magnus nodded, likely remembering his first quest.

"'I believe I know.' Chiron's expression was grim. 'Part of a prophecy I received years ago... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the council of the Oracle.'

'Why can't tell me where the bolt is beforehand?'

'Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge.'"

"Great. Just great."  Magnus sighed.

"Eh, are you really a half blood if your main emotion isn't fear?" Percy chuckled. "Or misery." They added.

"I swallowed. 'Good reason.'

'You agree then?'

I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.

Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.

'All right,' I said. 'It's better than being turned into a dolphin.'"

"I am considering taking that back." Percy said. "Dolphins seem to have fun."

"They do." Magnus agreed.

"You can talk to fish too?" Percy asked.

"I can talk to all animals." 

"It's extremely disconcerting when we're walking through the forest and Magnus just starts a conversation with some birds." Alex sighed.

"That's a fancy word, Alex." Was Magnus's response.

"'Then it's time you consulted the Oracle,' Chiron said. 'Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more.'"

"Again, just great." Magnus said.

"Four flights up the stairs ended under a green trap-door.

............. ... a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind"

"Aww. I always wanted to see one of those." Leo groaned.

"but a human female body body shrivelled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklace, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes  were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long time.

Looking at her sent chills up my back. "

"She was very creepy." Will agreed. "Especially with Zoë."

"Ugh, don't." Percy shivered.

"And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. ................ . But not particularly interested in killing me either."

"That's good. We like it when things don't want to kill you." Leo said, making Percy come back to sit with them, before leaning against him.

"You could definitely knock her out." Meg said.

"She's already dead, it wouldn't have done anything." Percy shrugged.

"I got up the courage to ask, 'What is my destiny?'

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly, there were four men sat around the table, who were playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies."

"I forgot about this part." Percy groaned, pulling Leo into their lap so he could hug them.

"My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real............... , I cried, 'Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?'"

"If only it was that easy," Lester groaned. All the demigods, and Rachel, nodded their agreement.

"The tail of the snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been opened in a hundred years. The attic was silent again,  nothing but a room full of momentos.

I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cobwebs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.

My audience with the Oracle was over."

"Yay! Percy stayed sane." Meg joked.

"Did they though?" Annabeth chuckled.

"I don't think the Oracle made me any more insane." Percy offered.

"'Well?' ...............  Oh, by the way, you'll fail."

"Anything that tells prophecies?" Sam suggested.

Apollo and Lester both planned a retort before realising she was right.

"How could I confess that?

'No,' I said. 'That's about it.'

He studied my face. ' Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass.'

I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better."

"He did." Annabeth confirmed.

'"Okay,' I said, anxious to change topics. 'so where do I go? Who's this god in the west?'

'Ah, think, Percy,' Chiron said. 'If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?'

'Somebody else who wants to take over?'

'Yes, quite. Someone who harbours a grudge, has been unhappy with this lot since the world was divided aeons ago, whose kingdom will grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children. An oath that both of them have now broken.'"

"That was rude of them." Hades muttered.

"I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. 'Hades.'

Chiron nodded. 'The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility.'

A scrap of aluminium dribbled out of Grover's mouth. 'Whoa, wait. Wh-what?'

'A Fury came after Percy,' Chiron reminded him. 'She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades.'

'Yes, but Hades hates all heroes,' Grover protested. 'Especially if he has found out Percy's a son of Poseidon...'"

"He sent them after me too." Thalia pointed out.

"'A hellhound got into the forest,' Chiron continued. 'Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon would use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest.'"

"Thanks." Percy muttered.

"'Great,' I muttered. 'That's two major gods who want to kill me.'

'But a quest to...' Grover swallowed. 'I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in somewhere like Maine. Maine's very nice this time of year.'"

"Have you even been to Maine?" Meg asked.

"I have now, but then, no."

"'Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt.' ........... ...

Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane."

"That small part of your brain disappeared a long time ago." Annabeth chuckled.

"About a week after thus if I remember correctly." Percy smirked.

"You're a kid............. This was suicide."

"Shocker." Hazel said, deadpan.

"'Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, 'why can't we just tell the other Gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

'Suspecting and knowing are not the same,' Chiron said. 'Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades- and I imagine Poseidon does -they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?'

'You're saying I'm being used.'"

"Yes. We all are." Clarisse said.

"'I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you.'

My dad needs me. 

Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.

I looked at Chiron. 'You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?'

'I had my suspicions. As I said... I've spoken to the Oracle, too.'"

"Was that the Great Prophecy?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too. 

'So, let me get this straight,' I said. 'I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead.'

'Check,' Chiron said.

'Find the most powerful weapon in the universe.'

'Check.'

'And get it back to Olympus before the summer Solstice, in ten days.'"

"Always a short deadline, hey?" Blitz asked.

'"That's about right.'

I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts. ' Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?' he asked weakly.

'You don't have to go,' I told him. 'I can't ask that of you.'

'Oh...' He shifted his hooves. 'No... it's just that satyrs and underground places... well...'"

"Wait, really?" Nico asked, remembering the labyrinth.

Grover nodded, embarrassed.

"He took a deep breath and stood, brushing shredded cards and aluminium bits of his T-shirt. 'You saved my life, Percy. If... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down.'

I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me."

"Aww, how sweet." Grover fake swooned.

'"All the way, G-man.' I turned to Chiron. 'So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west.'

'The entrance to the Underworld is always in the West. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America.'

'Where?'

Chiron looked surprised. 'I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. '"

"Well, duh." Nico smiled.

"'Oh,' I said. 'Naturally. So we just get on a plane-'

'No!' Grover shrieked. 'Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on plane in your life?'

I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents died in a plane crash."

"I've never been on a plane." Magnus said.

Sam glared at them.

"While alive." He added.

"'Percy, think,' ............ . 'Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?'"

"Rude." Annabeth muttered.

"The air shimmered behind Chiron.

Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.

'I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain,' she said. 'Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if You're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up.'

'If you do say so yourself,' I said. 'I suppose you have a plan, Wise Girl?'"

"Always." Annabeth smiled.

"Her cheeks coloured. 'Do you want my help or not?'

The truth was I did. I needed all the help I could get. 

'A trio,' I said. 'That'll work.'

 Excellent,' Chiron said. 'This afternoon we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you're on your own.'

Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that would never suppose to have violent weather.

'No time to waste,' Chiron said. 'I think you should all get packing.'"

Chapter Text

"Break time." Hestia declared, once again herding the other gods out the room.

Piper reached out for Annabeth, who smiled and walked over to sit next to her, and pulled them into her lap. 

Alex instantly jumped off Magnus's lap, as there was now room for him to sit on the couch. "Rude." Magnus muttered. 

After a few minutes, the gods returned.

"Wait, who hasn't read yet, who isn't involved? All the Olympians are." Percy added.

Hedge, TJ, Halfborn, Frank, Blitz, Mallory, Jason, Leo, Calypso, Frey, Thalia and Meg put their hands up. 

"Hedge, do you want to start? We can go round everyone who's left." Percy suggested.

Hedge reluctantly agreed, taking the book.

"Chapter 10: I ruin a perfectly good bus 

It didn't take me long to pack. ............... . It would cure almost any injury,"

"Convenient." Sam commented. Magnus gave her an affronted look. "When you don't have a Magnus on hand." She added, smirking at him.

"but was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally."

"Ok, maybe not that convenient." Sam corrected herself.

"Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankee's cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. "

Annabeth smiled over at Athena.

"She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector."

"That would be fun to try and explain to a mortal security guard." Clarisse chuckled.

"Grover wore his fake feet and his trousers to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style hat because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was filled with scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew 2 songs: Mozart's piano concerto no.12 and Hillary Duff's 'So, yesterday', both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes."

"Rude." Grover muttered.

"They sound bad on reed pipes even when plated by the best reed pipe player. It's the songs, not you." Percy explained.

"Oh, ok." Grover nodded.

"We waved goodbye to other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

"Aww, you remembered me." Thalia said, pretending to be emotional.

"Don't know why I did." Percy shot back, making her smile.

"Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

'This is Argus,' Chiron told me. 'He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things.'"

"Bad pun." Leo declared.

"I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

'Hey!' He panted. 'Glad I caught you.'

Annabeth blushed, the way she did always when Luke was around."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth glared at them.

"'Just wanted to say good luck,' Luke told me. 'And I thought.... um, maybe you could use these.'

He handed me the sneakers which looked pretty normal. They even smelled pretty normal."

Everyone looked at Percy confused.

"I don't know okay? I don't know why I knew what they smelled like, or what pretty normal sneakers smell like." He threw his arms up.

"Luke said, 'Maia!' 

...................But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth."

"Awww." Thalia cooed. Percy flipped her off.

"'Hey man,' I said. 'Thanks.'

....................

'Oh... why do I want to go anywhere with you?'"

"A question I still ask now." 

"Rude."

"You always get us in trouble Seaweed Brain."

"Not my fault I'm a trouble magnet."

[Insert person here] ignored their bickering and continued reading.

"She stomped down the other side of the hill, where the white SUV waited on the road. .............. 'Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?'"

Hermes smiled, glad his magic item was being used.

"His eyes lit up. 'Me?'

......................

Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawnmower, heading towards the van."

"A possessed lawnmower?" Piper asked, laughing.

All the demigods joined in.

"Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. 'I should have trained you better, Percy.' He said. 'If only I had more time- Hercules, Jason- they all got more training.'"

"Surely he hadn't met you at this point?" Mallory turned to Jason.

"He hadn't. There was an ancient Greek hero called Jason. I was named after him." Jason explained. "That's who Chiron was on about."

"Oh, ok." She nodded.

"'That's okay, I just wish-' 

I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad gave me a cool magic item to help in the quest, something as good as  Luke's shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap."

"You got a pretty cool gift from your dad too." Annabeth pointed out.

"I did." Percy agreed, patting his pocket.

"'What am I thinking?' Chiron cried. 'I can't let you get away without this.' 

....................... It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand."

"Oh cool. A sword from a godly father. Never heard that one before." Alex commented, sarcastically.

"Alex, behave." Sam muttered.

"Yeah, where is Jack?" Percy asked, concerned.

"Uhh... on a date with another sword last time I saw him. Guess he didn't get transported here because he wasn't with me when we did." Magnus shrugged.

"'The sword has a long tragic history that we need not go into,' Chiron told me. 'It's name is Anaklusmos.'

'"Riptide",' I translated, surprised the ancient Greek came so easily.

'Use it only for emergencies.' Chiron said, 'and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case.'"

"Thankfully." Rachel muttered.

"I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. 'What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?'

'The sword is Celestial bronze. Forged by Cyclopes, tempered in the heat of Mount Etna, cooled in the river Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. "

"Thanks." Rachel complained.

"And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either Celestial bronze or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable.' "

"Of course we are." Blitz muttered.

"'Good to know.'

'Now recap the pen.' 

I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school."

"Of course you were." Annabeth shook her head.

'"You can't,' Chiron said.

.....................

'Yes. Read The Iliad. "

"Iliad?" Halfborn asked, intrigued.

"Achilles." Percy offered.

"It's full of references to the stuff.

...................

 I mean there was time before them, right?'"

"Can I suggest someone was procrastinating?" Frank offered.

"Well, duh." Percy declared.

"'Four ages before them in fact. The Time of the Titans was the fourth age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age.'

'So what was it like.... before the gods? '

Chiron pursed his lips. 'Even I am not old enough to remember that, child. "

"Yeah, Percy, rude." Leo chuckled.

"But I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals.

...............................

'No one knows how long the age of the West will last Percy."

"Yes, Percy, you can mess up everything." Nico summarised.

"The gods are immortal, yes. But then so were the titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive."

"Unfortunately." Thalia muttered.

"May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom or that we would ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past.

........................

 Just your typical summer-camp sent off by your typical centaur."

"Completely typical." Alex agreed.

          ☆☆☆

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into Western Long Island.  

......................

She folded her cap of invisibility, 'Look... we're just not supposed to get along okay? Our parents are rivals.'"

Poseidon and Athena dutifully glared at each other.

"'Why?'

She sighed. 'How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named  the city after her.'

'They must really like olives.'

'Oh, forget it.'

'Now if she'd invented pizza- that I could understand.'"

"That would be understandable." Alex agreed.

" 'I said, forget it.'

...................

I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice."

"I noticed it." Annabeth smirked.

"Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got a bus ticket, then drove away.

......................

'Thanks.' I said. 'Where's the nearest shower?'"

There were a few chuckles at this.

"'You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human, he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been killed by monsters a long time ago."

"What a cheery thought." Meg chuckled.

"Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must have loved you a lot to put up with that guy- if that makes you feel any better.'

It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it. I'll see her again, I thought, she isn't gone.

I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions,  as mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I said yes to this crazy quest."

"I knew." Grover patted Percy's knee.

"I suspected." Annabeth agreed.

"The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father stay out lf trouble.

....................

'I don't know', he said,  tensely. 'Maybe it's nothing.'"

"Definitely a monster." Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder too.

......................

Triplet demon grandmothers."

"Hades!" Poseidon screamed. "All three of them?"

"He was coming to attack me and you broke our oath." Hades replied, calmly.

"Please, brothers, calm down." Hestia asked.

Poseidon sat back, scowling.

"They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X.

.................

'I said if you're lucky,' Annabeth said. 'You're obviously not.'"

"I had no clue just how unlucky you are, huh?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm not that unlucky. I shouldn't have survived this long." Percy pointed out.

Poseidon's scowl increased.

"'All three of them,' Grover whimpered. 'Di immortales!'

'It's okay,' Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. 'The Furies. The three  worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows.'

'They don't open.' Grover moaned."

"Isn't that a safety hazard?" Magnus asked.

"As I said: unlucky." Annabeth replied.

"'A back exit?' She suggested.

.......................

What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should have named me ADHD poster child of the year."

"I think Leo's more impulsive than you, Perce." Jason suggested.

"The bus driver was distracted,  trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.

Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows."

"Alright, that was very impulsive." Jason relented, offering an arm out to Percy who climbed into his lap.

"'Hey!' the driver called. 'Hey- Whoa!'

...................

I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass."

"Impressive." Hazel looked surprised.

"The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth, while she waved her knife and yelled in ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.

I looked at the open door. I was free to go. But I couldn't leave my friends."

"My fatal flaw." Percy sighed.

"I took off the invisible cap. 'Hey!'

.......................

'Submit now,' she hissed. 'And you will not suffer eternal torment.'"

"Tempting." Thalia sighed. "I never got that offer. Not that I would've taken it, but still."

"'Nice try,' I told her.

'Percy look out!' Annabeth cried.

Mrs Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand, while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.

My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. I struck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling back wards into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked backwards while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands."

"Good job, Grover." Hedge approved.

'"Ow!' he yelled out. 'Hot! Hot! Hot! Ow!'

........................

'Braccas meas vescimini.' I yelled.

I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. "

Everyone stared at Percy. "How do you know Latin? That always bothered me." Reyna asked.

"I don't know." Percy admitted.

"Also, eat my pants. Really Perce?" Jason asked.

"I thought you knew me well enough to not be surprised." Percy pouted.

"I think it meant, 'Eat my pants'.

........................

Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told us Mrs Dodds was not yet dead."

Poseidon stared at both his brothers.

'"Run!' Annabeth yelled. 'She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here.'

We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, nothing but darkness ahead."

Chapter Text

TJ took the book next, checking the thickness. "I think we're about half way through. We should have lunch at the next break." He suggested, turning back to the correct page.

Everyone agreed, before he started reading.

"Chapter 11: We visit a Garden Gnome Emporium.

 In a way it's nice to know that there are Greek gods out there, because you have someone to blame. ...............................

'What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?'"

"Yes, obviously." Leo stated.

"'You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine-'

.............................

This may be my only chance to see the real world.'"

"You sure about that, Annie?" Piper asked.

"Yes. If it wasn't for Perce, I probably wouldn't have gone on any more quests, or made up with dad." Annabeth answered.

"The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us  in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glont of her blonde hair.

'You haven't left camp since you were seven?' I asked her.

'No.... only short field trips. My dad-'

'The history professor.'

'Yeah, it didn't work out for me living at home. "

"You get on with your dad now though, right? I saw you together." Magnus asked.

"Yeah. Perce convinced me to give it another shot." Annabeth explained.

"I mean Camp Half-Blood is my home.'

.......................

Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured."

"Rude." Grover stated.

"What was the funny thing on the bus?" Alex asked.

"It was 7 years ago. There's no way I could remember now." Annabeth answered.

"'Hey, my reed pipes still work!' Grover cried. 'If I could just remember a "find path" song, we could get out of these woods.'  

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hillary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head.

Add to the list of superpowers I did not have: infrared vision."

"Aww, poor Percy." Leo fake pouted.

"After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colours of a neon sign.

..........................

It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell garden flamingos and wooden Indians "

"I was 12. I didn't know." Percy said hurriedly at Piper's raised eyebrows.

"Wait, what?" Meg asked.

"It's offensive. We aren't from India." Piper crossed their arms.

"Oh, ok."

"and stone grizzly bears and stuff like that. 

.......................

She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic too."

"Rude." Annabeth mock glared at Percy, who smirked at her.

"Grover translated 'Auntie Em's garden gnome Emporium.'

................

We ignored him."

"Never ignore Grover." Thalia told them.

"The front garden was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

.............................

'Those are vegetables."

"I wouldn't say vegetables, but they are vegetarian." Piper said.

"Come on. Let's leave. These statues are looking at me.'

Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman- at least I assumed she was Middle Eastern, she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. "

Sam scowled but didn't say anything.

"Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out.

.....................

'You head is full of Kelp.'"

"Hey! That's my line." Thalia complained.

"Mine too." Nico added.

"The warehouse was filled with more statues- people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. But mostly I was thinking about food.

Go ahead, call me an idiot, "

"You're an idiot." Thalia stated.

"For walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes. Plus, you haven't smelled Auntie Em's burgers.

.............................

'Quite all right, Annabeth.' she said. 'You have such beautiful grey eyes, child.'"

"Please tell me you introduced yourselves and the book didn't mention it." Meg begged.

"Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves.

.....................

'I take vitamins. For my ears.'"

"Brilliant. Good job, Grover." Thalia chuckled.

"'That's admirable.' She said. 'But please, relax.'

...........................

Statuary is very popular, you know.'"

"Is it?" Sally asked.

"Based on the fact that she kills all her customers, I think not." Percy whispered to her.

"'A lot of business on this road?'

...................

I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price.'"

"That's not quite what happened, if I remember." Athena turned to Poseidon.

"She dumbed it down for the children." Alex pointed out, despite not knowing the story.

"I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her.

..................

'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"

"Yeah, Annabeth, what's the harm?" Annabeth mocked Percy's voice.

"I don't sound like that." Percy muttered.

"I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed auntie Em lead us back out the front door, into her garden of statues.

Auntie Em directed us to a park bench, next to the stone satyr. 'Now,' she said. 'I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side.'

'Not much light for a photo.' I remarked.

'Oh, enough, ' Aunty Em said. 'Enough to see each other, yes?'

'Where's your camera?' Grover asked. "

"Cameras are usually a crucial part of taking photos." Halfborn agreed.

"Auntie Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot.

..... ................

'What could be wrong? '"

"If Annabeth says something is wrong, something is wrong." Piper smiled.

"'That is Uncle Ferdinand,' Grover gasped.

.................

How could I have been so stupid?"

"It's not that difficult when your head is full of Kelp." Thalia offered.

"Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?

.....................

'I shall crush her statue to dust. B ut you, dear Percy, you need not suffer.'"

"How nice." Hazel remarked.

"'No,' I muttered. I tried to make my legs move.

'Do you really want to help the gods? Medusa said. 'Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain.'"

"I mean, she's not wrong. I would suffer less pain as a statue." Percy pointed out, getting a worried look from Poseidon.

"'Percy!' Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound like a  ninety-kilogram hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled 'Duck!'

I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering- Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.

'Duck!' He yelled again. 'I'll get her.'"

"Yes, Grover, go!" Meg cheered.

"That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me. "

"Rude." Grover muttered again.

"I dove to one side.

............................

He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful 'Ummphh!"

"Ouch." Hazel sympathised.

"Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, 'Hey!'

I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged I'd have a hard time defending myself.

But she let me approach - ten metres, five metres."

"That would be funny to watch." Clarisse chuckled.

"I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't that ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse. 

.................

The sound of a monster disintegrating."

"Guess you do have some good luck." Thalia shrugged.

"Something fell to the ground next to my foot.

.....................

'It can still petrify you.'"

"Well, that's nice." Nico sighed.

"Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue.

.................

'Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa?'"

"Kinda, yeah. You're a child of the Big Three, who's got an extra strong monster attraction, and you're not supposed to exist." Annabeth pointed out.

"Annabeth straightened. In a bad im itation of voice she said 'What's the harm, Annabeth? What's the harm?'

.......................

'Percy,' Annbeth said after me. 'What are you -?'"

"Something stupid, I'm sure." Jason smirked.

"I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sells, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden. "

Persephone crossed her arms. "My garden. He has nothing to do with it."

"Sorry, Lady Persephone." Percy offered.

"According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket."

"Well, that was helpful." Magnus said, surprised.

"In the cash register I found twenry dollars, a few golden drachmas and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins.

.....................

She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods."

"You really do." Jason sighed.

"Oh, I know." Percy smirked.

Poseidon looked worried.

"'Come on,' she muttered. 'We need a new plan.'"

Chapter Text

TJ passed the book to Halfborn, who nodded, taking it.

"Chapter 12: We Get Advice from a Poodle

We were pretty miserable that night.

We camped out in the woods, a hundred metres from the main road, in a clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast food wrappers.

We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to try to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else. "

"Smart." Piper approved.

"We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take the first watch.

Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his winged shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky."

"Glad to hear my gift was used." Hermes smiled at Grover.

"'Go ahead and sleep,' I told him. 'I'll wake you if there's trouble.'

He nodded but still didn't close his eyes. 'It makes me sad, Percy.'

'What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?'

'No, this makes me sad,' he pointed at all the garbage on the ground. 'And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr.'

'Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist.'

He glared at me. 'Only a human wouldn't be."

"I don't understand how people aren't." Demeter sighed.

"Money." Piper and Rachel said at the same time.

"Your species is clogging up the world so fast... ah, never mind.'

..................

They search the Earth exploring all the wildest places to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep.'"

"That's so sad." Meg sighed.

'"And you want to be a searcher.'

....................

'No.'"

"Wow. You go Grover." Rachel approved.

"'And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?'

'None.'"

"I could find out for you if you want to know." Demeter offered.

"It's alright, but thank you lady Demeter." 

'"But you still want to go?' I said, amazed.

...............

'I mean, what chance do we have against a god?'"

"None. This entire quest is foolish." Zeus scoffed.

"'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But back at Medusa's, when you searching the office, Annabeth was telling me-'

'Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out.'

'Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all she forgave me...' his voice faltered.

'What do you mean?' I asked. 'Forgave you for what?'"

"Exactly. For what? You did nothing wrong." Annabeth insisted.

"If anything, what happened was my fault." Thalia added.

"Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes. 

......................

'Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been.'"

"I was wondering that." Hades muttered.

'"They seemed plenty aggressive to me.'

Grover shook his head. 'They were screeching at us: "Where is it? Where?"'

'Asking about me,' I said.

'Maybe... but Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said "Where is it?" They seemed to be asking about an object.'

'That doesn't make sense.'"

"So, like any quest?" Blitz asked.

"'I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt...'

........................

I don't care about him.'"

"Part of that isn't true." Poseidon smiled over at Percy.

"None of that was true." Percy corrected with a smile.

"Grover gazed down from his tree branch. 'Look Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not as brave as you"

"I don't know about that." Piper said, smiling at Grover.

"but I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive.

..........................

We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west.'"

"And survived Medusa and the Furies. That's pretty impressive." Nico pointed out.

"Grover looked at night ago, like he was thinking about that problem. 'How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep.'

I wanted to protest, but he started to play Mozart,  soft and sweet, and I turned away, my eyes stinging. after a few bars of Piano Concerto no.12, I was asleep."

"That's cheating!" Piper complained.

"You've done exactly that to me with your charm speak." Reyna accused.

"You were refusing to sleep." Piper shot back, making Reyna roll her eyes.

Aphrodite seemed more interested in Piper after learning she could charmspeak.

"In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Grey mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke, that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead.

They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the cavern."

"Careful. Trust me you don't want to go down there." Persephone said.

"Oh I know." Percy muttered.

"It was a dream, it wouldn't have damaged him." Apollo pointed out.

"Looking down made me dizzy.

The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Yet I had a feeling that something was trying to raise from the abyss, something huge and evil.

The little hero an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do."

"No."

Please no." 

"It can't be." All the gods muttered or shouted at the same time.

"The voice felt ancient- cold and heavy. It wrapped around me like sheets of lead.

....................

'You can talk to animals?'"

"Of course he can, Peter Johnson, he's a satyr." Dionysus scoffed.

"Grover ignored the question. 'Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy.'

I stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious.

'I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle.' I said. 'Forget it.'

'Percy,' Annabeth said. 'I said hello to the poodle, you say hello to the poodle.'"

"Yes Percy. Say hello to the poodle." Nico chuckled.

"The poodle growled.

.....................

 According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon.'"

"Why does the poodle know the train schedule?" Lester asked.

"Maybe he wandered to the station." Persephone offered. Noone had any better suggestions so this was accepted.

The door to the dining area reappeared as soon as Halfborn put the book down.

All the mortals headed out to it. The gods, not needing to eat, stayed where they were sat.

"I would like to suggest a change to the camp." Hestia begun, getting strange looks from many of the other gods. "Those of us, myself not included, who have children at the camp should take it in turns to be director. We should think on this while the children have some dinner."

Over in the dining area, Piper, Meg, Hedge, Grover, Thalia and Magnus were having a conversation about nature and how the planet was being ruined, while Nico was still weary of the Norse contingent and was staying as far from them as possible, along with Will and Hazel who were keeping them company. Hazel had also apprehended Leo and they were sat on her lap, curled up happily.

Alex and Rachel were bonding over their rich, asshole fathers and their joint love of art.

Sam and Jason were comparing experiences of flight, which Frank overheard and decided to join in, being a shape-shifter.

Blitz and Hearth were chatting with Calypso, Lester and Sally, while TJ, Halfborn and Mallory were sat together eating silently, and Percy, Annabeth and Reyna were conversing quietly in a corner.

Around the same time that the mortals had finished eating, most of the gods had relented and agreed to Hestia's plan.

"All in favour." Zeus said.

Hestia, Hades, Persephone, Frey, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter, Artemis and Aphrodite put their hands up.

"All against." Zeus said, putting his hand up. 

He was joined by Hera, Ares, Hermes* and Athena. 

"It is decided." Zeus announced, as the mortals returned.

"What is?" Percy asked.

"Those of us with kids at camp will take it in turns to be in charge." Zeus said, looking pained.

"Very good." Percy agreed, sitting back with their father. "Also, they/them now."

Everyone else sat down, the majority of people now sat with their partners and friends as opposed to their godly parents. 

New seating plan:

Hera Zeus Poseidon Percy Jason Leo Sally Calypso 

Athena                                                                    Hermes

Annabeth                                                                     Sam

Reyna                                                                           Alex

Piper                                                                      Magnus 

Ares                                                                           Thalia

Clarisse                                                                  Artemis

Hedge                                                                       Rachel

TJ                                                                               Apollo

Halfborn                                                                       Frey

Mallory                                                                      Lester

Hearth                                                                          Meg

Blitz                                                                           Grover

Aphrodite                                                              Demeter

Hades Hazel Frank Nico Will Hephaestus Persephone 

Chapter Text

Frank was next to take the book.

"Chapter 13: I Plunge to my Death.

"What?" Poseidon asked, worried.

 We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading West through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

 ...................

is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers."

"Ah. Thanks Mist." Thalia sighed.

"The bus exploded on an East New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be travelling with two teenage accomplices. "

"Technically not." Annabeth pointed out. "I was 12, and Grover was like 30."

"28, thank you very much." Grover retorted.

"His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

'Don't worry,' Annabeth told me. 'Mortal police could never find us.' But she didn't sound so sure."

"Knowing your luck so far, they will." Sam sighed.

 "The rest of the day, I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still), or looking out the windows.

 .................... .

He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs.'"

"Rude." Hades muttered.

 "'He offered my mother in trade.

........................

He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. "

"Again. Rude." Hades complained.

"Not completely heartless." Perspehone added, moving to sit next to her husband, kissing his cheek.

"I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-'

.............................

She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent.'"

Athena looked down in pain, remembering that interaction.

" 'But how... I mean... I guess you were born in a hospital...'

 .................. .

I ran away.'"

"Still can't believe you did that." Magnus shook their head.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"The last time I saw Annabeth, before our parents fell out, was when I was 6. Annabeth told me she was going to run away."

"When I say I'm going to do something, I do it." Annabeth replied.

" 'How old were you?'

 'Same age I started camp. Seven.'

 'But.... you couldn't have gotten to Half-Blood Hill by yourself.'

 'Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me towards help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway.'"

Thalia and Annabeth shared a bittersweet smile.

 "I wanted to ask what happened,

....................

Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain God of earthquakes I could mention.'"

Poseidon glared at her.

 "I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.

 'Sorry,' Annabeth said. 'That was mean.'

 'Can't we work together a little?' I pleaded. 'I mean, didn't Poseidon and Athena ever cooperate?'

 Annabeth had to think about it. 'I guess... the chariot.' She said tentatively. 'My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the waves of the crests of the waves. They had to work together to make it complete.'"

Both Athena and Poseidon scowled at each other.

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?'

..........................

We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s."

"Junk?" Athena asked incredulously.

"Sorry lady Athena. I just didn't find it interesting." Percy apologised quickly.

"It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans,  so I was okay .

.....................

'It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus- "

"I still don't understand why they hate me so much." Hades muttered, getting a comforting kiss on the cheek from his wife.

"the darkest day of the year

. ....................

I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it."

"That does not sound fun." Piper agreed.

"'No parents?' The fat lady asked us.

 ................ ....

She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.

"Hate when they do that." Magnus complained.

 At the top of the arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting.

.......................

She smiled back, her forked tongue flicking between her teeth."

"Her what?" Nico asked, convinced they had misheard.

" Wait a minute.

 .................... .

The pupils of her eyes were horizontal were sideways slits, like a reptile's."

"Echidna? Please no." Poseidon groaned.

 "The chihuaha barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. 

 ..........................

 I ended up next to the family and the park ranger who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors."

"I wonder what they saw." Hazel thought out loud.

 "I couldn't let them get hurt.

 .............................

 Great,I thought. We just blowtouched a national monument."

"Somehow not the worst thing we've done." Annabeth cringed.

 "Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hand, and as the chimera turned, I slashed its neck.

 That was my fatal mistake. The blade sparked harmlessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I've not defended myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about the serpentine tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf."

Almost everyone winced.

 "My whole leg was on fire.

.......................

 She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nothing could save me, not even the gods."

"Depends on the god. I probably could've done." Apollo pointed out.

"I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle."

"As I've already said, I did." Poseidon smiled over at Percy.

 "I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon claimed me as his son.

 But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead centre of the USA. There was no sea god here.

'Die, faithless one,' Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame towards my face.

 'Father, help me.' I prayed.

 I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison coursing in my veins, I plummeted towards the river."

"That... that was a proper cliffhanger." Alex commented.

Chapter Text

Blitz was next to take the book.

"Chapter 14: I become a known fugitive.

 I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on the way down, that I came to terms my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.

 The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaaagghhhh!"

"Ah. Typical Percy." Annabeth commented.

 "The river raced towards me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.

 And then: Flaaa-booom

 A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in fifty metres of mud and lost forever.

 But my impact with the water didn't hurt. I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the riverbed soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom."

"Probably looked like him too." Piper suggested with a chuckle.

"Oh definitely." Sally agreed, trying not to laugh herself.

"Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage- beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags- swirled up all around me.

 At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boling in my veins anymore. I was alive which was good."

"That's a good start." Hazel agreed.

 "Second realization: I wasn't wet. 

.............................

 I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.

"That's so cool!" Leo's eyes sparkled. 

"I could show you one day if you want?" Percy suggested.

"Please." Leo bounced in their seat.

 I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry.

.............................

 I feel like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning."

Everyone turned to Percy.

"Annabeth and I have already had this conversation. It was a bad time. I don't feel like that anymore." They said quickly.

 "'Your father believes in you,' she had said.

 She also called me brave.... unless she was talking to the catfish."

A few people chuckled, but shook their heads. Percy was plenty brave.

 "I waded towards Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt.

.................

'That's nice, dear.'"

"Ah. Young mortal minds." Magnus sighed.

 "A news lady was talking for the camera. 'Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling off the arch.'

Survivors. I felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. I hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay."

"You care too much about others for your own good, boy." Athena commented.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to correct their mother on the fact that Percy wasn't a boy, but wisely chose not to.

 "I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.

 ..................

She was saying, 'And then this huge do, this huge fire-breathing chihuaha''."

"So still a chihuahua then. Just massive, and fire-breathing. Interesting." Hazel commented.

 "'Ok, ma'am,' the paramedic said.

.........................

For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson.'"

"Oh no. The mortal police are definitely going to find you now." Alex confirmed.

 "We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

 'First things first,' I told Grover. 'We've got to get out of town!'

 Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the Saint Louis skyline behind us."

Chapter Text

Blitz stood up to pass the book to Mallory.

"Chapter 15: A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

 The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the Solstice, our train pulled into Denver.

....................

 'I'm not talking about phones.'"

"How do you communicate?" Alex asked.

 "We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure Annabeth was looking for. ........................

 'Luke!' I called."

Thalia cringed.

 "He turned, eyes wide. 

...............................

 I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side for anything."

"Rude." Clarisse muttered.

"I'm only on old Seaweed's side to be against Athena." Ares scowled.

"In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically.

'So, what's your status?' Luke asked me. 'Chiron will be sorry he missed you.'

 I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. "

Everyone who knew what had happened to Luke tried to hide their pain.

"It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp, even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off.

.....................

She would never... I mean, she's like a little sister to me.'"

Annabeth looked down, the pain clearly visible. Percy reached out for her and they leant against him.

 "I wondered if Annabeth would like that description. In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln pulled out of the car wash.

 'You'd better go see what that was,' Luke said. 'Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they'd done you some good.'"

Grover and Percy shared a look.

 "'Oh.... uh yeah!'

................................

The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before."

Ares smirked. "Looks like I'm here."

 "As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place.

..................................

Who did this guy think he was?"

"Oh, I don't know, a god?" Annabeth suggested sarcastically.

"Shut up, Wise Girl." Percy pulled Annabeth against their side and kissed her temple.

 "He gave me a wicked grin. 'So, you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?'

 ...................

 'She was asking for it.'"

"Was not." Clarisse accused.

"Were too." Percy shouted back.

"You are both children." Annabeth sighed.

" 'Probably. That's cool.

......................

 'Why don't you go back and get it yourself?'"

"How are you so good at pissing off gods and not being killed?" Poseidon sighed.

"It's a talent." 

 "The flames in his eyes glowed a little hotter.

Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?' He leaned forward. 'Or maybe you only fight where there's a river to dive into,  so your daddy can protect you.'

 I wanted to punch this guy but, somehow I knew he was waiting for that. Ares' power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "

"Considering what you were like back then, I'm impressed at that, Percy." Clarisse said.

"What are you trying to say about me?"

"You were dumb and impulsive." 

"And they aren't anymore?" Nico asked.

 "'We're not interested,' I said. 'We've already got a quest.'

 .....................

'Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good.'"

"When is it?" Blitz sighed.

" I stared out the window.

 .....................

Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes.'"

"EXCUSE ME?" Ares bellowed. "I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR THAT PUNK."

"Ares. Don't threaten my daughter. Besides, she's right." Athena said quieter but with the same cruelty.

 "But this water park... he acted almost scared

.....................

'I'd hate to see what she looks like.'"

Aphrodite tried to stare daggers through Percy.

" 'Percy,' Annabeth warned. 'Be more respectful.'"

"No, thanks." Percy smiled.

 "'Why? I thought you hated Ares.'

 'He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental.'

 'You don't want to insult her looks.' Grover added.

 'Who is she? Echidna?'"

One could see fire in Aphrodite's eyes.

" 'No, Aphrodite.' Grover said, a little dreamily. 'Goddess of love.'"

Aphrodite winked at Grover.

 "'I thought she was married to somebody.' I said. 'Hephaestus.'

 'What's your point?' he asked."

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow at his wife. 

"You cheated too." She pointed out.

 "'Oh.' I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. 'So how do we get in?'

..........................

 In front of us was an empty pool that would have been awesome for skateboarding."

"Of course you were a skater boy." Thalia chuckled.

"Shut up. At least I wasn't a tree."

"It was at least fifty meters across, shaped like a bowl.

..........................

Leave it to a girl to make everything complicated."

"Sexist." Annabeth accused.

"Sheltered kid." Percy defended himself.

"'Fine.' I told her. 'I'll do it myself.' But when I started down the side of the pool, she followed me,  muttering about how boys always messed things up."

Percy raised their eyebrows at Annabeth.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth sighed, leaning against him.

 "We reached the boat.

......................................

 'Spiders!' Annabeth said. 'Sp-sp-aaah!'"

Percy held a terrified Annabeth close against him, pressing kisses to her blonde curls.

 "I'd never seen her like this before. S he fell backwards in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her back towards the boat.

 The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding towards the centre of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make us look stupid. Then again, this was a trap made for gods. And we weren't gods."

"Could've fooled me." Hazel commented with a smile.

" Annabeth and I climbed into the boat.

.....................

 Think, I told myself. Think!"

"Percy, thinking?" Thalia asked, shocked.

"Oh fuck off."

 "The tunnel of love entrance was under the net. 

.............................

 Water exploded out of the pipes."

"Damn. You are powerful." Alex hummed his approval.

"It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders.

.....................

 Annabeth was right. "

"Of course I was." Annabeth stated simply.

"If we'd jumped when I thought we should have, we would've crashed into the gates.

 .......................

'We need have a little talk with Ares.'"

"This doesn't sound good." Poseidon said, worried.

Chapter Text

The book was passed down to Jason, who adjusted himself so he could read and have Leo on his lap at the same time.

"Chapter 16: We Take a Zebra to Vegas."

"Nico? Can we talk privately for a second?" Percy asked, standing up.

"Sure." Nico shrugged, standing up too.

They walked over to a corner together. "Everything alright?" Nico asked, confused.

"Yeah, I  just wanted to warn you about something that happened in Vegas."

"You didn't- you didn't go there, did you?" Nico panicked.

Percy nodded, offering out an arm to pull them into a hug. "Are you OK?"

Nico buried themself in Percy's shoulder.

"I'm here." Percy whispered, stroking their back.

"Thanks." Nico pulled back after a few minutes.

"You're alright now?" Percy confirmed. 

Nico nodded, walking back into the room and curling up on Will's lap.

Percy followed them, curling back up in between Jason and Annabeth.

" The war God was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.

 'Well, well.' He said. 'You didn't get yourself killed.'"

"Good start." Leo chuckled.

"Better than I did." Magnus pointed out.

"Dumbass." Alex teased, lovingly.

"You're dead too." Magnus pointed out.

"Least I didn't die in my first fight."

"Oh, shut up."

 "'You knew it was a trap,' I said. ............ . 'You're a jerk.'

"Percy. That was incredibly stupid." Poseidon sighed.

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.

 Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like  pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest."

"That's cool." Meg decided.

"'That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas.' .................  Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos."

"That's not like you. What did you want with my son?" Poseidon asked Ares, suspicious.

"Rude." Ares replied.

 "I said, 'I don't want your lousy-'"

"Do you want me to kill you, Punk?" Ares asked, angry.

 "'Thank you, Lord Ares,' Grover interrupted,  giving me his best red-alert warning look. 'Thanks a lot.'

I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, "

"It is." Ares said through gritted teeth.

"but I didn't want anything that Ares had touched. .............. The waitress who served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. "

"Aww. Someone cares about you." Thalia mocked.

"She dragged the cook out from the kitchen to see. ..............TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENCELESS BIKER."

"Of course. It isn't my fault." Ares smirked.

 'You owe me one more thing '.............. Annabeth said, 'That was not smart, Percy.'"

"It really wasn't." Annabeth repeated.

"I know." Percy sighed, burying their head in her shoulder.

 "'I don't care.'.........  It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter."

"Ew." A few people shuddered. 

 "The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos...............The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of its horns that read OVER THE HILL"

"Oh, the poor things! You helped them, right?" Piper asked, worried.

"Of course we did." Annabeth agreed.

 Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer.............. Annabeth was in favour of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stop moving."

"What happened?" Thalia asked, suspicious. "Why is Percy the smart one?"

"I can be smart." Percy complained.

"At the same time as Annabeth being dumb?" 

"Oh, come on Thalia. That's just rude." Annabeth complained.

"Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips.

 ............. . We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for the night."

"That was very good of you." Piper nodded.

 "Grover curled up on a turnip sack; ............. The Solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time."

"Ohh, you definitely jinxed it." Blitz warned.

 "On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next.................. I was a source of amusement for the gods."

"It was. You were very entertaining." Lester agreed.

"While I was mostly scared for what my husband had done, I have to agree." Persephone said.

 "'Hey,' Annabeth said, 'I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy.'............... She got turned into a spired for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?'"

"I'm impressed." Jason smiled.

"I actually paid attention in Chiron's classes." Percy replied.

 "Annabeth nodded..............  'I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along.'"

"Not a failure!" Percy, Annabeth and Thalia all said in unison.

 "'You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus.'

 ................ . Thalia didn't blame you either.'"

"I don't." Thalia agreed.

 "'She sacrificed herself to save us,' he said miserably. ...............  I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy.'"

"4." Percy leaned over and whispered to Grover, making him smile.

 "'You're not lame,' Annabeth insisted. .............   now that was a weird summer...'"

"I want to know about that summer." Alex asked hopefully.

"I can't remember much anymore, but I'll tell you what I can remember later?" Annabeth offered.

"Thanks."

 "'And the college ring is your father's?'

................. 'You should write a letter or something.'"

"Family's important. Don't give up on family." Magnus smiled over at Annabeth.

Unless they're assholes Hearth added.

"Unless they're assholes." Magnus agreed.

 '"Thanks for the advice,' .............. Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?'"

"Of course. I'd never be on his side for anything." Athena scoffed.

"She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. 'I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you.'"

"Annabeth!" Athena scolded.

Annabeth just smiled over at Percy, taking their hand.

 "'Why?'

.............. Annabeth was asleep."

"I still don't understand how both of you can do that." Thalia shook her head.

 "I had trouble following her example with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes.

........... Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

"How did you know what I looked like, Kelp Head?" Thalia threatened.

"Guessed?"

 "She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, ............ . Yes, the exchange went well, I see."

"Exchange?" Reyna asked.

 "I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me.  ............ . The speaker was invisible."

"Well, duh. That would've been too easy." Blitz sighed.

 "Deception upon deception, the thing in the pit mused aloud. Excellent.

 Truly, my Lord, said the voice next to me, you are well named the Crooked One."

Although they had all expected it, the gods all took a sharp intake of breath at the confirmation.

"But was it really necessary? .................  As soon as both items are delivered into my hands"

"Both?" Poseidon asked, confused.

"Something about the exchange, maybe?" Athena suggested.

"... but wait. He is here. 

 .................. The boy brought himself hither."

"Percy, why didn't you tell me you can dream travel?" Nico asked, surprised.

"I can't really control it." They shrugged.

"Once we get back, I'm teaching you."

"Alright."

 "Impossible the servant cried.

................... The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together."

"My throne is not horrid." Hades complained.

"Standing at the foot of the dias was my mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched.

 ................ . Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips."

"You do." Thalia confirmed.

 "The trailers doors creaked open. .......... For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous."

"Understandable." Piper nodded.

" The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. ..........They're gonna saw you in half!'"

Hazel gasped, terrified. "You saved them, right?"

Percy nodded, sympathetic.

 "The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.

 There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: Free me, lord. Please.

 I was too stunned to act."

"You speak zebra?" TJ asked, a little confused.

"I speak horse." Percy shrugged.

 "There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

................ She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer."

"Genius." Hazel smiled.

"She is my daughter." Athena said, pretending she wasn't proud.

"She said, 'This transport business can't be legal.'

............... I could only understand zebras."

Many people chuckled at this.

"Then I thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses. Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why I could understand it?"

"Yes. You seem to have inherited much from me." Poseidon confirmed.

 "The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.

 ................ . We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas."

"Man, I wish I'd been there to see that." Leo chuckled.

 "Maurice and Eddie ran after it ................ we found ourselves at a dead-end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino."

Nico tightened their hands in Will's jumper, trying to hide that they were in pain.

"The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. ............. . One look at him, and I could see."

"That is suspicious." Reyna pointed out.

"Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic .................. . 'This place is...'"

"Suspiciously good." Hazel suggested.

 '"Sweet,' Grover said. 'Absolutely sweet.'

 There were clothes in the closet, and they fitted me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.

 I threw Ares' backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. "

Ares growled.

"When we left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.

....................

 'It's interesting.'"

"Nerd!" Leo shouted.

"You know it." Annabeth winked.

"'I feel good,'

................ . I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it."

"Of course you did." Reyna smiled over at Annabeth, lovingly.

 "I'm not sure when I first realized something wass wrong.

......................

 He had to think about it. '1970.'"

"Uh, what?" Alex asked.

Nico hid their face further in Will's chest, trying not to have a panic attack.

 "'No,' I said, getting a little scared.............. . 'How long have we-'"

"I have to admit, that was real smart of you, Perce." Annabeth smiled, kissing their cheek.

"I can be smart sometimes." They chuckled.

 "'I don't know, but we've got to find Grover.'

 ............... , as if I were another image from the screen."

"Sorry." Grover cringed.

"I looked at Annabeth................ . It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in desert."

"Well, sounds like someone's more pissed." Thalia glared at her father.

 "Ares' backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I was sure I threw it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment I had other problems to worry about.

 I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the Gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. "

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Then I noticed the date: June twentieth.

 We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days. 

 We had only one day left until the summer Solstice. One day to complete our quest."

"Oh, shit." Magnus sighed.

"Alright, I think we need a break." Hestia announced, once again ushering the other gods out. 

"Nico? Are you OK?" Reyna and Hazel ran over to them. 

They nodded, standing up, and walking to the corner. Will, Reyna, Hazel and Percy followed them.

"Come here darlin'" Will insisted, holding his arms out for Nico to fall into.

"Let it all out." Reyna advised, awkwardly patting their shoulder.

At this Nico broke down in tears. 

Chapter Text

Nico buried their head in Will's shoulder, 80 years of pain and fear coming out in that moment. 

Will held them close, as their shoulders shook with the sobs. "I'm here darlin'. We're all here for you." He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Nico's head. Nico just held him closer.

After a few minutes, Nico wiped their eyes, and stepped away. "Sorry." They whispered, gently.

"What for, darlin'?" Will asked, taking their hand.

Nico just sighed, before pulling away from him, and pulling Percy into a hug. "You were lucky." They murmered.

"I can't imagine how hard it must've been for you." Percy responded, holding them close. "Not realizing, and coming out and everything was different." 

"You guys make it worth it." They pulled away, before turning back to Will. "You especially. You make everything worth it." They pulled Will into a quick kiss, before going back to sit down, near where their father was sat, fidgeting with something they found in their pocket. Will and Hazel instantly went to sit on either side of them. 

Percy and Reyna went over to where Annabeth was clearly spacing out, and sat on either side of them, each taking a hand. When she didn't respond, Reyna pressed a gentle kiss to their cheek, which still didn't get a response.

"Anna?" She asked, gently shaking her. Slowly Annabeth came back to themself.

"Hey." She replied, leaning against Reyna.

"Rude." Percy muttered.

"Sorry, Seaweed Brain. Reyna's my favorite." Annabeth teased, before leaning forward to kiss their cheek. "Kidding. I love you equally." 

Piper, who had sat on the other side of Reyna, was playing gently with Annabeth's hair. "I thought I was your favorite." She teased.

"All three of you are my favorite." Annabeth chuckled, moving to lie down, head in Piper's lap, legs in Percy's. Grover, who was on the other side of Percy, budged up a bit, as Annabeth's feet were now pressing against him.

Meanwhile, Magnus, starting to struggle with all the people they didn't know around, had pulled Alex back into their lap, and was fiddling with his hair. Alex, himself, relaxed back against his chest. "I'm right here, Mags." He reminded them, taking his spare hand in his own. 

Blitz and Hearth had also moved over to sit with them too, with Blitz running a hand down Magnus's back. "You OK, kid?" 

Magnus slowly nodded, leaning back, and starting to feel OK again. 

"Good." Alex said, tucking his head under Magnus's chin. 

Frank, Jason and Thalia were sat watching Leo, who had nearly finished the creation they were making. 

Next to them, TJ, Mallory, Halfborn, Clarisse and Hedge were clearly getting on, with their joint love of violence.

Sally, who was on the other side of Grover, was telling Calypso, Meg and Lester all about the new book she was writing.

"Hmph. You've all moved again." Zeus complained, as the gods reentered the room. 

"It's almost like they want to be with their friends." Hades said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, as he went to sit with his children.

Eventually, all the gods found places to sit, and Jason passed the book to Leo.

 "Chapter 17: We go shopping for waterbeds."

Annabeth shuddered, not enjoying that particular memory.

It was Annabeth's idea."

"When isn't it?" Piper chuckled.

"I have my own ideas. Occasionally." Percy defended themself.

"She loaded us into the back of a Vegas taxi as if we actually had money................. . Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign. "

"Heh. That's pretty cool. Did you keep it?" Leo asked.

"Nah." Percy shrugged. "Wanted to forget about the place."

 "The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. 'Where to in Los Angeles... uh, your Highness?'

 'The Santa Monica pier.' Annabeth sat up a little straighter. I could tell she liked the 'Your Highness' thing."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth mock complained.

"I apologize for my 12-year-old self's inner thoughts." Percy responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"'Get there fast and you can keep the change.............. , though I was sure it was somebody I knew. "

"Can't just tell you who it is. We need some suspense." Rachel waved her arms around mystically.

"The servant had called the monster in the pit something other than 'my Lord'........................  Maybe they thought we'd retrieved the bolt.'"

"Guess that makes sense." Jason shrugged. 

"It wasn't me." Hades complained.

"I'm not saying it was you, Lord Hades, but if it had been, Annabeth's explanation would make sense." Jason explained himself.

 "I wasn't sure what was wrong with her................. . 'You have evil thoughts for a goat.'"

A few people chuckled.

 "'Why, thank you.............................. I got the feeling I was missing one simple, critical piece of information. "

"So, like any quest ever?" Piper asked.

"It was like when I stared at a common word I should know..........................  There's only one place that could be."

"You're welcome." Hades muttered.

"We're doing the right thing....................  I'd done that enough times."

Athena glared at Percy.

 "The cab sped West................ looking out at a different sea."

"Not as long as it felt." Grover sighed.

 "How could there be a god who could control all of that................... There's all kinds of toxic-'"

Demeter and Poseidon sighed dejected.

 "That's what my head went under................... not being able to see much but knowing the void was right there."

Piper shivered, not enjoying that particular memory. Annabeth took their hand and kissed it.

 "The surface shimmered............ 'Percy Jackson.'"

"Wait." Clarisse said. "Did she sound like Sally, or are you acknowledging that your mother is a woman?"

"First one. Hopefully." 

 "As she got closer, her shape became clearer. She had flowing black hair, a dress made of a green silk. Light flickered around her, and her eyes were so distractively beautiful I hardly noticed the stallion-sized seahorse she was riding. "

"That's cool." Meg and Hazel declared at the same time.

 "She dismounted.................... 'Even to their own children?'"

Everyone in the room stared at Zeus.

"What?" He asked, feigning ignorance. "Fine. I'll think about changing that rule."

" 'Especially to them............... should you survive to manhood."

"You're welcome perce." Rachel joked.

"Thank you so much for my terrible fate. Truly a wonderful gift." Percy chuckled.

"Poseidon would not have you die before your time............... he'll never willing let you leave."

"You're welcome for the lack of zombie apocalypse." Hades raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, thank you Hades." Zeus said, dismissively.

"Keep faith. Good luck ,Percy Jackson.'

 She summoned her seahorse and rode towards the void.

 'Wait!' I called. 'At the river, you said not to trust the gifts. What gifts?'"

"Hopefully not the ones she just gave you." Will said.

 "'Goodbye...............  but he'd never heard of a DOA Recording Studios."

"You think I'd let any old hero in that easy?"

"Of course not, Uncle Hades." Percy answered.

 "'You remind me of somebody I saw on TV,' he told me. 'You  a child actor or something?'

 'Um... I'm a stunt double... for a lot of child actors.'"

"Hm. Good bluff." Hedge grunted.

 "'Oh!........... ... my Camaro..."

Sally winced.

"Definitely not in that order." Hazel suggested.

"I don't know. My father was like that. He loved the convenience of having Sally around, not Sally herself." Alex added.

"I-I'm sorry..............  or perhaps a brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult. "

"Weirdly that's probably the closest." Thalia commented.

"When we come back..................  A kid could be safe as long as he wasn't stupid."

"So, you?" Thalia asked.

 "L.A. wasn't like that. it was spread out, chaotic, hard to move around. It reminded me of Ares."

"Excuse me, punk?" Ares lent forward in his chair towards Percy.

"It wasn't enough for L.A. to be big................ like they were trying to figure out if we were worth the trouble of mugging."

"Probably were." Magnus agreed.

 "As we hurried past the inset of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, 'Hey you.'

Like an idiot, I stopped."

"Told ya." Thalia chuckled.

"Fuck off pinecone face."

 "Before I knew it, we were surrounded..............rich brats playing at being bad boys."

Piper looked sheepish.

 "Instinctively, I uncapped Riptide................ because the blade passed harmlessly through his chest. "

Rachel glared at Percy, who looked sheepish.

"He looked down....................  His suit might have come from The Lotus Casino. "

Nico scowled and curled in on themself a bit, as Will wrapped an arm around them.

"It belonged back in the seventies, big time. The shirt was silk paisley, and buttoned half way down his hairless chest. The laples on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck- I couldn't even count them.

 'I'm crusty,' he said, with a tartar yellow smile.

 I resisted the urge to say, yes, you are."

"Percy!" Sally reprimanded.

"I didn't say it." They put their hands up in surrender.

" 'Sorry to barge in.' I told him. 'We were just, um, browsing.'

 'You mean hiding from those no good kids.' He grumbled. 'They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at waterbeds?'"

"My vote is for getting out of there." Jason suggested.

 "I was about to say No, thanks, when he put a huge paw on my shoulder and steered me deeper into the showroom."

"Ah," Jason sighed.

 "There was every kind of waterbed you could imagine. Different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen size, king size, emporer-of-the-universe size."

Leo chuckled.

" 'This is my most popular model.' ....................  'oh, you guys this is cool.'"

"Grover, no." A few people moaned.

 "'Hmm,' Crusty said, ................ and lashed him down."

"What the fuck?" Hazel asked.

 "'Not cool!'.............. Annabeth and Grover kept struggling."

Both people mentioned grimaced.

 "'Can't stand imperfect measurements'............ They might even live. "

"So kind." Meg chuckled.

"Now why don't we find you a bed you like, huh?'

 'Percy!' Grover yelled.

My mind was racing. I knew I  couldn't take on this giant waterbed salesman alone. He would snap my neck before I ever got my sword out."

"Wow. That was actually slightly clever, Kelpie." Thalia chuckled.

"It's called self preservation instinct." They winked at her.

" 'Your real name's not Crusty, is it?' ..................... Grover made gurgling sounds like a strangled goose."

"Rude." Grover muttered.

 "'So, Crusty....................  he deserved to turn to dust for a while."

"I'm proud of you." Sally smiled over at Percy, who smiled back.

 '"You drive a hard bargain,................... . Crusty stopped making offers."

"That was actually pretty clever." Annabeth admitted, sitting up to kiss Percy's cheek before lying back down.

 "I cut the ropes on the other beds. ................... It's only a block from here.'"

Chapter Text

Leo passed the book to Calypso with a smirk.

" Chapter 18: Annabeth does obedience school

 We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, ......

'What happens if the plan doesn't work?'"

"What? I need a plan B." Annabeth defended herself.

"And a plan D." Percy chuckled.

"Do you need a reminder of how many times my plans have saved your life, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, yeah,  whatever." 

 "'Don't think negative.'

..........

No problem.'"

"Easy Peasy." Blitz sighed.

 "I looked at them both, and felt really grateful. ......... . I could see right through their bodies."

"That's kind of weird." Leo commented.

"It's how all spirits are." Nico shrugged.

 "The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

 ......... . 'Your name is Chiron?'"

Nico sighed. "This isn't going to end well. He hates that."

 "He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you.

 'What a precious young lad.' He had a strange accent- British maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language."

"I don't know, maybe Greek?" Nico joked.

"Some of us didn't grow up in Europe." Percy retorted.

"Nico has a point. Of course it was Greek, he's ancient Greek." Thalia pointed out.

"Hush. Both of you."

"'Tell me mate, do I look like a centaur?'

...............

 We nodded."

"You were idiots. You didn't get away with that." Clarisse said.

" 'Big bathtub.' Charon looked mildly impressed."

Percy winked at her.

"'I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express,"

"Only rich people then." Thalia noted. "You should take more credit cards."

"Hmm, I'll think about it." Hades said.

"or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. ...........

 'No.' I said. 'I'm dead.'"

"Breaking news: people with dyslexia can die." Nico announced, acting like a news presenter.

 "He lent forward and sniffed. ...............Do you imagine suit like this comes cheap?'"

Hades grumbled something about greed.

 "'You deserve better,' I agreed. 'A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay.'

 With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.

 Charon ran his hands over his Italian jacket as if imagining himself in something even better. 'I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little.'

I stacked another few coins. 'I can mention a pay rise while I'm talking to Hades.'"

"He's lucky he even gets paid." Hades grumbled.

 "He sighed. '.......................  Understand?'"

"How often has that happened, I wonder." Blitz chuckled.

 "He shut the doors. ............. . You'll die soon enough, where you are going.'"

"Cheery." Meg commented.

 "'We'll get out alive.' I said.

 ..........

 'The River Styx.' Annabeth murmered."

Percy and Nico locked eyes.

 "'It's so...'

'Polluted,' Charon said. 'For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across- hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true.  Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me.'"

"That's just sad." Piper sighed.

"Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with a greenish light: the colour of poison.

 Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me... they were dead.

 Annabeth grabbed hold of my hand. Under normal circumstances this would've embarrassed me,"

"Aww." Thalia teased.

"Oh, shut up." Percy chuckled.

"but I understood how she felt. 

................ B ut the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey turnpike."

"Interesting." Piper commented.

 "There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector mounted with security cameras. Beyond this were tollbooths manner by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

 The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades' door, was nowhere to be seen."

"Oh, don't worry, he was there." Hades smiled.

 "The dead queued up in the 3 lines. Two were marked :ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked: EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right long. The other two were crawling.

 'What do you figure?' I asked annabath.

'The fast line must go straight to Asphodel.' She said. 'No contest. They don't want to risk judgement from the court, because it might go against them.'

 'There's a court for dead people?'

 'Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson,"

TJ crossed his arms and scowled.

"Shakespeare- people like that. ...............

 'Special punishment from Hades.' "

"That's mostly me actually." Persephone inspected her nails.

"Sorry, Lady Persephone." Grover said hurriedly.

"Grover guessed. 'The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as arrive. The Fu- the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture chamber for him.'

 The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs Dodds would be licking her lips with anticipation."

"I'm sure Alecto loved you being in her home territory." Nico chuckled.

 '"But if he's a preacher,' I said, 'and he believes in a different hell....'

 Grover shrugged. 'Who says he's saying this place the same way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. They're very stubborn - er, persistent, that way."

"Thanks. I think?" Rachel sighed.

 "We got closer to the gates. ................ All I could think to say was, 'he's a Rottweiler.'"

Nico chuckled.

 "I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. ...............  'I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead.'"

"Well, that's nice." Hazel commented.

 "The dog's middle head craned towards us. .............. 'I bet they don't play with you much.'"

"Rude." Hades muttered.

"'GROWWWLLLLL!'

.................. He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that...well... he's hungry.'"

"That's very kind of him." Magnus noted.

 "'Wait.' Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

.............

 I was sure that at any moment she would become the world's largest Milkbone dog biscuit."

"Thanks for believing in me, Seaweed Brain."

"You're very welcome, Wise Girl."

 "But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, ................  I asked her, amazed."

Percy pulled Annabeth close.

 "'Obedience school.' she said, breathlessly, and I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. When I was a little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman...'"

"You really hated him." Annabeth chuckled, looking to Magnus.

"Yeah, never really liked dogs." He chuckled, trying to act like he wasn't freaking out.

 "'Never mind that.' ............... ' Would you like that?'"

"Please don't." Hades huffed.

 "The monster whimpered. .............

 'That three headed dogs prefer a ball to sticks.'"

"I'm not quite convinced that was the lesson he was going for." Nico chuckled.

 "'No,' Grover told me. 'We've learnt that your plans really, really bite!'

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the underworld, everybody - even monsters - needed a little attention once in a while."

"Nope. That's far too profound a thought for Percy." Thalia called out.

"I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass.

 I pretended not to see Annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend."

Chapter Text

Frey stood up to collect the book with a smile.

"Chapter 19: We find out the truth, sort of."

"This better be that I didn't steal the damn thing." Hades complained.

"Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, .............. The black grass had been trampled by aeons of dead feet."

"That's actually a fair description. Well done." Nico commented.

"A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. ...............  I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets."

"Yeah, I imagine them being spirits would mean that." Clarisse sighed, receiving an eye roll from Percy.

 "Annabeth, Grover and I tried to blend into the crowd, ............. . They were just sad."

"Yeah we are." Magnus deadpanned.

 "We crept along, ................. , forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to classical music."

There were a few snickers among the group.

"I could just make out a tiny hill ...............  It was depressing."

"That's actually really sad." Piper sighed.

 "We left the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into Asphodel. It got darker. The colours faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. 

 After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us."

"I have no doubt they were." Nico nodded.

 "'I suppose it's too late to turn back,' ........... . He landed flat on his back in the grass."

"Wait, what?" Leo asked.

 "'Grover,' .................. It was a smart idea,"

"Of course it was, it came from my daughter." Athena said with pride.

"but I guess it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feet-first at full speed. ............ the foul breath of a murderer."

"Oh... oh no." Persephone sighed.

 "Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks."

Annabeth, Percy and Nico shared a pained look.

 "The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, .......... . Grover was able to reach out to slow himself down by grabbing onto a big rock and using it like an anchor."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

 "He was three metres from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

 We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. Even my backpack seemed heavier, as if somebody filled it with rocks."

Annabeth and Percy shared a look of understanding what happened with the backpack.

 "Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. .......... . The entrance to Tartarus.'"

"Tartarus?" TJ asked.

"Where monsters are reborn. Far, far worse than Punishment." Was all Annabeth could say, her hand shaking in Percy's.

 "I uncapped Anaklusmos.  ................. . 'One of Hades's pets?'"

"Definitely not." Hades said firmly.

"Annabeth and I looked at each other.............. Inside the Courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen."

Persephone smiled.

"Multiple mushrooms, ..............  towards the big set of doors at the opposite end. "

"That's... creepy." Frank decided.

"Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors.................  but this wasn't the time."

"Why would there be a stray bowling ball?" Rachel chuckled.

 "'Well guys,' I said. 'I suppose we should... knock?'

 A hot wind blew down the corridors and the doors were opened. The guards stepped aside."

"I guess not." Alex shrugged.

 "'I guess that means "entrez",' Annabeth said...............Th e same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma."

Hades looked down, embarrassed and pained by all the horror and pain his children had unleashed upon the world.

 "'You're brave to come here, Son of Poseidon,' he said in an oily voice.  ............... .. 'Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests.'"

"Percy? Being respectful of gods? Never." Thalia chuckled.

 "Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched with trapped souls, from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades' underwear?"

A few people chuckled.

"'Only two requests?' ....................... Her visits, not the tilt of the Earth, created seasons. "

Persephone smiled and nodded her head at Percy.

"Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.

 'Lord Hades,' I said. 'Look, sir, there can't be war among on the gods. It would be... bad.'

 'Really bad.' Grover added helpfully."

"Thank you Grover." Thalia chuckled.

 "'Return Zeus's master bolt to me,' ................  But I thought that might be a dangerous answer."

"I'm proud of you for realizing that."

"Thanks, Thals." Percy sighed.

"'You are the Lord of the Dead.'.................. As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth. "

Nico tutted. "No, Percy, no!"

'"Don't get me started on Charon!' ........... . 'Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing too?'"

"Oh... that makes more sense." Jason commented.

 "'Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero - coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt - to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?'"

"Like I'd ever do such a thing." Poseidon huffed.

 "'No!' I said................... 'Easily?'"

"That was pretty easy, yeah." Nico said.

" 'Return my property!' .............  It couldn't be..."

"What? No way?" Sam gasped.

 "I slung it off my shoulder and unzipped it. ............... Hades was the bad guy. "

"I always seem to be." Hades sighed.

"But suddenly the world turned sideways..............  It's the best way.'"

"Grover-" Thalia warned.

 "'No,' ................  and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom."

Annabeth looked like they were trying not to cry.

 'I know what to do,' ..................  She would never forgive me if I saved her instead. "

Sally shook her head. "I wouldn't have."

"I thought about the prophecy made at half blood hill............. . He likes red balls.'"

Nico chuckled.

 "'Percy Jackson, you will not-............... , which was starting to float off the ground."

"That's cool." Alex decided.

 "Annabeth and Grover were right behind me.............. Dude!'"

"Of course you knocked a surfer off his board." Piper chuckled.

 "I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a lifebuoy. ................. . He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now."

"I'm sure I was." Hades agreed.

 "But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.

 I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked me."

"Is Percy about to do something stupid?" Thalia asked.

Chapter Text

Will took the book.

"Chapter 20: I battle my jerk relative."

"Percy's about to do something stupid." Thalia confirmed.

"A Coastguard boat picked us up, ............. I was going to start crying like a little kid."

"You were a little kid." Sally sighed, reaching for Percy's hand.

"Yeah, well, I know that now, don't I."

" 'The prophecy was right,' "

"Woah. Crazy." Thalia deadpanned.

"I said. ......... . 'You were supposed to die.'"

"Good to see you too." Nico muttered.

 "'You tricked me.' I said, 'You stole the helmet and the master bolt.'

 Ares grinned. 'Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power- that's a big no no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands.'

 'Who did you use? Clarisse? She was at the Winter Solstice.'"

Clarisse scowled.

 "The idea seemed to amuse him. 'Doesn't matter. The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus will be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this...'

 From his pocket, he took out a ski cap- the kind bank robbers wear- and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into an elaborate bronze war helmet."

Hades glared at Ares.

 "'The Helmet of Darkness!' ................ . 'It's probably too complicated for your little mortal mind to follow,"

"Thanks." Meg muttered. 

"but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got kid. It always returns to your pocket, right?'

 I wasn't sure how Ares knew about that, but I guess a god of war has to make it his business to know about weapons."

"It's an ancient weapon. Of course I know about it, punk." Ares scowled.

 '"Anyway,' .................  'who said anything about dreams?'"

"Ooh, got him." Meg cried.

 "Ares looked agitated, ............. . Or Hades, or Ares, or anybody."

"Percy really said go big or go home and I can't go home." Thalia chuckled.

 "As the boar rushed me, ............. He 's a God.'"

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Percy deadpanned.

 "'He's a coward.' ..................... A smaller ego, "

There were a few chuckles, followed by Ares glaring at anyone who laughed.

"I thought, ................... . I would've broken my back if I hadn't crashed into the soft sand of a dune."

"Ouch." Jason winced.

 " 'Percy!' ........... . I heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above. "

"Quite a crowd." Leo seemed almost impressed.

 "More sirens.. ............... . The crowd behind them scattered, screaming."

"Well, that's one way to scatter a crowd, I guess." Nico shrugged.

 "Ares roared with laughter...............  sending the point through the God's heel."

Almost everyone looked at Percy in shock.

" The roar that followed made Hades's earthquake look like a minor event................ but had decided I might give her indigestion."

"That's fair." Thalia commented.

 "'We saw the whole thing,' ............... Such a small thing to almost start world war III."

"All wars have tiny catalysts." Clarisse commented.

"Wasn't World War I started by an assassination?" Leo asked.

"Well, one assassination is tiny compared to all the deaths in the war."

"That's fair." Percy shrugged.

 '"We have to get back to New York.' he said. 'By tonight.'

 'Impossible.' Annabeth said. 'Unless we-'

 'Fly.' I agreed.

 She stared at me. 'Fly, like, in an aeroplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus blast you out the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?'

 Yeah,' I said. 'Pretty much exactly like that. Come on.'"

"What could possibly go wrong with that?" Thalia asked, before taking the book.