Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Using a minivan to drive from Long Island to Canada seemed like a good idea. When one can use the transportation of pegasi, shadow traveling, the labyrinth, and- if you're crazy enough-the Gray Sister’s Taxi, using a simple minivan seemed to pale in comparison. To Percy and Annabeth, this was just what they needed for their drive to Quebec.

After putting Gaea, the literal goddess of earth, back to sleep and taking a little trip to Tarterous, the duo decided that they needed a break from the magical world. The couple chose Quebec because living in Canada would weaken the connection to the Greek gods and put some distance between quests. Annabeth had already planned her community college courses that she would take so she could later transfer to New Rome.

And as much as it pained Percy to leave Camp Half Blood, his sanctuary and home for his friends, he needed a break from being a leader. Besides, they would come back, reunite with their friends and finish their schooling in New Rome. But for now, they had to finish packing for the trip ahead.

Once all their clothes, money, equipment, and weapons were packed and accounted for, farewells were exchanged. A blob of orange shirts belonging to campers surrounded Percy and Annabeth. Many expressed their goodbyes, others like Will gifted them nectar and ambrosia.

Soon purple shirts joined the crowd. Jason, Hazel, and Frank came and wished their friends a safe journey. Hazel hugged Annabeth before returning to Frank’s side. Jason simply stared at Percy, but both shared a look of understanding. There was a sense of intimacy between two old friends. With the goodbyes exchanged, the minivan was started and ready to go. 

“Alright seaweed brain this is it, let’s go.” Annabeth adjusted the rearview mirror to fix its crookedness. She was not going to let one minor detail derail her trip. 

“Oh wait, I think I forgot my blue pancake mix at my cabin.” Despite planning for weeks, the son of Poseidon was still not exactly up par with Annabeth’s packing skills. 

Walking back to the cabin, Percy retrieved the plastic container filled with his mother’s homemade mix. It was brightly blue to satisfy her son’s obsession with blue food. Percy gazed at it, recalling his iris call with her and how she understood his need for space from the war. With his mix in hand, the dark haired teenager made his way back until a certain red haired mortal stopped him.

“Hey Percy.” Rachel Elizabeth Dare in all her glory stood between Percy and his cabin’s door. 

“We need to talk.” That sentence itself was not giving Percy good ideas. As the camp’s oracle, Rachel had already delivered several prophecies that had led to quests and wars. Hearing Rachel’s urgency sent shivers to Percy.

“Listen, I know that you're leaving and I really want you and Annabeth to have a break…”

He was sensing a but.

“But…how do I explain this? I don’t think the gods really like that idea…”

Right. When had the gods ever liked one of Percy’s ideas? 

“Specifically with your parents. They don’t want you leaving for Canada because it kinda limits their well- influence on you.”

Usually, when an Oracle warns you of something, you better heed it. Then again, Rachel wasn't exactly telling them not to go to Canada. She was just informing him that his dad wasn't really sharing the same opinion as him. And their entire purpose of leaving was to limit the god’s connection to them. Percy loved his dad, but over the past weeks, his father seemed different. There was an intense glare in his eyes, like he was analyzing every atom in Percy's being.

“So what do you want us to do then? I never received any message from my dad not to go. Rachel, Annabeth and I need this, we need the distance from all this.”

Rachel’s usual sparky personality seemed strained, like she was trying to keep appearances.

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry Percy. I’m just worried. I don’t want you or Annabeth to have to deal with more crap. You both deserve a break. Just…be careful.”

And with that she left. 

“You have the mix I see. Now can we go or is there anything else missing?”

Always the observant, his girlfriend Annabeth. Percy loved her for it. 

“Yup, that's everything. Now we can go wise girl.” Percy kissed her cheek and settled in the shotgun seat. 

After passing the barrier, Percy looked behind one last time to see the camp. The dragon Peleus was wrapped around Thalia’s tree, smoke trailing its nostrils. All the camp houses were still there in addition with more for the minor gods and goddesses' offspring. Percy could see the campers doing their daily activities with no worry for war. ‘Good’, he thought and turned his eyes to the road. 

What Percy did not see was the owl intently watching the minivan. He also did not see the dark waves that started to crash against Camp Half Blood’s shore. In the distance, the Oracle of Delphi finished her sketch: a wooden cabin littered with a trail of long feathers and fish scales.

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, no monsters greeted them on their roadtrip. The drive was pleasant. They stopped by a gas station and then went to a mall to eat. After that they scoured the shops and stores simply because they could.

Soon they were back on the road and passed the border from New York to Canada. Once on the other side, both demigods felt a weight lifted off them. For once, they were traveling outside the States not for the sake of the world but for themselves.

Their new lodgings weren't bad. Annabeth managed to rent a cabin from one of her father’s old friends. A present her father claimed. One of his close friends inherited a cabin in Quebec and decided to rent it out. 

That was where the whole idea of leaving for Canada came to be. It was near a small town that had a community college and was close to multiple rivers and lakes for Percy.

The cabin itself had one kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small garage. It had a main floor and basement. Percy and Annabeth both agreed to share the main bedroom and use the other room to study for their classes.

 With that they hauled their luggage and started cleaning the cabin. After two spider encounters later, Percy decided to do the cleaning so Annabeth could fill the room with their stuff after it was clear of spiders.

As days passed, the couple developed a schedule. They would go to class at community college, pick up lunch, and go home. Once at home, Annabeth would immediately finish her coursework on architecture, which involved designing buildings or analyzing complex structures for maintaining cities. 

Percy on the other hand, enrolled in general classes thanks to Hera making him lose an entire school year. Annabeth would usually help him before dinner had to be made by both of them.

Their lives were simple, repetitive, they were grounded by it. Annabeth recounted her early years as a demigod: when she left her father at 7, fought monsters with Luke and Thalia, trained at camp half blood, and underwent all these wars and quests…looking back, she never had the time to really just exist…

“Hey Annabeth, could you give me the blue food dye?”

Reluctantly, Annabeth gave her boyfriend the small bottle before scratching an itch on her back. It seemed dinner would be blue corn tortilla tacos. 

Percy was not an early riser but he still needed to swim. Some days he would wake up early to swim in the river. It was a nice way to start the day. He felt energized and ready for his mind numbing classes( yes despite facing monsters, demigods, and gods, community college was a whole other challenge) 

Recently, Percy noticed that he spent longer periods of time in the water. His legs also started cramping. It must have been the fact that they kept walking everywhere hence why he needed to go back in the water to reenergize.

With that, the demigod rose out of the water completely dry and walked back to the cabin. Unbeknownst to him, small clumps of blue scales gleamed on the teenager’s legs.

Lately Annabeth had developed pain on her shoulder blades and back, which was why she was currently lying face down on the couch. At first, she concluded that the long drive was responsible for this, but the pain refused to fade away. 

Then small round bumps formed on her back. At that point, she began suspecting she had some sort of allergic reaction like hives. But she had no symptoms other than occasional itching and could not find a cause to this reaction.

 On top of all that, Annabeth's natural circadian rhythm decided that it preferred to stay awake at night and vice versa - much to Percy’s protests- It seemed this trip was changing them now in ways they were not expecting.

Like how staying up late was starting to mess with her school schedule. Annabeth felt unfocused and dare she say, behind on her studies. This was something Annabeth refused to have, maybe she should start switching to night classes… 

While deep in her thoughts, Percy entered their cabin, back from his early swim. Usually, Percy only stayed in the water for an hour or two. However, in the past couple of days, her boyfriend had been gone for more than a few hours. 

Then there was another strange detail Annabeth couldn't put her finger on. After a dip in some water Percy would look well, how does one say it- refreshed? Any wounds of his would heal and he would look well rested. But now, Percy seemed to have this glossy, even glowing look that closely resembled the naiads back at ca-

“Have you been awake since last night? Morning by the way.” The son of Poseidon helped himself to a stale blue cookie. It was the last one in the container made by his mother. 

“Yes, I have been awake. I’ve also finished my homework and had the time to check yours. Look at problem #6 and #13 again with math.” Annabeth glanced at him before placing a pillow on her face, hoping to block out the sun. All of a sudden she now wanted to curl up and sleep.

“You know, you do need to sleep. This is like the third all nighter you’ve pulled. I’m sure these classes aren't even that difficult for you!” 

“ My classes are not difficult seaweed brain, I just prefer studying at night. And don’t try to change the subject, you still need to finish your work.” Instead of getting a verbal response, Annabeth felt a soft blanket placed on her.

“Don’t worry about it, I'll do my work. You need sleep.” The blond barely registered Percy's words as her consciousness faded before entering Hypnose's realm.

The sound of water gurgling down the sink drain did nothing to calm Percy’s nerves. Facing his arms in front of him, Percy stared at the small blue dots that were either spread out or clumped together on his forearms. 

The scales themselves revealed no answer to their appearance and hurt when peeled off. It was disturbing that he could register pain from these foreign features. Not only that, Percy realized the hair on his arms and legs were gone. His skin was bare, save for his new scales. 

He faced the mirror. Thankfully his face wasn't marked, it still looked the same. But Percy sensed that these scales weren’t the end. 

Turning his head, Percy was greeted with a new attribute. Etched on his neck, thick dark lines were placed horizontally. He was growing gills.