Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy. Was. Exhausted. For the last couple of days, every time he would go to sleep he would jolt awake just before actually dozing off. On top of that, there were frequent interruptions to his precious beauty rest from a variety of spirits, campers, and various emergencies that made the nights last so much longer than they should have. Now, there was a nasty ass shriveled up granny looking mummy in his cabin, breathing out its musty-dusty sour apple flavored vape cloud all over his bedsheets. 

Great. Another goddamn prophecy for Percy to fulfill. Then, the beast would collapse and he would have to drag its lifeless and annoying as fuck beef jerky looking ass back to the bighouse so Chiron could shove her back into the attic with all the other ancient relics.

Blessed and cursed, our hero falls

He must traverse a world, separate from them all

He must assist the chosen one

Lest all the worlds become undone

With that totally not ominous prophecy, the mummy crumpled like a soggy newspaper and proved Percy right in his earlier prediction. Percy groaned and stood, watching the smoke dissipate in the soft light emanating from both the walls and newly-reinstalled saltwater fountain. Speaking of, the fountain didn’t usually have light emanating from it. Not even when he asked nicely. 

With a weary sigh, Percy took out Riptide and a notepad. He attempted to scribble out a quick note, but with the frankly heinous amount of spelling errors, gave up and crumpled up the paper. This time, using ancient greek, he properly wrote out a note that described that if he wasn’t in his bed the next morning he was probably on a quest. Satisfied, Percy tossed the notebook onto his bed and stepped towards the fountain. 

“Please let this be a normal strange occurrence, I don’t want to end up in another dimension or some other bullshit like that.” 

If he were anyone with a small amount of common sense, Percy never would have said this. However, he is a man who is dedicated to nothing but being stupid and jinxing himself. So of course, the water in the fountain is no longer there when he peers over the side. Instead, there is a swirling portal in the base. That can’t be good for the water pump, Percy thought. He had never heard the recognizable sound of a water pump in his cabin, but logic tends to slip from your grasp when you are very much sleep deprived. Especially if that logic includes magic and weird shit like that. 

Percy didn’t even take a moment to consider the consequences of his actions, so instead of getting someone to check it out with him, he stuck his hand in. In almost comical timing, a camper slammed his door open and his other hand, which was holding him up, mind you, slipped. With an alarmingly colorful curse, which contained nearly every insult one could throw while elbow deep in a portal, Percy glared at the kid who interrupted him. 

“Uhm, I don’t know if this is a good time, but the mummy is missing from the atti-”

“Oh for crying out loud! The baconator-3000 is in a heap next to my bed. I’m also pretty sure my arm’s stuck, thanks to you. Also, what’s a guy gotta do to go batshit insane in relative peace around here?! I can’t have even a full 8 hours of rest in this place, much less have time to not only lose my marbles, but scatter them so far and wide that it would be impossible to gather them all into one place! Take the corpse and go.” 

The portal started pulling Percy in, and he sighed. This was most definitely not a normal abnormal event. And, he was already feeling bad for snapping at the kid who had just dragged the nasty mummy from his cabin. Tugging his arm back, Percy reached for Riptide in his pocket, only to realize he had tossed it onto his bed with the notepad. He really hoped that he wasn’t about to be dropped into the middle of a fight in his favorite T-shirt and joggers.

A few seconds later Percy was fully engulfed in the glowing portal. Then he was falling. That wasn’t the most pressing issue though, as he was above water and the strange feeling of extra limbs was throwing everything off. Wings and a tail would definitely throw anyone off, though. Percy really wished that this was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him, but he thought April fools pranks from the Hecate kids probably trumped this. 

Percy reached up to run a hand through his hair, and ran into something. That something turned out to be long, straight, sharp horns. Great. Percy was now probably the only dragon-boy the world had ever seen, and he was about to crash into the ocean. It would probably ruin his already horrifically stained and violently orange T-shirt, which read ‘i eat crayola markers’ in neon yellow comic sans. 

With a painful sounding SMACK!! Percy hit the water. Groaning and twisting around, he immediately noticed something off about the water. It felt weirdly calm, but also like a feral cat that had cornered him in a Denny’s parking lot. The next thing Percy noticed was an absolutely massive koi fish staring into his soul. 

“Uh, can I help you?” 

The fish stared. Percy stared. A giant eel monster stared. The fish quickly swam away, and the giant eel monster quickly ate it. Ah, the beautiful circle of life. Hopefully, Percy wasn’t part of it. Just in case he was, Percy slowly backed away. The eel monster slowly advanced. 

“What is a dragon doing in my waters?”

A full blown dragon? At least that was a step up from dragon-boy though. Also, the eel monster spoke?

“I’m kinda lost to be honest. Don’t recognize this place at all. Sorry for dropping in, ya know?”

“No apologies are needed, dragon. If I may inquire, where are you from?”

Percy was kind of disappointed that the eel monster didn’t like his joke. 

“I’m from New York. I’m also pretty sure I’m from a different dimension too, so there’s that.”

“Ah, I am afraid I do not know of this ‘New York’ you speak of. If you wish to return to land, there is a small island where humans offer food to the North of here.”

“Thanks, dude.”

Percy swam off vaguely northwards, and really wished he didn’t have to do this shit every year. He could practically feel his hair turning gray from the stress. He could also feel his body elongating and growing thicker, and then realized that he was literally transforming into a dragon. Oops. Doing his best to concentrate on the weird swirling in his gut, Percy managed to quickly turn back into a human. The tail disappeared too. The horns got a tiny bit smaller, and nothing happened to his wings. They folded rather nicely under his newly stretched shirt. 

There was also a brand new mask on his face. It used his horns to stay on his face, but slid up and off easily. It had covered only the top part of Percy’s face, and was actually really cool looking. Not questioning his (probably) good fortune, Percy quickly brought his head above water and looked around. If the cold water hadn’t been an indication, the fresh snow resting on a surprisingly close by island was. It was winter. Taking his time this time, Percy let himself get wet. He immediately began shivering because oh dear gods this water is so goddamn cold.  

Ducking his head underwater for a second, Percy felt goosebumps rising from the cold. Just then, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he decided to hurry up a little bit. Maybe he could light a fire once he got to shore. Maybe the people who lived on the island would help him. Normally, he would be able to stay awake through sheer force of will, but with his terrible sleeping schedule recently, it wasn’t that easy. Even being in his own domain didn’t do much.

Dragging himself onto shore, Percy collapsed. Without the water surrounding him at all sides, he was completely drained. There was also the weird dragon transformation that probably took a lot of energy. Overall, Percy wasn’t doing too hot. Taking a few moments to catch his breath, Percy clumsily stood. 

Stumbling towards the treeline, he noticed a path that led… somewhere, at least. Probably a village. Teeth chattering, Percy slowly made his way down the path he had spotted. Going around a bend, he spotted a building and got his hopes up. Unfortunately, life really likes to kick Percy while he’s down, and his legs gave out. He was getting past the point of ‘cold’ and getting into ‘being stabbed by a hot fire poker all over his entire body’, which probably wasn’t too great for his health. 

Just before passing the fuck out, Percy saw the sillouette of someone walking towards him quickly. 

Chapter Text

There was only the dark. It swirled in a colorless kaleidoscope, the infinite vastness interrupted only by the occasional drifting light. Two of these lights were floating closely together, emitting a series of flashes that Percy could somehow understand as speech. 

“Something is stopping that demigod from-“ 

“Yes, I KNOW that! I already know! I’ve sent him a quest and gave him a push in the right direction, so stop sitting there and repeating the same thing over and over again! My nation needs help.” 

“I apologize, my lor-“ 

“Blah, just shut up already you old bag of bolts. I should really scrap you for parts. That processor could be put to better use than you, you know?”

“…There is a presence.” 

“I feel it too. No need to worry, I know who it is.” 

“…” 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry for yelling at you, I didn’t mean it.” 

“…” 

“Hm.” 

——

Percy bolted upright with a gasp. He had just had a dream, and had to write it down. He tried to pat himself down, but realized that he was in an unfamiliar place. Then, Percy realized that A- this was not his cabin, B- there was a lady staring at him with violent eyes, and C- he had a massive fucking headache. 

A sharp pain lanced through Percy’s head, and he clenched his teeth. Nothing seemed broken, and though the lady definitely had those ‘I’m going to mess you up’ eyes, they definitely didn’t have any murderous intent.

“You know, if I had a nickel for every time I passed out and woken up to a girl I don’t know staring at me, I’d have three nickels. Which isn’t a lot, I know, but it’s weird that it happened thrice.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, scowling. 

“Oh? Are you in the habit of walking into places half-dead?” 

Percy shrugged, as if to say ‘what can you do’. 

“It happens. By the way, who are you and where am I?”  

“I could ask the same of you.” She said. She leaned forward, and Percy has the feeling that she was getting ready for a fight. Instead of being a stupid idiot, Percy decided to be a dumb idiot. 

“You don’t know where we are? That’s a bit alarming.” 

Another shot of pain through his head, and Percy couldn’t help but to wince, blinking rapidly for a few moments. The violent expression faltered for a moment, almost turning into worry, before hardening again. 

“Who are you, and why are you here? You’re obviously from the Fire Nation, so why are you on Kyoshi island?” 

What the fuck was a fire nation? A country that was constantly in flames? Glancing at his clothing, Percy’s eyes widened. He was no longer garbed in his favorite shirt and pants, and was wearing a brand new set of weird red clothing. 

Shoulder pads that made his shoulders look pointy, long black vest with a high collar, cloth belt, and baggy pants. It looked both goofy and villainous. 

“What the hell- what am I wearing? Why do I look like I just got back from a goth convention?” 

The woman looked surprised for a second, then confused, then angry. 

“Don’t play dumb! You’re even wearing a Fire Nation mask. Tell the truth.” 

Groaning and rubbing his face, Percy pulled the mask off. The horns came with it, and he ran his hand through his hair. Two small protrusions, hidden and covered by hair, was what greeted him. Had the horns fallen off or disappeared? Turning his attention to his back for a moment, he realized that the wings were gone too. 

“First off, I don’t even know what a ‘Fire Nation’ is. Second, I don’t know why I’m dressed like this, I was wearing different clothing before. Third, I still don’t know who you are.” 

She looked even angrier, then, taking out a metal fan and holding it up to his face. He didn't know what kind of weapon it was, but Percy knew a weapon when he saw one. 

“I am Suki of the Kyoshi warriors, and you will tell me the truth now! Everyone knows the Fire Nation, and how cruel they are.” 

Percy held up his hands in surrender, not exactly nervous, but feeling something. “Woah! Let’s not get stabby, now. What do you even want me to do? I’m telling the truth.” 

Still pissed, Suki stepped back. 

“Get up and follow me. You’re going to be feeding the unagi.” 

Feeding an eel? That didn’t seem so bad. 

——————————

Turns out Suki meant that Percy would be the food. Who would’ve thunk? It would be easy enough to go and talk to the big thing, ask for some help, and disappear. 

“Swim out.” 

With a shrug, Percy waded into the freezing water, more prepared for the shocking temperature this go-around. It also felt like the water itself was watching him, which wasn’t all that pleasant. Lazily pushing himself into the bay, he sensed the massive eel come closer. Soon, they were face to face. 

“Yo, I’d say it’s good to see you again, but the folk on this island are trying to sacrifice me to you.” 

The eel looked confused. 

“Why would the humans of this island try to feed me a dragon? Are they not aware of your nature?” 

Percy shrugged. 

“My wings and horns are gone, and I’m wearing this supposed ‘Fire Nation’ clothing. No way to know I’m a dragon. By the way, do you mind bringing me somewhere that might be more hospitable to me?” 

The eel agreed, and Percy proceeded to launch himself out of the water and onto its back. As he did so, he felt his wings reemerge from under his skin. It felt gross, like pulling a long hair from your mouth after swallowing half of it. 

Cringing at the sensation, the new tightness of his clothing pulled his attention away. He loosened the belt and unbuttoned the vest. The shirt fit fine over his wings, and so Percy settled down to wait out the ride.

Chapter Text

The beast glared at the shadow, slick fur glinting in the non-light of the void. It snarled, anger clear in its expression and flicking tail.

“Your plan did not work, fool. Your possession of the girl only brings attention to us!”

The shadow scoffed, roiling in conceit, “Of course it did not work how you thought it was supposed to. My plan is to plant mistrust in the heart of the dragon! Even if it does not die in the beginning, the doubt will eventually grow will be enough to make the dragon turn its back when it is needed.”

The beast barked out a laugh. 

“Oh, you think that you will take down the dragon with such underhanded tactics? You are much more of a fool than I originally thought.”

The shadow coiled to strike, tense and filled with rage. Just as the beast was about to reciprocate, a voice interrupted them both. 

“Children, both of you! How do you expect any plan to succeed if you can barely keep your heads on your shoulders?!”

The beast and the shadow fell into silence, cowed by the voice. The voice continued, this time in a more calm tone. 

“Shadow, you have a good thing going already. Keep up with the subtle doubt and possessions, but don’t go too far. Beast, you have the right idea, but you aren’t executing it well. You want to go straight into combat, but you need to wear down your opponent, first. The dragon is stronger and has more stamina than both of you.” 

The beast and the shadow left their aggressive poses, turning to fully face the voice.

“And then?” The beast questioned, trailing off. 

“And then we dispose of the dragon, and start dealing with the spirits. Tui and La should be first on the list, as they will impact the mortals and other spirits the most.” 

The voice said. It was cool and collected, with an undercurrent of giddiness. The beast and the shadow nodded gleefully at its words, both agreeing that this was a sound plan. The three of them separated, prowling, slinking, and fading away, respectively. 

—————————

Percy groggily woke, ruffling his wings under his clothing and yawning. The water around him was pleasantly chilly, and the scales below let off a comfortable amount of heat. 

Wait. Wings? Scales? Water? He was, once again, waking somewhere he did not recognize. Sitting up, Percy yawned and stretched. It felt like he was just waking up a lot recently, not really doing much, then passing out again.

“Ah, You are awake, small dragon!”

Dam, demoted from dragon to small dragon. Tragic. Speaking of, it was just sinking in that Percy could turn into a fucking dragon. How sick was that? He would have to brag about it when he got back home. Ah, shit. He didn’t know how to get back home.

“Yeah. Where is this, by the way?”

“We are by a town, as you have asked. You must leave for it now, as I am sure that the humans will notice me, should I remain.”

He nodded and stood, pushing off the eel and swimming away a small distance. It nodded at him, and began to swim off before pausing.

“I am sure you are already aware, dragon, but humans of the inner fire do not take kindly to your kind. Shed scales are valuable, full skins even more so.” 

With that ominous warning, the eel left Percy with nary a second glance. Propelling himself to the docks in the near distance, he silently promised himself to not make a scene once he got to the town. He didn’t know what ‘inner fire’ was, but he supposed it had something to do with the Fire Nation.

He paused. Percy didn’t know if the mist even worked in this dimension, so he should go find a more secluded spot to get out. He swam along the coast, staying close to the sea floor, and eventually got to a reasonable distance away from the coastal town where he could finally surface. 

There were a few options that Percy could choose from here. Go find a job in the town, find a job on a boat, or wander further inland. He had the feeling that going inland would be torturously boring, so town or boat. Staying in one place didn’t sit right with him either, so it was down to boat work. 

Not bothering with letting himself get wet, Percy clambered onto shore. Just to make sure, he rubbed his face and ran his hand through his hair, checking for a mask and horns. No mask, and his horns were still little nubs. Good. He began marching to the town, taking note of his lack of shoes. That was going to be a problem.

The walk to the town was quick enough, and he was able to enter it without anyone giving a second glance. Well, maybe a few second glances, but Percy assumed that those were for his shoelessness. He scanned the various stores and stands at the port, eyeing a few food stalls. He was rather hungry, and he’s pretty sure he hadn’t eaten for at least a full day. 

He kept an ear out for anything he might need to know, which was probably everything. He didn’t know anything about this new world, and it was driving him crazy. Stopping to stare at a trinket shop, Percy noticed a circular board with a grid on it. He stepped closer to study it, noting how the pieces were arranged. 

It looked like a flower, and had a piece in the middle that looked like another little flower.   Reaching towards it, Percy almost expected someone to jumpscare him. He fiddled with it for a few moments, before placing it back onto the board in what was hopefully the same spot. There were some shoes in the back corner, but with a cursory pat down, he confirmed that he had no pockets and thus no mysterious pocket money.

With a disappointed sigh, he left the small open building, nearly bumping into an old man as he exited. With a quick apology, Percy swerved around him, and continued down the road. There weren’t many stores, so he got to the end of them rather quickly. With a frown, he leaned on the side of a building and crossed his arms, thinking. 

From what he had seen, this world was rather low-tech compared to earth. Putting together a few context clues, the Fire Nation was probably just a country of people who could control fire. He had heard whispers of an Earth Kingdom, so he could assume that those people could control rocks and stuff. 

This might be a ‘four elements’ kind of thing, so he couldn’t rule out water and air countries at all. From his interaction on that island, King Yoshi or something, Fire wasn’t welcomed in Earth. Rivalry, plain discrimination, or war? Percy was no child of Athena, but he felt like he knew way too little.

He pushed off the wall, strolling down the street again. If he could manage to even sneak aboard a ship, he could start trying to find the ‘chosen one’ he needed to assist. The prophecy was infuriatingly vague, with even fewer details than what was normally bemoaned. Just as he was about to stop and ask a stall owner about any jobs, the old man that he had almost bumped into tapped him on his shoulder.

“Excuse me, young man! I happened to notice you in the pawn shop over there, and how you were looking at the shoes. As you seem to be down on your luck, I decided to buy them for you!”

The old man was cheerfully presenting the boots to Percy, and Percy warily accepted them into his hands. Even if this man appeared fully human, there was still no such thing as a free lunch.

“What’s the catch? Do I owe you a favor, or something?”

The gray haired man laughed a bit, shaking his head.

“Oh, nothing like that. In fact, do you have a job? You are welcome aboard my ship, if you are in need of one.”

Well. That solved the job crisis, but it was still suspicious as a hellhound in a pink tutu. Percy knew better than to accept candy from a white van, but this guy seemed too nice to even think of hurting him. With a nod, Percy held out his hand for the man to shake.

“In that case, I’m Percy. Good to meet you.”

Chapter Text

Iroh was rather sure that there was a spirit visiting the town his nephew had stopped at. Actually, he wasn’t just rather sure. He was 100% sure. A man with black hair, green eyes, and  ghostly dragon horns and tail had appeared out of nowhere. That was very indicative of being a spirit. 

There were many kinds of spirits, with different motivations and wills, but this one reminded Iroh of an old tale that one of his servants would tell him as a child. A shoeless spirit had gone to a village, asking for food and work, but had been blown off by both the locals and visiting ships. Later that day, after the very last employer had denied the spirit, it had transformed into a dragon and torched the village to the ground. 

He wasn’t sure how much truth was in the spirit-tale, but it was better safe than sorry. He had followed the spirit into the pawn shop, and had decided to take care of the shoeless aspect when he saw a pair that the spirit had looked at. Unfortunately, the spirit had taken off to the other end of the docks, and Iroh needed to take at least a little time buying the shoes. 

It was difficult to find the spirit again, despite the extra limbs that resided in the spirit world, but he was able to locate the man. He offered the shoes, and then a job. It was a bit stupid, offering the spirit a job, but the Wani needed more crew anyways. It was after accepting both that he threw Iroh for a loop.

The spirit presented their arm in a Water Tribe greeting, and introduced themselves. With only a few moments of hesitation, Iroh remembered what to do for it, and firmly clasped his forearm. Some emotion that he couldn’t catch passed through the spirit’s face, and Iroh could only hope that he had not done some taboo. 

“It is good to meet you too, Percy! I am General Iroh. The Wani will likely be leaving port soon, so come along. We have plenty of food, too.” Iroh said, tacking on the last sentence as he heard Percy’s stomach rumble. 

------------------

No matter how suspicious he was of Iroh, Percy was definitely too hungry to care. He would probably eat raw fish guts at this point! Actually, no. No he wouldn’t. Those tasted really fucking nasty. So, he would follow the nice old man onto the boat, and eat some food. Even if Iroh was trying to kidnap him for some random reason, he could fight his way out. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever way you see it, the vessel was only a hop, skip, and jump away. It was an ugly thing, a solid dark gray with seemingly no protective coating. The bow hinged down to the dock, rather than having a gangplank, and a weird blocky cabin loomed high above the deck. 

It was like it was designed to be imposing rather than fully practical. This lent more support to the theory that there was a war between at least the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. Percy walked slightly behind Iroh, letting the man lead the way. 

“What kind of ship is this, Iroh?”

If he weren’t so focussed on the watercraft he was boarding, Percy would have noticed a nervous twitch come from Iroh. 

“This is a retired warship. She has definitely seen better years! Why, recently, part of a glacier fell on her, and we had to have her repaired. That’s certainly not something you see every day.”

Percy nodded, smiling a bit. 

“Oh yeah, definitely. I fell off a glacier one time, you know? It was one of the more terrifying moments of my life, but probably not for the reasons you think.”

Iroh chuckled, opening a door and stepping into the kitchen. Percy paused before he stepped through the threshold into the room; he hadn’t put on the shoes! He quickly slipped them on, annoyed at his lack of socks, and followed Iroh. 

The kitchen was simple, with a coal stove, plenty of counter space, and an island in the middle. There wasn’t a sink, but a metal bucket with a few dirty dishes in it seemingly made up for the deficiency. 

“That certainly sounds like an interesting story! I’ll put on a pot of tea, and we can talk all about interesting things.” 

As he opened the only other door in the room, which led to a lot of food, Percy felt a pang of pain from his head. It left as quickly as it came, but he left like it meant something. He suddenly missed the boring calm that was in New Rome, and the slow weeks at camp. He hoped camp was coping well without him. 

————————

Camp Half-Blood was in chaos. It had been a full day since Percy disappeared, and no one knew what to do. He had left a note, which was good, but hadn’t explicitly stated what the quest was for, or even how he disappeared without a trace. 

The pegasuses were freaking the hell out, the ocean looked like it was boiling, and Annabeth was pissed. How did someone even get kidnapped by a god twice in their life? And right before she was going to propose, too. She wanted to tear apart that goddamn mummy, if only for spouting the shitty prophecy that Percy had gotten. 

Seriously, not only was it even more infuriatingly vague than usual, it was short and barely rhymed. If you’re going to say a prophecy, at least say it well. ‘Falls’ and ‘all’? Really? The word ‘will’ inserted right before ‘falls’ would make it so the words actually rhymed, by removing the s. It was idiotic. 

With a grunt, Annabeth cut the straw dummy’s head clean off. She took a deep breath, trying to reign in the urge to utterly decimate the remains of the dummy. That would be more frustration than it would be worth, however, so she sheathed her dagger and stepped away. A camper approached from the side, hands out as if trying to keep a wild animal from attacking. 

“Hey Annabeth, Chiron wants to talk to you.”

With an (almost) unintentional glare, the blonde girl made her way to the big house. This news had better be good news, or there would be a fucking riot. It was a quick walk made even quicker by campers scurrying out of her way as she almost literally stormed over to the wooden building. The new coat of paint was holding up well, especially against the eggs that the Stoll brothers had thrown then been made to clean.

On the porch sat Mr. D and Chiron, not playing cards. They both looked grim, though Mr. D hid it well. As Annabeth went up the steps, Chiron spoke. 

“Annabeth, we know where Percy is, but…”

Hope blossomed in her chest, and was immediately snuffed out by the ‘but’. 

“But what, Chiron?”

The centaur sighed, weary expression intensifying. “He is in another realm. The Greek gods hold even less sway there than outside the western world. The gods of that world, or rather spirits , have a much more binding oath of non-interference than ours, and they needed a hero to protect their balance.”

Annabeth tried not to explode, she really did. She took a few deep breaths, thought of her happy place, and definitely did not imagine gutting the spirits who took Percy away from her. Again. 

“I’m going to the Hephestus cabin,” she said calmly, and if one could see a metaphorical lightbulb go off above her head, they would not say it in fear of dismemberment.

Chiron had the feeling that those spirits were going to have an entire other problem on their hands.

Chapter Text

If Percy knew one thing at that moment, it was that Iroh’s tea and penguin-seal jerky went very well together. He didn’t know what exactly a penguin-seal was, but it was delicious. Perfectly seasoned, with just the right amount of kick, and a little sweetness that really tied it all together. He barely restrained himself from eating half of what was in the pantry, switching over to a type of bread that was also very tasty.

Once Percy had a roll of the bread, he switched over to dried fish. That, too, was well seasoned and had a kick. Eventually he had to stop, knowing that he’d keep going til he was sick, and longingly looked back at the food as he sat on the floor next to Iroh. He continued to sip the ginseng tea. 

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while, until Percy felt the boat beginning to move. He shifted his wings, realizing how cramped they were, and turned to Iroh. 

“So, is there an open room? Or are there bunks?”

Bunks would be a bit of a problem if Percy couldn’t get his dragon thing under control. Iroh nodded and stroked his beard, almost theatrically. 

“Every crew member has their own room, however small. There are 4 empty rooms at the moment, you can take any of them.”

Oh, great! No need to freak people out! Percy stood, offering a hand to Iroh without much thought. The old man hesitated for far longer than necessary before accepting the gesture and allowing Percy to pull him up. A bit strange, but Percy had seen stranger. 

“Alright, I’ll just take any of them. Not too picky.”

Iroh nodded and led Percy to the nearest free room, which was up two sets of stairs, and was the first on the left. 

“Here is the first room. It tends to be a bit colder than the others, though I’m not sure why.”

“I’ll take it! So, as a new member of the crew, what stuff do I need to do?”

Iroh looked a bit surprised that Percy had immediately accepted the first room, but took it in stride. He stroked his beard once more, humming in consideration for a moment. 

“We will need to speak with the captain for that, as I’m not the one in charge of tasks.”

With those words, the two played another game of follow-the-leader, and went up to the helm. Which just so happened to be up 4 more sets of fucking stairs. Percy might be a bit of an adrenaline junky, and maybe a little bit of a fitness freak, but 6 sets of stairs was 5 too many. 

It didn’t matter that the ceilings were short enough to reach up and touch without much strain, the trek up the unreasonably steep steps was increasingly irritating. Probably good to stay fit, he mused, if he ever wanted to go run laps up and down the ship.

Percy studied the walls, taking note of how the support beams were set up. Not exactly optimal for a ship. The beams were probably susceptible to internal pressure, like if the boiler he felt down below exploded. Was that why this hunk of metal was retired? It would fall apart at the seams from an internal explosion. 

He was shaken out of his thoughts when Iroh finally opened a door and stepped out into a control room. Four people were inside, with one of them looking like they were stewing in rage. Percy’s previous headache returned with a fury, daggers stabbing his temples from the inside. If those kept going at strange moments, he would become concerned about his physical health.

Seriously, did he get concussed when he wasn’t paying attention? That was the only reasonable explanation for whatever the hell that was. The angry one’s eyes became darker when he laid them upon Percy and Iroh. Literally, physically, darker. Suspicious. 

“Uncle, who is this? I didn’t ask for some scrawny, backwater peasant as crew! I want strong men who don’t look like they’d blow away in a storm!”

“Ah, but Prince Zuko,” Iroh’s smile was strained as he noticed Percy’s pinched expression, “You should consider more than just strength! This man has excellent taste, too! Look at his fashionable vest, I hear those are very prevalent in the colonies.”

The now-named Zuko nearly exploded, fire flickering in his hands, before he stormed off down the stairs. Zuko slammed into Percy as he passed, and Percy felt a stabbing pain where they touched. Which really fucking hurt. Just as he was about to get all up in arms, he saw Iroh’s face. Panic was the main expression, with fear and worry close seconds. 

“I apologize for my nephew, he is very stressed. Please, pay his antics no mind.”

So, Percy merely sighed. He really could not catch a break, could he? Something foul was afoot, and he knew that it was going to be his job to figure out what it was. The person at the steering wheel (which was supremely stupid to have this high up) also sighed, but in a more long-suffering manner. 

“Prince Zuko is… complicated. So, I suppose you’re the new man that we’ve needed for the past few months?”

Percy nodded, rubbing his shoulder and blinking away the lingering dredges of the headache -- or rather, migraine. 

“Percy, at your service.”

“Well Percy, you’ll be stuck in the boiler room for the first week. I hadn’t accounted for you in the charter, and the boilers need the most attention.”

Ah, fuck. What he wouldn’t give to have Annabeth there to tell him what to do.

----------------

“Leo Valdez! I don’t care what you’re working on, get out here!”

The demigod in question had been soldering a motherboard, carefully connecting two diodes with imperial gold. Leo flinched at the tone of Annabeth’s words, quickly running through each and every thing he had done in the last week. Nothing recent came to mind that would warrant this voice, so he hurriedly put down his tools and materials, rushing to the front of his workshop. 

“Wait, what did I do? I’m working on those cell phones you helped design, I can’t bother being yelled at right now.”

Annabeth realized that her anger had leaked a bit too far into her tone, and she took a deep breath.

“Percy was kidnapped again, and I’m taking him back by force this time.”

Leo paused, confused. “Wait, why do you need me then?”

Stalking inside and opening a cabinet, Annabeth pulled out some paper and a pencil. 

“What do I need you for? Well, you and I are going to make a portal to another realm.”

This time, Leo was incredibly excited. He loved sci-fi shit, and had wanted to make a portal gun for months. Now, he finally had an excuse to try. With a grin, Leo pulled up two chairs to the blueprint/idea table, already forgetting about the unfinished motherboard at his workstation. When Annabeth paused, Leo raised an eyebrow.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s get this shit started!”

Annabeth sat, determined glint in her eyes, and smiled in that crazy way that Athena kids did when they had an insane idea that just might work. 

Chapter Text

If Iroh didn’t get to his nephew first, he was afraid that the spirit would take things into their own hands. Percy had an extremely displeased face when Zuko rammed into him, and had rubbed his shoulder while obviously thinking about something serious. 

Jee had stuck Percy in the boiler for the first week, at which Percy gained an even more displeased expression. At this rate, Iroh wouldn’t be surprised if there was no ship to wake up to in the morning. Fortunately, the spirit only nodded and asked to know what to do.

“I’m pretty good with sailboats, could probably operate one by myself, but I haven’t been on a steamboat in a few years. I’ll need some help to get the hang of it.”

Iroh was almost put off by Percy’s calm reaction, but at this point he realized that he could tentatively place Percy in the ‘benevolent’ category. No murder yet, and he was beginning to consider the possibility that this spirit might be doing the ‘pretending to be mortal’ thing just for fun. Perhaps he had been banished for whatever reason? 

If Zuko would get his head out of his ass- Er, calm down a bit, Iroh means, then the two could be good friends. Maybe. If Zuko wasn’t reduced to ash or turned into a flying boar for offending the spirit. 

“That’s good,” Jee said, “Let’s get you in a uniform and down in the boilers. Today is Bai’s turn, he’ll remind you of you what you need to know.”

Jee turned to another crew member, who was merely watching the whole interaction go down.

“Chao, would you lead Percy to the spare uniforms, then the boilers?”

Chao nodded, giving Jee a small salute. “Of course, Captain Jee. Come along, Percy.” 

Iroh really hoped that this wasn’t going to end in disaster. He had enough of that for one lifetime…

---------------

As Percy was led down those gods forsaken stairs, he tried to make small talk. He was shit at small talk, he knew, but it never hurt to try?

“So… Chao, was it? How’s the… uh…” 

Ah, shit. Who was he kidding, it always hurt to try. Fortunately for Percy, Chao only chuckled amusedly. 

“You want to know about the job? Cause I can tell you that most folk don’t last long under Prince Zuko. He’s kind of… you know.” 

“Kind of a flaming ball of teen rage? Yeah, I can tell. I’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t try to kill or maim me.” 

Chao tried and failed to cover his snort with a clearing of the throat, managing to sound like a choking seal in the process. 

“Yeah, that. Don’t say that to his face, though. He might be banished, but he’s still a prince. Won’t kill or maim you, but you might want to throw yourself overboard at times.” 

Percy stored away the banished Prince comment, noting that it may be important. Coming up on a seemingly random door, Chao opened it up to display a few sets of imposing red armor. The same kind that he was wearing. 

“You don’t really have to wear the armor part  in the boilers, especially the helmets, but it’s there if you want. Let me know if you need help putting it on, Agni knows that these things are more complicated than they need to be.” 

Agni? A god, or a friend of Chao? From the context, it was much more likely a god. 

 “No worries, dude. I’m pretty sure I can put on some armor by myself.” Percy said, stepping into the closet. He grabbed a random set that looked like it would fit him, and paused for a moment. He didn’t know how to put away his wings, and he was also pretty sure that some of his scars would raise questions. Percy itched the pit scorpion scar on his hand, turning to Chao. 

“I actually have some scars I’m kinda sensitive about, do you mind..?” 

Chao nodded and turned away, back facing him. “Of course!” 

Percy quickly replaced his clothing with the cloth part of the uniform, taking a few seconds to stretch his wings before putting on the new shirt. There was another long vest that went under a weird corset thing which felt like leather but looked like metal. The shoulder pieces were both separate, as stupid as that was. It would be so much more efficient for there to just be a hinge pin, or even leather straps connecting them

After struggling with the shoulders for a few seconds, Percy finally managed to slide everything into place. The bracers and boots were put on last, which was definitely a mistake, but he didn’t really care. He checked the flexibility of his shoulders, finding that the metal on metal was surprisingly quiet. 

“Alright Chao, I’m done.”

At the moment, even without the skull-like helmet, Percy really felt like a discount skeletor. Chao turned to face Percy, looking him up and down to make sure nothing was out of place. Just as Chao opened his mouth to say something, Percy felt yet another stab of pain in his head. Chao’s body language changed to something much less welcoming, and a mean laugh escaped his mouth.

“Oh wow, red is really not your color. How about you try on something more fitting? I’m sure there are some dirty rags in the laundry that you could wear.”

Percy almost laughed, instead rolling his eyes. At this point, he was 100% positive that something was up with the headaches, and this just confirmed it. It was like some Harry Potter bullshit, where he could sense the bad guy by getting a headache.

“Jeez, my baby sister could do better than that. Let’s get to the boilers, don’t want to waste too much time.”

He kept a close eye on Chao, who lost the hostile attitude and looked a bit confused. Percy paid close attention to the environment, hoping to catch whatever monster was doing this. His eyes ran through shadows, picking up every little detail that could possibly be out of place. There!

A shadow writhed unnaturally, being too dark and too heavy to be normal. His hand creeped for Riptide, before Percy remembered that he was no longer in possession of his favored weapon. Reluctantly ripping his eyes away from the shadow, Percy addressed Chao.

“Actually, could I get myself a sword first? I saw some in the back of the closet.”

Chao nodded slightly, absently glancing behind themselves. He had noticed something wrong, too, though he didn’t know exactly what. The mist… probably didn’t work here, considering that this was, you know, a different goddamn universe. Gods, Percy was going to have to take the time to process all of this shit once the day wraps up.

Chapter Text

As it turns out, shoveling coal into a burning hot boiler, surrounded by pipes that transported boiling water, was incredibly sweaty work. Who would have thought? Bai had also turned out to be super chatty, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but…

“-And then I went up to the guy and I said ‘hey! Don’t mess with such a nice person like that.’ and he went like ‘What in Agni’s name are you talking about?’ because as it turns out, I had dreamed the whole thing! He had not, in fact, tried to steal that girl’s dumplings to feed the turtle-ducks. Oh, and that reminds me-”

…It was a lot. Percy mostly managed to nod and hum at appropriate moments, but occasionally his attention would drift away and a new story would already be half-way through. Now that he thought about it, it really wasn’t all that much different from washing dishes with a talkative camper. Ah, camp. Fuck. Annabeth was going to rip him a new one once she got her hands on him. 

With a shudder, Percy took a look at the water pressure and shoveled more coal into the furnace. No boiler would explode on his watch. At least, not any time soon. Hopefully. Bai kept rambling on, telling stories that may or may not have been true. Soon enough, Percy joined in with his own, albeit heavily redacted, stories. 

Percy thought his time here wouldn’t be too bad. 

--------------------

Zuko felt bad. He’d felt bad for a long time, ever since he had been forced to leave his home and lost his honor, but he was feeling extra-bad today. It wasn’t that anything in particular was wrong, it was just a bad day . 

Not only did he wake up feeling bad, but his previous attempt at capturing the avatar had nothing to show for it. Perhaps even less than nothing, as they had lost a komodo-rhino on Kyoshi island. His scar ached, he wanted to set something on fire, and his uncle hadn’t even consulted him before hiring a new crew member. 

It all just combined and made Zuko so angry , even angrier than usual. When he met the new crew, a strange man with a strange name and strange mannerisms, all that anger nearly exploded out of him. He hadn’t meant to say what he did, and he hadn’t wanted to bump into the man on the way out. It was just a haze of dark rage that had come over him.

As he stormed away to his quarters, Zuko felt even worse. Shame, embarrassment, and guilt all fought to be the main emotion. Coming up to his door, he aborted the mission and went further down, to the deck, to practice firebending. 

He violently opened the door, glaring at Syko, who was leaning on the side of the boat and looking into the water. Zuko opened his mouth to order Syko to spar with him, but then decided that he didn’t want a partner. At this rate, he would hurt anyone he fought with. Though, he supposed that a useless prince like him would be the kind of man to injure his sparring partner on accident.

He kicked at the air, releasing a shout and a bout of hot flames. Not as hot or powerful as Azula’s, though. With each consecutive punch and kick, his fire flickered with turmoil. Zuko focused on his anger, letting it bubble out and burn as his fuel. The things that made him angry burned in his mind - his uselessness, his hopeless quest of capturing the avatar, his weakness, his pathetic attempts at fighting a tween! He had gotten so close .

He went on and on, battling an imaginary enemy who he scorched to death over and over. If he pretended that imaginary enemy was a likeness of himself, Zuko would never tell. 

-----------------

The shadow had already messed up. It had gone too far with his possession, a bit too out of character. If only he could possess the dragon itself! Alas, such would not be, protected by Agni as it was. Possession wouldn’t do any longer, and too energy intensive anyways, it reasoned.

The shadow would have to feed suggestions to the mortals, instead. But who? It considered its immediate options - the old one, the scarred one, the helmsman, the chef, and an assortment of other crew. The old one would not listen, the helmsman and the chef being both too steadfast to follow direct suggestions. Subtlety was vital, and something it had already failed at. 

The shadow bore its dark teeth at the thought, angered by its foolish mistake. It had been too eager, too confident… 

“Failure is a tool, shadow. Learn from it.”

The shadow jumped, startled at the voice, “Oh, what do you know of failure? You struggle the same as a king in peacetime.”

The voice fought not to grow agitated, the shadow could tell, “You impudent brat, I should-!”

The voice cut itself off, taking a deep breath before trying again.

“Need I remind you of where you originated from? You are blessed to be allowed to assist in this endeavor, as am I. I will- we will rule this realm once the spirits are out of the way.”

The shadow glared at the voice distrustfully. Though allies, they were not friends. The little slip of the tongue that the voice displayed was worrisome, and withered what little trust had been fostered between them. 

“Fine. Remember what you told the beast and I. You may be the most intelligent of us three, but you are also the weakest. You know you need assistance. Keep that in mind, voice.”

If a voice could smile, it would have one. It would be a very unpleasant, malicious smile, but a smile nonetheless. 

“I always keep that in mind, shadow. My words are my most powerful tool, after all. Perhaps I may be of assistance in this new plight of yours?”

Schemers always scheme, and the voice was a schemer. And schemers always have a plan.

Chapter Text

The first few days aboard were surprisingly pleasant, if Percy ignored the intensely humid and hot conditions he was subject to. He swore up and down to himself that he was going to unionize, but he doubted that anyone on the ship knew what a union was for him to convince them to join. 

It was the fifth day, the last time he would work in the boilers before the next schedule came out, that gave him trouble. Percy started the day off with an aching shoulder, the remnants of a nightmare fading away, and the niggling feeling of a storm looming in the near future. The clear blue skies said otherwise, but Percy knew better than to doubt his gut. It had gotten him a lot of places, mostly the bathroom, but it was always right. 

Helmsman Fang, which was a badass name by the way, had said that they would reach land the following day. Percy felt otherwise. I mean, his luck was always shit, why wouldn’t the storm he sensed knock the ship off course? 

He was on his mandated 30 minute break at the moment, snacking on some penguin-seal jerky and trying to learn a board game. It was called pie show, and even though Percy didn’t think that the title matched the gameplay, he wouldn’t ask about it. There was probably some historical reason for it.

“-Do you understand the rules now, Percy?”

Iroh was his teacher, who would soon learn that Percy was hopeless when it came to strategy games. It wasn’t that Percy was bad at strategy, it was the fact that there were so many rules to follow that he could never keep up. Humming consideringly, Percy took another bite of jerky.

“Not at all.”

He heard several people groan, all bewildered at how Percy still didn’t understand, despite his best attempts. This was the third time he’d had the rules explained, and they were starting the 5th game in the same number of days. It wasn’t a lot, all in all, but it wasn’t a little either. Syko sighed, shaking her head at him with a grin on her face.

“Come on, Percy. Let’s get back to work, our break is up.”

Standing up and dusting off his uniform, Percy bid farewell to the crewmates he left in the helm.

----------------

Annabeth paced along the edge of the woods, twirling her dagger in contemplation. Her conundrum wasn’t exactly frustrating, try more confusing and exciting. The portal gun worked. It ran off 6 double-A batteries, and could shoot open 20 portals before needing to replace the batteries. 

But that only seemed to be the case with portals in this universe. With the help of a few gently coerced gods, Annabeth and Leo were able to create an interdimensional aspect to the portal gun. Only 2 portals could be made before the batteries died, which meant that it took 10 times as much power to go between dimensions. 

So. Now all they needed to do was find Percy. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack, but you don’t know what country that haystack was in. Hell, you don’t even know what countries there are, or if they even have farms with haystacks in them! She needed a way to track him down. How, though? 

Iris messages wouldn’t go through, and Poseidon had already said that he couldn’t feel Percy in any of his waters. If only there was someone with a more firm link, something a bit more direct… 

Annabeth stopped pacing, suddenly facepalming. It was a rather dangerous action, considering the knife still in her hand, but she didn’t care. She knew who could find Percy. The satyr with an empathy link to him. Grover. How the hell did she forget? Scratch that, how in Hades was Grover not the very first person that came to mind? 

With a smile, Annabeth sheathed her knife and moved with a purpose. She had a satyr to coerce, after all.

--------------

Grover sneezed, sniffling and wiping his nose, “Oh man, I hope I’m not coming down with anything.”

“You better not be, Grover, or I won’t let you around the baby!” Juniper laughingly scolded, teasingly holding their child away from him.

--------------

A few gods shuddered, glancing at each other with worry in their eyes. Their recent encounters with a certain daughter of Athena had forged and strengthened the bond between them, allowing them some form of safety. It was less likely for you  to be targeted if there was other prey around, after all.

Chapter Text

Okay, so the ship was off course. That was fine. Totally fine. Percy was definitely not getting bored of being stuck in a relatively confined space with like 8 other people. He wasn’t annoyed that it was going to take an extra week to reach the next port. He didn’t mind that his skin was weirdly itchy and tight either. 

…Ah, who was he kidding? He minded very much, and it was boring as hell. More boring, in fact. Having nothing to do was supposed to be relaxing, but relaxing is for chumps. Percy wanted to fight someone, get out all the pent up energy, but nobody on the crew seemed skilled enough to put up enough of a fight. The only person that got close was Zuko, but he wouldn’t trust that kid with a butter knife, much less a sword. 

Groaning for the third time, Percy rolled onto the floor from his mattress thingy that was also on the floor, and stood up. He snatched up his sword, resigning himself to fighting the air for today, and went down to the deck. He wished he could say that he hadn’t gotten used to the stairs, but he had. He still hated them though. 

Five people were on deck. Iroh, Zuko, Shi Jin, Chao, and Syko. Shi Jin was a bit of an ass, but a good guy overall. Percy watched Zuko shoot fire at his three crewmates indiscriminately as Iroh continued to give advice to him. It was a pretty nice day if one ignored the angry teen with a ridiculous hairdo. Just as he was about to go off to the side to practice, however, Zuko let out a frustrated shout. 

“Uncle, I need stronger opponents! Let us go to shore at a proper colony, I’m sure the soldiers there will be better trained than these fools.”

Iroh glanced at Percy, giving him a small smile before turning fully to Zuko, “Water boiled too hot will only scorch the tea, Nephew. You must learn how to stoke your flame with patience, rather than more fuel than necessary.”

“I don’t need patience, I need to capture the avatar! You!” Zuko furiously pointed at Percy, “Can you bend?”

“I’m no firebender, and even if I was, I’m not going to fight you.” Percy held up his hand, waggling a finger at the boy. Zuko looked apoplectic, an amusing sight for the demigod. It really looked like Zuko was about to have an aneurysm as he hissed out his words through clenched teeth.

“And why not, crewman Percy?”

Percy sighed, “Not only is it my day off to do with as I please, I’ve seen you fight. You aren’t skilled enough to go against me.”

If Zuko got any angrier, Percy was 100% sure that he would burst entirely into flames.

“ I am not weak! You will spar against me. This is an order as captain, you will spar against me!”

Percy raised an eyebrow, “I’m not calling you weak, and I’m not calling you unskilled. I said that you aren’t skilled enough to go against me, especially when I want to let off some steam.” 

“Fight me!” Zuko punched at Percy, letting out a small gout of flame in his direction. Raising his sword, he let a smile grace his face. If he was gonna humiliate- uh, fight a kid, then he may as well enjoy it. 

----------

It’s over , Iroh thought, Zuko’s going to die, and I can’t do anything about it.  

His heart had sunk so far that it was very likely in possession of La at the bottom of a trench. His nephew had disrespected a spirit so badly that it was raising arms, which would surely end in a tragedy. Iroh couldn’t bring himself to look away, as this would be another terrible thing brought upon his nephew due to his own foolishness. 

He never should have brought Zuko to that forsaken war meeting, and he should have told Zuko that Percy was a dragon spirit. Mistakes upon mistakes upon mistakes. Iroh watched Percy approach Zuko, and prepared himself for the worst. 

Percy swung his sword as quick as lightning, which was pushed away by a startled burst of fire. Despite his attack being interrupted, the spirit redirected the blade, movements as smooth as water itself. It clashed against Zuko’s armored forearm, who ducked and swung his leg in an attempt to trip Percy up. It failed, and Zuko was kicked in the chest.

He managed to catch himself before falling down, and sent more fire shooting at his opponent. Percy slashed at the fire and leapt to the side, charging back into the fight and feigning an attack for the legs. While Zuko tried to defend against that, Percy punched him in the gut and whacked him with the flat of his blade. It seemed like the spirit knew how important breathing was in firebending.

With a wheeze, Zuko slammed into the deck. He tried to clamber back onto his feet, but was met with the tip of a sword at his throat. Percy had a strange smile on his face, and Iroh wondered what it meant. He wondered if his nephew was going to die right there, or if the spirit would allow him to live. 

Suddenly, Percy sheathed the sword and held out a hand to Zuko. 

“I saw some good strength in your defense, but you’re too focussed on trying to find an opening when you should be trying to make one. Want me to teach you?”

---------------

Oh man, seeing Zuko with the fury knocked out of him was funny as hell. He looked less like a cartoon villain, and more like the teen he really was. Knocking him on his ass was more cathartic than Percy would like to admit, in fear of having the same thing done to him by Annabeth. 

…On second thought, that sounded like fun. Anyway, ignoring that! After seeing that asshole looking like a kicked-several-times puppy, he felt a little bad about beating him up. Even if he went by mortal fighting rules, and not camp fighting rules. So Percy offered to teach him.

It probably (definitely, he means) wasn’t a very good idea to teach the menace how to be a stronger menace, but he couldn’t help it. Zuko didn’t have active puppy eyes, but damn if they weren’t hard to say no to when they weren’t filled with nigh murderous rage. Percy would have cursed the gods for getting him into this mess, but he wasn’t sure if they could even hear him. Well, rather safe than sorry! Screw you, Zeus! 

When nothing happened, Percy continued thinking about other things. Like how the hell he was going to teach a Leo-k alike (Get it? Cause Leo has fire and so does Zuko? And it’s like look-alike. Ahem. I’ll show myself out) to be better at a martial art that he knew nothing about. 

Maybe start by learning the basics from Iroh? He seemed to be pretty good with it, by the advice he had been giving Zuko. Ah, speaking of Zuko, Percy hauled him up when he took his hand. Zuko had a determined glint in his eyes, oh boy if that isn’t scary, and accepted Percy’s offer. 

Also, what the fuck is an avatar?

Chapter Text

Iroh needed to talk to his nephew right away. A tragedy might have been avoided, but it was his job as a fath- as an uncle to avoid another one. It was likely that a spiritual contract had already been formed between Percy and Zuko, and Iroh needed to finally tell Zuko that Percy is a spirit. 

Despite his docile actions so far, Iroh knew that spirits were fickle creatures. One wrong word, and the entire crew could end up as extra anchors. Iroh managed to catch Zuko’s eye, just after the prince had informed Percy that they would be training every morning, and gestured him over. 

“Uncle. What is it? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

Iroh stroked his beard in a serious manner. 

“Nephew, we must talk. Let us go somewhere we won’t be overheard.”

Zuko scoffed, but followed Iroh up into the quarters. They didn’t notice Percy following them, the goddamn busybody that he is.

--------------

Percy was insanely curious about whatever needed to be spoken about between Iroh and Zuko. He was also suspicious. Totally suspicious, not just interested about a bit of possible gossip after not having access to any form of media for gods who knows how long. (Aka less than 2 weeks.)

No crewmates bothered him as he followed, probably just assuming that he was going back up to his room. All the better. Iroh slowly, slowly led Zuko up to his quarters, entering after a few moments. Percy waited until he was sure they had settled down to creep up to the room, pushing his ear up to the door.

“Zuko, I need to tell you something of great importance, that I should have told you sooner.”

Great importance? This had to have something to do with Percy, he just knew it. All good messes had something to do with him. 

“What is it, Uncle? I don’t have all day” 

There was a short pause, which was either Iroh getting up the nerve to say something, or him drinking tea, before the man responded. 

“Percy is a spirit.” 

Percy immediately clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from laughing. There was a mix of panic, bewilderment, and amusement warring in his mind, but if any noise slipped out, he would quickly be caught. First off, why did Iroh think he was a spirit? Aren’t spirits like ghosts or something? Second, what the hell gave Iroh the idea that Percy wasn’t human? 

“What!? We have a spirit aboard our ship, and you didn’t bother to tell me for a week ?!”

Percy rubbed his ear at the shout with a wince. Poor Iroh probably had some actual damage from that one. Also, Zuko had a great point. Why didn’t Iroh bother to tell him for a week? Percy could have been a murder-ghost for all he knew. 

“I am so sorry Zuko. I have put you in danger with my own foolish judgment. I had first thought that he would disappear after a day, like in the spirit-tale, though now I realize that it was naive to believe such.”

There was a heavy sigh, and Percy heard some shifting. “Tell me everything I need to know, uncle. Don’t leave out anything.”

A pause, probably Iroh sipping tea or something, and then the man started explaining shit. 

“After losing… After losing Lu Ten, I lost myself to grief. I searched for ways to bring him back, and learned of a way to interact with the spirit world. To put it simply, it allows me to see the horns and tail of a dragon that Percy possesses. They are tucked away in the veil between our world and the spirit world.”

“Does this mean I can use him to track down the Avatar?!” Again with the avatar business! What the fuck is an avatar for this guy to want to track it down so bad? Must be something pretty valuable. Also, may Lu Ten rest in peace wherever the dead people go in this religion. Back to Acne, or whoever that guy’s name was?

“I do not think that is wise, nephew. I don’t think Percy would take too kindly to being used, though I do not know if he would be able to find the Avatar either way.”

“Why wouldn’t a spirit be able to find the Avatar? He’s the bridge between their world and ours!”

“Nephew… Sometimes a river's flow takes us not where we want to be, but where we need to go.”

Ah, cryptic bullshit. An old man’s favorite pastime. So based on all this… Is the spirit world the afterlife? And the avatar is a person, apparently. Maybe Acne runs the afterlife? But why would the afterlife and the normal world need a bridge, and for that bridge to also be a person? Something wasn’t adding up here, and Percy was going to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully.

----

As Percy wandered off, Chao, Syko, and Shi Jin all exchanged a look. 

“Okay, we can all agree that there’s something up with Percy, right? I mean, he’s definitely mixed blood, but I don’t think that’s all.” 

Syko and Chao nodded at Shi Jin, muttering their agreements. 

“Most of his stories seem, like, super heavily censored,” Chao added, “and sometimes he’ll start a story, get to a certain part, then stop and backtrack.” 

Syko glanced at the door that Percy had gone through, putting on a serious face and lowering her voice. “To be honest, I think he’s a runaway prince or chief-to-be. From his stories, it sounds like he’s in a place of authority back home.” 

“Maybe,” Chao muttered, rubbing his negligible beard, “Are you sure he’s not some exiled criminal? He’s scary looking.” 

“He’s too pretty to be a criminal,” Shi Jin chimed in, “I’m jealous. I think that he’s a spirit, or at least the child of one.” 

Chao and Syko stared at Shi Jin in disbelief. The silence stretched on for a long, awkward moment before it was finally broken. 

“Shi Jin. Look me in the eye. What are the fucking odds of a spirit or even a half spirit being on our ship? No matter how pretty Percy is, he’s not a spirit. Plus, half of us at least would be dead by now if he was, especially the Prince.” 

Syko crossed her arms, nearly glaring at Shi Jin. 

“Oh yeah?” Shi Jin challenged, also crossing his arms, “Well, 2 silver pieces on him being a spirit of some sort.” 

“Really? Then I’ll go three silver and twenty copper pieces that Percy is a runaway prince or chief-to-be.” 

Chao wrinkled his nose, groaning loudly. “Ugh, get a room! Everyone knows where this will lead between you two, and I’d rather not get caught between it again.” 

He walked off, throwing his arms in the air. Pausing right before going through the door, he said, “Oh, by the way? 5 silver on being a spirit or something of the sort.” 

Chapter Text

As Chao walked up the stairs, he passed by the deck Iroh lived on. He had planned to head up to the helm for a game of pai sho with whoever was up there, but the sight of Percy with his ear pressed to a door had him pause. On one hand, it was none of his business. On the other, he was ever so slightly curious about what Percy was doing. 

“Hey, Percy. What are you doing?”

Percy proceeded to yelp, fall into the door, and enter the room that he was previously outside. There were two loud gasps that came from inside, and an awkward greeting from Percy. This was about to go either very badly, or very well. Only way to tell is to pass up on the pai sho and snoop, but Chao really wanted to play pai sho. 

----------------

As Percy fell flat on his face, he knew he had made the worst blunder of his snooping career. Never let your guard down when eavesdropping, that was literally the first thing in the ‘Snooping for Dummies’ handbook! Annabeth would be totally disappointed in him, he just knew it. 

“Uh. Hi.”

That was probably the second worst blunder. The atmosphere was so tense that it felt like he could cut it with a knife, and Percy slowly stood up and dusted himself off. Maybe too slowly, because Iroh and Zuko tensed up. He felt really stupid at the moment. Chao was still in the stairwell, but was staring at him too.

“I’m not a murder ghost, if that’s what you think.”

Iroh worriedly looked at Zuko, who had his lips sealed shut like he just ate gorilla glue, or got caught gossiping about a teacher at school. 

“Esteemed spirit, we meant no insult by speaking of you behind your back-”

“Quit it! That makes me feel like I’m my uncle or something, jeez… I’m just Percy, no ‘esteemed spirit’ crap, got it?” Percy said, feeling like a dickwad as Iroh flinched ever so slightly.

Even if these guys knew he wasn’t fully human, they weren’t quite on the mark with the non-human half. Maybe he could use that to his advantage, somehow? Spirits… The spirit world… The avatar is a bridge to the spirit world, and that has to be chosen somehow. Maybe he’s the chosen one? 

Iroh nodded, still on guard. “Of course, Percy.”

Percy sighed, disappointed at the wariness. He only wanted to do that to his enemies , not Iroh! He was so sweet! 

“Look, you two are looking for the avatar, right? I’m searching for him too. Or at least, I’m searching for the chosen one, who I hope is the avatar.”

“You will help us in search of the Avatar? Why?” Zuko asked, somehow both hopefully and scornfully. How did he do that?

“I have a quest. I need to complete this quest before I can go home, and if I don’t complete it in time, I’m pretty sure the universe will fall apart or something.” 

Horror flashed on both of their faces. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to say it like that. 

“Well, maybe not fall apart exactly, but maybe be unraveled and overrun with chaos. Damn, that came out even worse— Nevermind the falling apart thing, I’ve done this kind of thing like 15 times.” 

The silence was weird. Neither side knew what to say, and Percy had no clue whatsoever what to do next. The situation was really similar to some random mortal somehow figuring out he was a demigod, yet entirely different. There wasn’t any mist to cover this up, as far as he could tell, and he doubted that his skill with the stuff was high enough to do that in the first place. 

“A spirit quest… then there must be a prophecy,” Iroh worriedly stroked his beard with a big fat frown on his face. 

“Yup. I’m not a spirit, though.” 

In the end, Percy decided to spill it. Allies were better when they trusted you, after all. There was still lots of risk in telling them about demigod stuff, but they wouldn’t be able to go after camp Halfblood or Jupiter without going to an entirely different dimension. 

Zuko scowled and clenched his fists. 

“Then what are you, a monkey-bear?” 

“A what? Agh, nevermind. I’m a demigod. Half god, half human, from another world. My dad is the god of the sea and some other stuff.” 

Yet another painfully long pause. It really felt like someone super bad at talking to people was controlling the conversation. Some sort of comically bad narrator? Whatever the case, he really wished that Chao hadn’t startled him. With a glance in said ensign’s direction, Percy noted that he wasn’t there. Shit. 

It’s not like it’s easy keeping massive secrets like that when you’re in close quarters on a small-ish ship, but he figured he could have kept that one for a while yet. The whole crew would probably know soon enough, since in the week or so he’d been aboard he knew that literally everyone was insanely into gossiping.

“A demigod of the sea…” Iroh said thoughtfully, “Is your father some sort of dragon, perchance?”

“No, why would he-? Oh wait. You can see my horns and tail. Yeah, I don’t know how that happened. Don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse, either, cause I have both.”

Zuko scowled even more fiercely than usual, wrinkling his forehead in a way that reminded Percy of the little creases in those plastic balloons you get at the store. 

“How could you think that a dragon’s features would ever be a curse!? That is disgraceful to the entire Fire Nation-!”

“Calm yourself, Zuko. It seems that Percy here is not what I thought he was, but that does not mean he is any less worth respect.”

Speaking of the dragon thing, he had never actually managed to put away his wings. He’d gotten pretty used to them after a little while, but he couldn’t sleep on his back anymore. Maybe Iroh could help? He seemed to know spirit stuff, and if the dragons here were revered rather than monsters, he could definitely help Percy.