Chapter Text
Annabeth was angry. How dare Luke and the rest of cabin 11 laugh at such a pure, innocent, and obviously overwhelmed boy?! A few feet away from cabin 11 she gritted out "You have to do better than that, αγάπη μου." She didn't even realize what she said as she tried to put as much space between them and the cabin full of laughter.
She didn't notice the boy blinking at her in confusion as he just let her pull him along. She did notice the quiet "what?" That he let out though.
She rolled her eyes, but it wasn't like how she usually would want new campers being dense. He should know more, the orientation film; the overly theatrical, does do a decent job of explaining at least the basics of camp. But instead of it coming off as annoying, like how it would with other campers, she found it more adorable. Don't get her wrong.His lack of knowledge was still annoying to her, but more felt like everybody else was failing him. Then he was failing her expectations. "If this is the result from orientation film, we really need to get a new one." She muttered to herself. Then a little louder but still to herself she grumbles "I can't believe I thought he could be the one." He may have defeated the mandator, but without being obliviously adorable, there is no way he could beat, he would survive a quest.
"What's your problem?" Annabeth turned at the boy's(Percy's) slight exclamation. He sounded a little hysterical. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"
"Don’t talk like that!" She sounds angry even to herself, he was alone just outside of camps border and no one knowest. He could have been killed without anyone knowing, right outside camp. And that made something in her break. Annabeth brushed it off as jealousy, even though it's nothing like it. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had the chance to even be there?"
"A chance to get killed?"
And there is that pain again. "A chance to fight the Minotaur!" 'The chance to save you!' she wants to say. "What do you think we train for?"
He shook his head, temporarily distracting Annabeth with how his hair moved with the action. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one for Krḗtē..."
"Yes."
" Then last time I checked there was only one."
"Yes." 'Oh gods, He's hotter when he's being smart. He must be a child of .' She mused.
"Then he would have died at the hands of Theseus, over 6 millennia ago, in the labyrinth. So..."
How can he be so smart at reasoning, and still not understand basic information that the orientation film should have told him? She sighed, his is the most annoying trait every monster has. "Monster's don't die, ψυχή μου. They can be killed. But they didn't die." Annabeth froze but made sure to keep her face neutral, as she realized then deerman she used. She tried to keep the bush from her face.
The beautiful Sea nymph of a boy stared at her for a bit, like he was stunned but tried to figure out which part of her statement to address with his limited energy. Annabeth could only pray that he didn't want to address her slip up. Apparently the body's probably godly parents took pity on her.
"Thanks. That clears it all up." How can he make sarcasm sound so attractive?
"Monsters don't have souls, like you and me. We can dispel them for a while, maybe even a whole lifetime if we're lucky. But they are primal forces. Eventually, they reform."
The ναϊάς like boy though a bit, then with consern in his voice says "So if I killed one, by accident, it would."
"Reform, all that killing a monster really does is temporarily get them off your back, and make them very very mad."
"And if it was a Fury?"
Annabeth flinched at that. Had he fought and won against a kindly one? She glanced around nervously. What if they somehow manage to get in? "First off all you shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all. Secondly, yeah, it's the same deal with them, they just tend to get even angrier. They're also more likely to reform faster, due to being the personal torturers of Hades."
Percy looked about dune and overwhelmed with everything. "Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" He whined, it should have been anything, but it was just adorable. That doesn't stop that kinda comments being dangerous. "Why do I have to in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there." He pointed to the Hara, Zeus, and Poseidon cabins, making Annabeth's eyes go wide, her face go pale, and for her to shudder in fear.
"You don't just choose a cabin, αγ- Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or... you parent." Please get it. She pleaded in her head as she stared at the boy.
"My mom is Sally Jackson." Why is this boy so adorable? She just wants to shake him. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy." And she really was. "But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parents."
"My dad is dead." He is so defensive. Which is honestly normal for new campers. "I never knew him."
She had to take a breath, what she was about to reveal has always been a tossup on how the newest campers respond. "Percy, your other parent is not dead."
"How can you say that? Do you know him? Why aren't you using masculine pronouns?"
"No, of course not."
"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?" I feel like I've known you my whole life. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them. Do to being 'too weird' or 'too much to handle' or even just because weird stuff happens around you, you can't explain."
"How-"
" Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD? Taken together it's a sure sign." You're also way too pretty to be human.
"What do you mean?" He's looking at me in awe and fear. Annabeth likes the awe but not the fear.
" The reason we have such a hard time reading is because our brains are hardwired for ancient Greek, it's nowhere near the same language as English. That's why it's so hard to read. And ADHD? That's your battle reflexes, they will save your life in real fight.Probably already has. The Attention problem? That's because you see too much, not too little. Our senses are just better than normal mortals. Of course, teachers want you medicated, most of them are monsters. They don't want you to see them for what they really are."
"... you want to do the same thing don't you?" It wasn't truly a question, but she nodded anyway.
" Most of the kids here do. If you weren't like us, you wouldn't have survived the minotaur, much less the 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 turn your blood to fire and bones to sand. Cure half-blood."
I could see my words processing in his head.
Then I heard the sound that every time the Ares cabin finds out about a new camper. "Well! A newbie!”