Chapter Text
Percy was a demigod, not that he found it all that special.
Oh, well, he knew it was special. He knew it was rare. He knew his dad was Poseidon and his sister was Kym (Kymopoleia, but she said to call her Kym). He’d known for years and years, since he was a little child and Kym had found him on the beach during a storm, staring in awe at the waves and clouds.
She had been curious, she said, of the child on the beach in the storm who was unafraid.
And she discovered shortly that they were family and decided to take Percy under her wing.
Percy was glad, and he knew that he was special for having her. Others didn’t have a sister who could cancel boring school events with rain for them. Others didn’t get to see with their sister on the bottom of a river, learning how the currents played into hurricanes. Others definitely didn’t get to learn how to cup a storm in their hands, awed at the tickling of rain and wind and lightning.
Percy knew all of that, but Kym was just- she was Kym. His big sister who loved to steal him away for an afternoon to show him islands and coves and shorelines. She took him all over, talking about the world. She wove storms for him, letting him sit beside her as she raised the storm waves.
She told him how many believed her to be solely the Goddess of storm waves, he learned of her husband and the storms and her own powers.
The modern-day people didn’t know her role, but it was not merely storm waves.
Briareos, her husband, was one of the storm giants, the Hekantonkheires (which was such a ridiculous word, she laughed at Percy’s attempts to say it). She’d married him because he’d held such a similar role to her. It was like Thalassa to Pontos, though the two were unmarried counterparts, unlike Briareos and her.
Percy knew so much about how these things worked, Kym loved to talk about the sea, the culture, all the various powers in it. She loved to speak of how the religion in the sea could be different from land, teaching Percy the “proper way to do things” and helping him coax storms to life.
He liked to try some of the little things, honoring the full moon, being careful on the new moon, leaving offerings out at night, making cookies and sharing them with Kym.
He loved Kym, she was the best big sister ever.
But he still didn’t understand why being a demigod was so special. It wasn’t like being a mortal or a God.
He wasn’t allowed to meet his dad, or well- they could meet… but not for long. His dad wasn’t allowed to interfere much. Kym said she wasn’t supposed to do too much either, but there was more leeway for her since she wasn’t his parent. And anyways, Kym said rules were dumb and she only obeyed the smart ones.
Mortals got to see their parents though, usually. So, did Gods.
But not demigods.
So yeah, he didn’t really understand what was so special about it. He certainly didn’t feel that much more special than his mortal classmates.
He tried to puzzle it out for a while, but when he was eight he gave up and asked Kym.
“You want to know why demigods are special?” she had asked in surprise.
Percy had nodded.
“Oh, well- that’s actually pretty simple. You’re the result of a God loving a mortal. You’re nature itself finding a mortal person, someone small and delicate with a life like a candle, to be worth loving and losing. A demigod… a demigod is a display of a God’s love for humanity. So, you’re awfully special, Aphrodite talks about it all the time even.”
Percy considered that, Kym always did answer his questions so well. He supposed that made sense, nature loving nature was normal. Kym always said the sea loved the land and sky, for they were all tied together.
In fact, she said that Percy and her could understand that more than most, because of who their dad was. Her rulership was one of the sea and sky, storms of the sea, and they would go onto land as well. Percy was the son of the same God, of Poseidon, the God of the Sea, Storms, and Earthquakes.
Kym explained that the sea cradled the Earth, encircled it and lapped against the edges of the sky, so they were connected.
But mortals were different.
Nature was eternal, mortals were… mortal.
Percy wondered what it meant that Kym decided to be his big sister. Did that mean something? Like how Gods loving mortals meant something?
Was this a case of a God loving a mortal? Just- as family?
Percy had so many questions about the world.
And Kym- Kym was always so informed about it all. She was happy to answer all of his questions, rambling on and on about any and every subject he could think of. She loved to explain things to him, to show him things.
And she looked so cool doing it- he was jealous.
Sometimes she showed up with a tail, the most beautiful mermaid tail he’d ever seen. It was two tails, shining and shimmering in blues and greens and pale greys, with bolts of yellow like lightning biting through. The yellow bits even shone in the dark!
And she had such pretty clothes and hair pins whenever she was on land. She always looked amazing.
Percy always felt a bit small and scruffy in front of her, but she liked to have him try on clothes and sparkly things she found, so that was nice.
But still- he wanted to see the world she talked so much about. He wanted to look at the markets and see the moon mirrors and admire the gardens. He wanted to be able to enjoy the spas and plays and everything else she talked about.
So, when he reached ten years old, after Kym had spent the last twenty minutes explaining a super cool play she saw the day before, he took a deep breath and asked her.
“Will you show me?”
She blinked, peering at him curiously.
“Show you?”
“The sea, the plays, the markets- everything!”
She considered for a moment and Percy held his breath.
Her spending all this time with him, teaching him, telling him stories, it was already breaking rules. But… but he really wanted to see this world, his world, he was part of it too.
And she always said the rules were dumb anyways.
And she nodded, “Okay. We gotta disguise you though, otherwise people will know you’re a demigod and that would be bad.”
Percy beamed, “Really?”
“Yep!” She seemed to be thinking. “I have an idea, we’ll say I took you on a Storm Summoner apprentice! No one will suspect a thing! We’ll just get you a tail and it’ll be perfect.”
Percy beamed, bouncing on his feet. He’d get a tail? He’d get to learn more from her? He’d get to see the markets and plays and everything else?
“Okay!”
“That means you gotta call me Kym-fu, and I definitely gotta make sure your Halmaheran is up to snuff.”
That excited Percy, he’d learned a lot of it but teaching Halmaheran wasn’t high on her list.
She seemed to be thinking, “Honestly, can’t believe I didn’t think of taking you around the sea sooner! This is gonna be great. Metu is gonna throw a fit and I bet Triton is gonna be so jealous- oh! I’ll totally have to introduce you to Khrysaôr too.”
Percy grinned, excited for everything. Kym was always so fun!
“When can we go?” he asked.
“Hmm, this weekend. That way you don’t miss anything too important. I mean, school here seems dumb, but it’s got the whole- legally required thing going on. Plus, your mom would worry. So, this weekend! We’ll make a trip of it!”
Percy couldn’t wait, this was going to be the best trip ever.