Archive of Our Own ^beta

PART ONE

     The island Perseus was born on – thirteen years ago – is beautiful. He was raised with the story of how his father, the great god-king of the sea Poseidon, had crafted it under the see with the help of his cyclops then dug it out of the ocean floor with his hands and carried it to the surface. It was for his mother to live comfortably and safely during her pregnancy, but she’d decided to stay after she gave birth to him to make sure he would have a peaceful childhood. Thankfully, the island have everything anyone would ever need and more.

A beautiful forest with nymphs to keep one company, a beautiful palace to live in, loads of creeks and ponds and lakes for the water spirit children his mother would later give birth to to live in, and loads more.

But, for Perseus, it’s been thirteen years spent on the same island hearing only stories of the world beyond. And three years since he stopped getting any older.

Nerites—the only other boy he’s ever met and his father’s frequent lover—had promised him multiple times there’s nothing wrong with being stuck as a boy, even though Nerites looks at least a few years older than Perseus so he thinks it’s a little unfair to compare it. Nerites was basically born the way he is now, whereas Perseus’ growth was forcefully stopped by the magic of the island. And, too, Nerites can see the world.

Perseus’ first steps were inside the palace—he hadn’t been allowed to elave it until his mother could trust him with a sword. She was fearful of his father’s wife coming for his life or a monster that could’ve spontaneously dropped onto the island with a desire to kill him. She said he was conceived before his mother had gotten her immortality and, as a result of that, he was particularly tasty to monsters. He had to be careful. She didn’t lessen her strictness and give him more freedom until she began to give birth to the several water spirits that began to slowly fill any amount of freshwater larger than a puddle. That’s because, now, she worried that their beauty would attract a god’s attention.

Even his vast number of sisters didn’t give him enough leeway to leave the island.

He’d beg, “I just want to meet another boy.”
“I just want to meet another boy.” He would beg.

And his mother would say, “Call for Nerites. I’m sure he’d love to play, sweetheart.” Or “Why? There’s plenty of nymphs for you to talk to and I’m sure your sisters would love to see you more!”

Once he tried to go out into the sea for just a swim, but a nereid appeared and scolded him, “You know your stepmother wants to gut you so go back on land, mister!”

Well. Not in those exact words, but it basically meant that.

Basically, life sucks.

In the weeks leading up to his fourteenth birthday, though, Perseus is given a great hint that the Fates must be on his side and he might get to see the world beyond the island soon enough.

He’s barely steps out of the palace—his mother making her chocolate chip cookies that he’s looking forward to eating—when a nymph runs out of the forest, for him.

“Perseus!” She gasps. “I found a man!”

“A man?” Perseus repeats, confused. “Like a god?”

She shakes her head. “No! You know my bush?”

Perseus nods. Her bush is closest to the beach and they often play around in the sand together since she, too, dreams of the sea. She can only go so far before feeling too weak, just like he can only go too far before a random sea-goddess appears to yell and shoo him back.

“Well,” She clasps her hands in front of her chest, eyes wide and filled with amazement. “I was listening to the ocean waves, hoping you’d stop by today—” “I planned on it!” “—oh, you normally do, but, back to my story! I was listening like I always do, when a boat appeared! I was watching the boat because it’s one of those, um, big mortal ships? You know the ones! Anyways, a smaller boat came from it and it washed up on shore! And guess what it held?” She jumps forward.

“The man?” Perseus guesses.

She shrieks happily. “Yes, yes! Well, I don’t like men very much I don’t think. He’s the first one I saw and I didn’t like him, so I went back to my bush. But then I remembered that you wanted to meet a boy and I know boys become men, so…”

Perseus’ eyes light up. “He’s still on the beach?”

“Um,” She blinks. “I think so? I left him there.”

“Let’s go!” He says urgently. Who knows how long it would be before someone noticed and got rid of the man!

Perseus and the nymph ran through the forest. Within minutes, they were at the very edge where the fertile, black dirt began to turn into pebbles and gradually finer sand. They stop behind a large rock – and in the distance, Perseus sees a small wooden boat stuck in the sand just enough in where the sea was only gently lapping at its back end stuck in wet sand. Next to it, is the man.

Watching the man, Perseus understands immediately the difference between a boyish being like Nerites and an actual adult. He’s seen his father plenty of times, but his father is a god and he’s never thought anything of it. His father looks a man, but he isn’t one so there was never a point to compare. Looking at the man, who is tall and with not a hint of softness to his sharp jawline, he understands age.

He suddenly feels even more upset at himself. He’s stuck at ten. He’ll never look like a man.

“I’m going to go talk to him.” Perseus decides.

The nymph startles. “What? Men are like gods, they’re dangerous.”

“My dad’s a god.” Perseus challenges. “And I’m a boy!”

“Boys are different!” She insists. “Men have weird things. I’ve been told to always be careful around them.”

“I’m also half god!” He says. “I’ll probably be fine…”

She pouts. “If you get hurt, I’m telling you I told you so.” She says. “Men are dangerous. They can be manipulative and mean. They take stuff, too. My mom came from another forest, remember? She said men like to hurt us, it’s why she and all the others were so happy to come here so they could have children and not be scared of us being hurt by men.”

“How?” Perseus asks. “What do they do?”

Men can’t be bad. That man, he thinks, is a man like his father always looks – and his father is safe and warm. His father gives the best hugs, looking like a man (even if he never really connected it before, whatever) and probably acting just like a normal man. He can’t imagine his father hurting someone unless they deserved it.

The nymph fidgets. “My mom wasn’t really being detailed. It’s about cutting us down and ripping up our roots without permission, and make us pregnant! My mom said one of her sisters had been forced by a man and she had to give birth to flowers!”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Perseus stares out at the man, looking out to the sea where in the very distance there is a very large ship that looks similar to the other large mortal ships that occasionally swim by. “Not all men can be bad, right? I’m supposed to be a man eventually.”

“Not so! You’ve been a boy for a while.” The nymph says.

“I should be growing!” Perseus knows he should be. He knows it’s the island that’s kept him from growing up. He digs his fingers into the palms of his hands. “I want to meet him. If I never get to grow up, that means it’s even more important for me to talk to a man. I want to know what it’s like. Maybe, one day, I can convince my father to make me one.”

She stares at him, obviously unsure.

“Who knows how long it’ll be before another man lands on the island?” He says. “I can’t waste this chance.”

“Then I’ll help.” She says suddenly, grabbing his hands and squeezing them in hers. “If it looks like he’s going to do something, I’ll help.”

“Keeping an eye out?” Perseus asks.

She smiles shakily. “Of course…Please be careful, okay?”

“I will be.”

Perseus very slowly steps out from behind the boulder and begins to cautiously walk out onto the beach, towards the man. As he gets closer, the man turns around and Perseus sees the thick scar that runs down the man’s face. It’s so interesting, he thinks, as he runs his eyes down the man’s body curiously. It’s like a smaller version of his father’s. Nerites has ‘muscles’, but they’re still very weak and he has very soft features. The man doesn’t look weak nor soft.

“Um,” The man greets, with a wave. “My name is Luke. Where am I?”

Perseus stops walking. “Are you lost?” He asks, guessing the answer is yes.

“Sort of.” He says. “I’m on that cruise ship with…my friends. I’m being punished for stealing food so I was sent on this island for a week.”

“Stealing?” Perseus asks. “Like…Hermes?” He eyes the man suspiciously. There are a lot of stories about gods doing strange things, but he can’t imagine a god trespassing on his father’s island to get at the nymphs.

The man – Luke – laughs. “No. He’s my dad, but I’m not a god like he is. I’m a half-blood.”

“Like me!” Perseus gasps. He rushes forward and immediately pokes Luke’s stomach. “Are you delicious to monsters, too?”

“Um— I guess? All demigods have a scent that attract monsters.” Luke answers, uneasily stepping back and his hand covering where Perseus had just touched. “Where am I?”

“You’re on my mother’s island.” Perseus lifts up Luke’s shirt – the man yelps as he does, shocked – and is amazed at how there isn’t very much fat at all. “Your stomach is so flat. My father says mortals all need something on our belly in case we starve since we’re still mortal. Are you already starving? Is that why you were stealing food?”

Luke shoves his shirt down, cheeks red. “Uh, no. I mean, yes? But, no. I normally have more fat, I guess.” He says. “Are you a demigod, too?”

“I am!” Perseus nods, looking up into the man’s scarred face grinning. “I’ve never even met another boy before except for Nerites, but I don’t know if he really counts. And you’re the first man! You’re like a miniature version of my father.”

“Your father?” Luke asks. “Who is that?”

Perseus starts walking around Luke, trying to document everything. “My father is Poseidon!” He says happily. “Do you know him?”

“He’s the king of the sea.” Luke nods, turning his head to try to follow Perseus. “Of course I do. Why are you on this island? Is your mother one of the nymphs here?”

“No, my mom lives in the palace.” Perseus stops. “You’re here for a whole week, you said?”

“Yes—”

“You won’t last that long.” Perseus decides. “Unless I help you!”

Luke blinks. “And…You’re willing to help me stay here? Why?”

“Well, I want you to stay.” Perseus admits. “I have so many questions! Like, you were a boy once, right? How long did it take for you to become a man?”

“Uh, that’s hard to answer. How old are you?” Luke asks.

“I’m thirteen, almost fourteen!” Perseus throws his hands in the air, wriggling all his fingers. “But I’m stuck at ten! No one’s told me why I don’t grow up, for sure but I think it’s the island or because I’m a half-blood. If you’re a half-blood, too, and you’re a man now, that means you grew up! How long did it take?”

“I never stopped aging, so,” Luke says slowly. “I eventually hit puberty and that started to turn me into an adult.”

“Puberty!” Perseus gasps. “How did you hit them? Are they a god?”

“No.” Luke blinks, astonished. “Do you seriously not know?”

Perseus shakes his head.

“Puberty isn’t a being. It’s just the name for what happens when you get older. Boys and girls hit puberty, which starts to turn them into an adult after a few years.” Luke explains.

“Woah.” Perseus rubs his bare foot into the sand. “That’s cool. Why are you here again?” He already knows the answer, of course, but he wants to make sure.

“I…I stole food.” Luke says.

“I’ll go get you some.” Perseus nods decisively. “You’re hungry, right? You should probably make your stomach bigger.”

“Oh, um, thank you?” Luke glances at the big ship in the distance, before returning his attention solely on Perseus. He offers a massive smile. “I would really appreciate some food.”

Perseus nods and runs off, shouting over his shoulder, “Stay there! And hide if you see someone come out of the water!”

He runs around the boulder, where the nymph is waiting for him.

She gasps. “You’re not hurt?”

“No! He is a man and he was a boy like me. He became a man after experiencing puberty! It’s not a god!” Perseus tells her eagerly. “He said he was stranded here for stealing food. He doesn’t have much fat, either, so I figured out he’s really hungry. I’m getting him some food.”

“You’re going to tell your mother?” The nymph asks.

Perseus quickly shakes his head. “No! She’d make him leave.” He knows she would. “But I would like some help to carry out food! He probably needs a lot.”

The nymph nods. “Okay, but I am not talking to him. He’s still a man.”

Together, Perseus and the bush nymph walk back to his mother’s palace. His mother is, thankfully, now in her garden with her cookies baking in the oven. The two carefully move through the cabinets, collecting food into their arms while Perseus hopes that men eat the same food as boys do and don’t consume nectar and ambrosia like man-gods like his father. They walk back through the forest and come out to the beach, where Luke is now sitting patiently in the sand looking not at the sea but out to the forest.

Waiting for Perseus!

“Hello.” Luke greets. “I’m Luke.” He introduces himself to the nymph, who doesn’t respond. She only glares cautiously.

“We brought lots of food.” Perseus says. “Thank you, you can go.”

The nymph nods, looking very relieved. She leans into Perseus’ ears and whispers, “Men keep looking worse every time I see them.”

He holds back a laugh to be polite to Luke. “You just don’t like them.” He says.

“I’m right.” She whispers, before quickly running off back to her bush.

Luke starts to go through the food. Jars of fruits and vegetables, blocks of cheese and a loaf of bread, and a bottle of wine. “You did get a lot.” He says. “Who was that?”

“She’s a nymph.” Perseus sits down next to Luke. “I’m friends with all the nymphs on the island.”

“That’s…Interesting.” Luke picks up a jar of pickles. “So, you’re a son of Poseidon and live on this island? So does your mom?”

“My mom was a mortal, but when my father fell in love with her he offered her this island.” Perseus places his hand on Luke’s thigh and experimentally squeezes it. “She’s immortal now, but she conceived me with my dad when she was still a mortal! I’m not immortal like she is, I’m just a demigod.”

Luke opens the pickle jar. “She must be an amazing woman.” He drops the lid into the sand and pulls out a pickle. “But you don’t age?”

“I’ve been ten for a few years.” Perseus confirms, watching as Luke takes a bite out of the pickle. “I didn’t notice at first, but I figured it out. And I’m not allowed to leave the island. I’ve only met one boy and that’s Nerites. And I guess one man, my father, but I didn’t really think men were supposed to be like him since he’s a god but you’re a tiny, weak, not-sea-king version of him.”

The man laughs. “Weak?” He asks. “I suppose compared to a god…”

“You’re definitely very weak-looking.” Perseus nods, thinking of his father’s massive stature and raw, godly power. “That’s okay though! I’m weak, too. We’re not gods.”

Luke grabs a second pickle immediately after finishing the first. “You said you’re going to hide me here for the week I’m stuck?”

“I will.” Perseus says. “I want to learn what it’s like to grow up and become a man. I think I would’ve liked it more if you were a boy, but you’re better than nothing. So, I’ll hide you, and you can answer all of my questions.”

“Right.” Luke finishes the second pickle, then grabs the loaf of bread and tears off a piece. “And what will happen to me if I’m found?

Perseus thinks. “It depends.” He says. “Probably just kicked out, unless it’s my father. He’ll probably kill your or turn you into a fish.” He hopes he could convince his father to be nice and just let Luke leave, or maybe even his father would let him keep the man. He’s never had a pet before. He doesn’t know how trespassers like Luke would – or could? – be punished.

Luke eats the bread. “I’d appreciate the hiding. I don’t think I’ll be allowed onboard again until after a week.”

“I’ll take great care of you!” Perseus promises. “I had a pet goldfish once. He only died because I forgot to feed him and I won’t forget to feed you!”

PART TWO

      Having Luke the Man around quickly becomes the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to Perseus in his entire life.

On the first day; Perseus finds a cave close to the beach to hide Luke in. He sneaks away furs and blankets from the palace to stuff the cave with, making it much more homely and comfortable for the man to live in. It helps that the cave mouth looks over grass then the beach, meaning the island nymphs rarely bother to wander over to take a peak inside. They prefer to stay inside of their forest – the bush nymph who Perseus most often plays with is one of the few who likes to adventure around the island, pushing her tie to her bush to the limit – which means the cave should be the safest place on the island for Luke to live in for the week.

“What sort of things do you want to hear about?” Luke asks, leaning against the cave wall.

Perseus, sitting so close that he can look right into the man’s eyes and see every ridge of the scar down the man’s face, tries to think for a moment. “Can you tell me what it’s like being a half-blood outside the island?”  

Luke talks – He had gone to a place called Camp Half-Blood, where all demigods go to train and learn how to survive. He’d gone with some friends, but he doesn’t go into detail about his friends. Instead, he focuses on swordsmanship and climbing up a lava-spitting wall and a game called capture the flag. He talks about how, before he left, he was the head of Cabin Eleven which houses all of the children of Hermes. He explains that every cabin was for a particular god and their children. It sounds magical, to Perseus, who can barely imagine an entire place filled with hundreds of demigods all growing up with each other.

“Are there nymphs there?” Perseus asks.

“Well, yeah.” Luke nods. “We have a forest, so we have nymphs. We have naiads, too.”

“Nereids?” Perseus asks. “There’s some that visit, sometimes, but they mostly watch the water. I’m not supposed to go out to the sea.”

“Aren’t you the son of Poseidon?” Luke frowns. “You wouldn’t drown, would you?”

“My father would never let me drown.” Perseus can go to the very bottom of the large bath in the palace and he can still breathe. He can jump into his mother’s aquarium, and still breathe. He can talk to the fishes who call him prince and lord like the nymphs often do. He knows even if he got out into the sea, past the nereids, he knows his father would let him breathe and all the sea life would be there for him. If he could get out to the sea. “But I’m not supposed to ever leave the island.”

“Why?” Luke presses, curious himself.

It makes Perseus happy. He can answer questions, too. “It’s dangerous. My father’s wife doesn’t like my mom or me.”

Luke looks out the cave mouth, over the beach. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one of the gods just giving a mortal woman an island, not since the old ways.”

“Father says he’s never seen a woman like my mother in thousands of years.” Perseus boasts. “He says my sisters are the prettiest naiads he’s ever seen, too, but...” It’s not that he doesn’t like his sisters, but there’s a distance between him and them.

Some of them, when all of them have been born after him, already look older than him. Turning into women, or women-looking, while he remains the same boy as he has for the past three years.

“The naiads are your sisters?”

“My mother’s immortal now. All the children she’s had have been naiads. They live in the big lake.” Perseus nods. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Half-siblings. My dad’s other demigod children.” Luke says.

“What about mine?” Perseus wonders. “Do I have any half-siblings at that camp? My dad has to have a cabin, right?”

“He does have a cabin, but he doesn’t have—he doesn’t have any other demigod kids that I know if, but it’s been a while since I’ve been at camp.”

Perseus nods. It makes since. He can imagine his father doesn’t have that much time to have other children outside of his mother, since he does also have a wife… “What other things do the demigods do at the camp?” He asks, bored of thinking about half-siblings and his sisters.

As Luke talks – telling amazing stories about quests and fighting monsters – Perseus slowly gets closer and closer, until he’s sitting on the man’s lap the same way he sits on his mother’s lap when she tells her own stories. He asks question after question, egging on more and more stories. It’s all different to the stories his parents would tell. His mother’s were always historical and his father’s were always told in a way that he couldn’t tell if it had happened a year ago or a thousand years ago. But Luke’s were all new and different, not always with a point, just answers and explanations, transforming into miniature tales about capturing a flag, the streets of Manhattan, and even the calm, still beauty of Olympus on the winter solstice.

“How many grown demigods are there?”

“Uh, dozens? Demigods are all kinds of ages—”

“Are demigod women like the demigod men?”

“We all live together, we fight the same and we’re all heroes.”

“I mean, do they do the puberty the same way?”

“No, ah, boys and girls experience puberty differently.”

“Nature spirits definitely never experience this puberty. Can you tell me more about it? Please?”

Luke does, of course, because Luke is a kind man despite what the bush nymph had said about being careful. Men couldn’t be bad, because Luke is so nice.

On the second day; it goes the same. Perseus sneaks out food and they continue to talk.

On the third; Perseus comes to the small cave where he’d hidden Luke away to find the man surrounded by a handful of nymphs all grabbing at him eagerly.

“—You’re so handsome.” One grabs Luke’s arms, squeezing the muscle. “We never see any men around here, not even any gods visit us except for Lord Poseidon but he has no time for us. Only Miss Sally.”

“We’re so lonely.” Another rubs her hand up and down Luke’s chest. “I’ve heard so many stories about men.”

The third pulls at Luke’s pants. “We should play together.”

Perseus stomps forward. “Hey!” He shouts. “What are you doing?”

All three nymphs jump away from Luke.

The first – who he recognizes as being the tree near his sisters’ lake – gasps, “Lord Perseus? Is he yours?”

Perseus folds his arms over his chest and nods. “He is.” He says. “I want to play with him!”

The nymphs all glance at each other. “You…Know how to play?” The second – an apple tree not too far away from the cave – asks, sounding very confused. “You’re just a boy.”

“So?” Perseus challenges. “You don’t get to play with him. He’s mine!”

“We’ll go.” The first bows. “I’m so sorry, Lord Perseus. I hadn’t thought he was yours. If we’d known, we would’ve let him be.”

“Good. Now go – and don’t tell anyone he’s here!”

The other two bow respectfully and rush off, probably each to their individual plant.

Luke, who had been silent, lets out a breath. “Thanks. I didn’t think they were going to let me go.”

Perseus unfolds his arms and rushes forward, wrapping his arms around the man. “It’s okay!” He presses his cheek against Luke’s stomach in the tightness of his hug. “Come, let’s go to the beach. I want to hear about something new today.”

When they go out to the beach, Perseus eagerly sits himself on Luke’s lap and waits for his demand for a new story be fulfilled.

“Do you know what love is?” Luke asks.

“My mother and father love each other. They love me, too.” Perseus nods. He thinks he loves his sisters, but he’s still mad at them for ruining his favorite chitin a few months ago so he isn’t going to admit anything about them. “Is this a story about Aphrodite?”

“No.” Luke shakes his head. “See, people who are becoming adults or are adults love in a different way. It’s how you were conceived.”

Perseus’ eyes widen. “Really? How does it work?”

Luke wraps his arms around Perseus’ middle and gets to his story.

“When two mature beings love each other or even just like each other enough, they have sex.” Luke explains. “Sometimes, sex results in a baby or it doesn’t. It depends.”

“Sex?” Perseus repeats.

“It’s supposed to feel good and it’s nice to do.” Luke says. “But you’re only supposed to do it when you like someone and they like you back. You don’t ever surround someone to try to make them do it. You can’t take it.”

Perseus hums. “I was told men take stuff. Do men take sex?”

“Some of them do, but it’s not a good thing for anyone to do. Women can do it, anyone can.” Luke’s eyes turn a little dark. “A lot of gods do it, a lot of monsters do it, animals do it. Sex is supposed to be feel good for everyone involved, but when you take it from someone it doesn’t. It just hurts.”

“This is sad.” Perseus notes, frowning. “Why would someone take sex if it hurts?”

“Because usually, it doesn’t hurt the one taking it but it does hurt the one they’re taking it from.” Luke answers. “You’re just a boy and if you really don’t age, you’ll probably never understand why anyone ever wants sex at all. That’s not bad, but someone could always try to take it from you. You should be careful.”

A strange feeling settles in Perseus stomach. An instinct hissing at him be careful, something is wrong but he assumes it’s just from what he’s being told. It’s an upsetting image in his head.

“I’ll never want sex?” Perseus asks, frowning. It’s just another thing it seems he’ll never experience himself, like the outside world.

“You need to go through puberty for it.” Luke says. “You need to grow up for it.”

“I hate being a boy.” Perseus mutters. “I want to grow up.”

Luke rubs his fingers into Perseus’ sides. “It’s not bad to never grow up.” He says. “I’m just telling you these because those nymphs wanted to take from me. I wouldn’t have liked it and…it upset me. I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I want to know everything.” Perseus insists. “Why would they take it from you? They’ve always seemed nice.”

“Just because someone seems nice, doesn’t mean that they are.” Luke says. It sounds like something Perseus’ mother would say. “Eventually, you’ll leave this island though. It’s probably important for you to know things.”

Perseus shakes his head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever leave. My mom thinks I’m going to be hurt if I do. I wasn’t even allowed out of the palace for a long time.” He starts to fidget with Luke’s shirt. “I do want to grow up. I wish I could. Sex can be good, right? What other things can you experience only if you’re grown up?”

Luke smiles. “Love.” He says. “Non-familial, non-friendly, love. Do you know all the types of love? There’s six. There’s sexual passion, committed love, love for your closest friends, playful love, love for your family, love for everyone, and love for yourself. All of these you can experience as a kid, really, except for sexual passion and committed love. Those two things are for adults.”

Perseus thinks he wants both. He sighs. “What are they like?”

“Both are impossible to describe.” Luke says. “You can only know them if you grow up.”

PART THREE

      Perseus’ father is a god-king. He is, quite literally, one of the three most powerful gods in all existence – but he’s still Perseus’ father and he’s grown up with Poseidon. He finds it hard, sometimes, to connect some stories he’s been told about his father cursing mortals and conceiving monsters when his father is trying to knead bread on his mother’s order while she clips herbs from her garden outside. It looks very mortal. He thinks his father’s even made himself even smaller than he usually does to walk around the palace just to knead the bread better.

He wanders up close and stands on the tips of his toes to peak into the bowl. “Hey, dad?”

“Yes, son?” Poseidon digs his palm into the dough. He’s not very good at kneading the dough considering he’s a god, but Perseus guesses just because you’re a god doesn’t mean you’re perfect at everything

“Can you make me grow up?” He asks.

Poseidon’s hand stops. “Why do you ask?” His hands resume movement, digging into the dough rougher now.

Perseus rests his chin on the counter. “I really want to experience stuff. Like love, and sex—”

“Sex?” His father looks a little scared, turning to look at him.

“I’ve heard about it from the nymphs.” Perseus lies. “They said only adults can experience it. Why can’t I grow up?”

“You can grow up.” Poseidon says. “But it’s not…As easy as that, son.”

“Other half-bloods grow, don’t they?” Perseus asks. He starts to drum his finger son the counter. “If I’m a demigod, why don’t I grow like they do?”

Poseidon looks at him and it feels a little unsettling. “Who have you been talking to?”

“Does it matter?” Perseus pouts.

“I don’t like the idea of nymphs—“ He says it like it’s a curse. “—teaching my young son about sex. It’s an adult experience and you haven’t begun your puberty.”

“Will I ever?” Luke said puberty comes, sometimes, at ten but can come as late as sixteen. Sometimes even later. “Can you make me go through puberty even if I don’t get any older?”

“No.”

“Why not? Nerites is like a boy but he gets to have sex, doesn’t he? You had sex with him—”

Poseidon’s eyes flash, the color bursting and twisting like miniature storms. “Perseus, who is telling you these things?”

“The nymphs!” Perseus sticks to his lie, feeling only a little guilty, and pushes away from the counter. “This isn’t fair! My sisters are growing up quicker than me and they’re all younger than me. I’m stuck! I’m so short compared to them, already! How am I supposed to be their big brother if I’m stuck being a kid?”

“Son—”

Perseus slams his foot. “I want to grow up! I don’t want to be like Nerites, either, okay? I don’t want to be a boy but not, I just want to grow up and be a man!”

His father stares at him, eyes still turning. “Is this truly what you want?”

“It is.” Perseus insists.

Turning away from him, his father orders, “Mention none of this to your mother.”

Perseus’ mother walks into the kitchen, with a bowl in her hands. “Sweetheart, why aren’t you grinding up the meat like I asked?” She frowns.

He shakes his head. He isn’t going to listen to his father’s order. “I want to grow up!”

She goes completely still. The frown slips off of her face, it replaced with a look of shock.

Poseidon sighs, sounding very defeated.

“I want to grow up and I want to leave the island!” Perseus goes on, “None of this is fair. I see everything around me growing up and changing, the nymphs and my sisters, even the sky! I’m not immortal. I’m supposed to be a demigod. Aren’t demigods supposed to be heroes? Instead, I’m stuck here and I’m doing nothing!”

“How do you know that?” His mother asks, horrified. “How do you know that demigods—”

“The nymphs told me.” Perseus doesn’t even feel guilty for lying to both of his parents, now. He’s too angry. “No one will even tell me why I’m not growing up!”

“Per—”

“I WANT TO KNOW!” Perseus slams his foot again – and the entire island trembles.

His parents look at each other, then his mother deflates. “Tell him.”

“Are you sure?” His father asks, not even looking at Perseus now. “If I do…”

“It’s time.” His mother whispers. “He deserves to know.” She sounds guilty.

Poseidon looks at Perseus. “Son, let’s sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down.” He insists. “Just tell me.”

Then – Perseus is told the truth.

PART FOUR

      It’s the last morning of Luke’s hidden stay on the island. The night sky looks down over the beach. It’s a warm gaze, Perseus thinks, as he wanders across the sand towards the sea.

Luke’s boat is still there – and so is Luke. He hasn’t left yet.

“Hey,” The son of Hermes greets kindly. “I’m about to leave.”

“My father told me a story.” Perseus says softly. “Do you have to go now? I want to talk to someone.”

Luke nods.

“I didn’t say anything,” Perseus says softly, sitting down in the sand right by the boat. “But I found out earlier this week. Um, why I’m not growing.”

“Why?” Luke asks, placing himself right next to Perseus.

“My father made this island for my mother after I was conceived,” He explains. “For her immortality and our safety. Mostly, my own. Not just from his wife, either, but from the dangers of being a demigod I guess. Um…”

Luke stares, waiting.

“One of the things was what I wouldn’t grow up, that I’d stay a boy, so that I couldn’t fulfill this weird prophecy.” He tilts his head back and stares at the stars. His mother used to map out the constellations with him, from the safety of the palace courtyard. “But my mind would keep growing because he could only stop my physical aging. I’m still a demigod, something weird about the magic, but as long as I stay on the island…”

“You don’t age.” Luke finishes.

“He did it to protect me for my mother.” Perseus says. “As long as I never went anywhere beyond the shallow water, I wouldn’t age. That’s why the nereids have always watched me and why I’ve never been allowed out.” Tears start to burn his eyes and he doesn’t know why, except for how he’s hardly slept at all lately during the night.

Luke softly hushes him, brushing his fingers kindly against Perseus’ cheek and pushing back his hair behind his ear. “I’m sorry.” He says gently.

“You know, my father told me he had Nerites be my friend so I wouldn’t be the only boy.” Perseus says. “But then he’s all, oh, it was a mistake because Nerites was once my lover and it probably gave me bad ideas – and it’s so stupid.”

“It is.” Luke agrees.

Perseus sniffs. “He’s blaming the nymphs, too. I, um, told him that they’re the ones who told me about sex and love.”

“Still hiding me?” Luke laughs. “I’m leaving, soon.”

“It was earlier this week.” He holds his hand out for Luke to take. Luke does. “My father says he’ll let me leave soon, but to wait.”

“I’m already leaving,” Luke gestures to his boat. “We can leave together.”

Perseus looks at him, shocked. “I promised I would wait.” He says slowly. “I’m sorry, but I’ll find you when I leave. I’m going to the camp.”

Luke laughs. He takes the boy’s hand and brings it up, kissing the back. “Camp’s great, but there’s a war out there. I could help you.”

Perseus’ heart pulls as he stares up at the man. “I—”

“Come with me.” Luke tempts again. “I’ll get you to camp, but before that…I can show you the world.”

“But I haven’t even said goodbye.” Perseus says.

“You’ll see everyone here again someday and…If you don’t leave with me, I don’t know how long it’ll be before I see you again.” Luke pauses, squeezing Perseus’ hand in his own. “And when you hit puberty, I could help you with everything that comes with it, too.”

Perseus swallows. He looks back to the tree line where the beach fades, then to Luke. “I’ll come with you.” He says softly, not even knowing why he agrees—just that Luke’s hand feels so warm holding his.