Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monster 101 was always an interesting class for Helena. Not so much the course material but rather her fellow classmates.

Percy Jackson sat right next to her.

Sure they really hadn’t talked much but all the same. She couldn’t help but glance at him throughout every class. He just seemed so normal.

Usually, he came to class in rumpled sweats and a bright orange sweatshirt. Well… there was that one time when he came in full battle regalia, complete with a rich purple cloak and the crest of the praetor on his shoulder. But most of the time, he looked normal enough – not like some god certainly.

Praetor Levesque had once told her she had first thought Percy was a god, as he crossed the River Tiber into New Rome holding Juno. Which seemed crazy in itself considering she’d never even seen a god. Well other than Terminus but Helena didn’t really count statues as divine entities.

Anyway, Percy wasn’t really that good of a student either, but Helena had certainly met worse. When he wasn't fiddling around with that pen of his, he usually got most of the answers right on their monster exams.

Apparently, though, he had been kicked out of ten schools by Middle School. TEN.

Of course, nobody was entirely sure what he did to get expelled from that many classes but enough of them talked about a shark tank for Helena to think there was some sort of validity to the whispers.

She definitely wasn’t about to believe he killed a bunch of cheerleaders. Or the thing about a Civil War cannon?

But he did take notes throughout most of the class. Although one time, she had tried to get a hint cheat during a test and they were in Ancient Greek. But all the Romans knew the Camp Half-Blood kids were weird.

So when Helena and Percy were partnered up for a group project *cue shudder of dread* she wasn’t that annoyed by it. Other than him being a semi-productive project partner, she learned that Perseus Jackson, the Hero of Olympus, Leader of the Seven was quite possibly the sweetest boy she had ever known.

He was just so kind.

First he brought them chocolate chip cookies, which were divine. And that's putting it lightly, Helena was sure the recipe must have been from Hestia herself. It was a little odd that they were blue but even so.

If she was going to continue eating so many of them, she preferred her cookies more natural and not with food dye that would give her cancer or something.

So Helena tried to convince him blue cookies weren’t worth the added health risk and he said, “The last person who told me blue cookies aren’t cool ended up a statue.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He just nodded towards the computer screen where a photo of Medusa was pasted on their PowerPoint presentation.

At this point, several of the other groups had been listening to their conversation (Percy Jackson is quite a hot topic around NRU campus) and the class seemed to get much quieter.

Helena tried to piece together what he meant, “Medusa killed whoever insulted your Mom’s cookies?”

“Sort of…” Percy went back to his work but Helena was not about to let him stop there.

“Percy,” He looked up at her, “No you don’t get to stop there.”

Now the whole class was listening in, even the teacher.

“Well, on my first quest, I went looking for Zeus’ Lightning Bolt because the gods thought I stole it and were threatening World War 3. And–” Helena interrupted him.

“He lost his Lightning Bolt?”

Percy’s cheeks began to grow red, “Yeah, well… he’s not the smartest guy. If it makes you feel better, Hades also had me go looking for his Helm.” (It did not make her feel any better).

“Anyway, during the quest we came across this joint called Aunty Em’s Emporium. Grover, my Satyr friend said it smelled like monsters but we went anyways”

The teacher's face had gone a little pale, “Mr. Jackson, why did you go into an obvious monster den?”

“It also smelled like they had really good burgers?”

Helena stifled a laugh when the teacher just shook her head in despair, “Class this is exactly what you should not do.”

“So was Medusa in there?”

Percy nodded, “She served us food and then basically attacked us. Honestly one of the smarter monsters I’ve fought.”

The teacher decided to try to find something in the conversation to use as a teaching point, “And how did you kill her Mr. Jackson, for the class?”

He laughed, “Well I used my iPod to see when she was coming up behind me and then kinda… just swung my sword.”

Percy shrugged as if to say *killing one of the most notorious monsters in Greek mythology was a piece of cake*.

The teacher looked a little disturbed but carried on, “And what did you do with the spoils, Perseus?

Helena spoke up, “I heard that you sent her head to your Dad?”

He smirked, “Not exactly, I actually used Hermes Express to send it Olympus. I labeled it,

Best Wishes, Percy Jackson.”

The entire class gaped at him.

Helena asked, “And they were okay… with that?”

“Well they voted to kill me or not but I think that had more to do with the fact that it was prophesied that I would be the downfall of the modern world.” He grinned, as if that was a daily occurrence, “But to answer your question, my Dad then sent the head back to me.”

The teacher looked like she wanted to quit.

Percy Jackson looked like he was somewhere far away.

Later, Helena remembered that he never did tell her why he put blue food coloring in those cookies.

Chapter Text

Julian was quite possibly the most lame demigod to ever demigod.

He’d never even killed a monster before. He was a son of Mars for gods’ sake!

He always heard stories about legends like Achilles and Hercules. Heroes who could vanquish monsters and rise to every occasion the fates sent his way.

Sometimes Julian played Mythomagic with some of the Greek kids and they had created an expansion deck including most of the ancient demigods – and Percy Jackson.

Half the time, their card games descended into an argument about who the Son of Poseidon could win against. And usually, it wasn’t a matter of which ancient demigods or monsters Percy could defeat, but Gods.

Nico sometimes played with them and the group would always turn to the son of Hades for answers. Unfortunately, he was usually quite tight lipped but Julian could usually tell by the glint of his eyes if there was some truth to the rumors.

Julian was good at Mythomagic, even winning sometimes, but it definitely did not translate out onto the training grounds.

He couldn’t shoot an arrow straight. Or sneak up on his prey. He couldn’t even figure out the proper way to hold a sword.

At this rate, all he would become was monster bait.

He had seen Percy Jackson fight in the ring before, usually with other members of the Seven. He was fast, his feet never seeming to stay in one place for more than a second, celestial bronze sword glinting in the sunlight.

Even Jason Grace couldn’t keep up with him, a son of Zeus!

All he wanted was to feel like a real demigod. To kill monsters and fight wars. To live up to what a son of Mars should be.

So he kept showing up to practice, even though he looked like a joke and the other demigods made fun of his pitiful attempts at swordplay. He just tried his best not to not to care.

Then one day at the training ring, Percy Jackson himself walked right up to him and offered to show him a few pointers.

Julian had nodded, not trusting his voice at that moment.

But the son of Poseidon had just given him a crooked smile, “Great! I gotta run right now, but tomorrow at 8”.

“Okay.”

The next morning, Percy Jackson was waiting for him in the training ring.

He was a good teacher.

Before every practice, they went over footwork, jumping in and out of little ladders laid out on the grass. And then patiently, Percy had started on the basics, how to hold a blade and what was the easiest way to feint.

Suddenly, Julian wasn’t that bad at sword fighting.

They hadn’t talked too much about their personal lives, but then one day Percy showed him how to disarm an opponent. It had taken a few hours but he finally forced Riptide out of Percy’s hands.
The Son of Poseidon had given a broad smile, “You know, the first time I did that, it was against Luke.”

“Like the Luke who was the host of Kronos?”

“Yep, but he was just Luke, the son of Hermes then.” Percy seemed far away from the New Rome training grounds at that moment, “He was just a kid you know?”

***

Slowly, Julian got to know who Percy Jackson really was.

How Percy’s mother had just given birth to a little girl and saw how Estelle was his whole world. That his girlfriend’s mom had always been out to get him. But that Percy would rather face Athena's wrath than be apart from Annabeth. One day, he even mentioned visiting his father’s kingdom to visit his brother Triton (Julian had definitely not believed the rumors of him being a prince until that one).

One day, Percy had asked, “Why do you even come to the training ring?”

“I’m kinda a lame demigod if you’ve noticed, I’ve never killed a monster.”

Then Percy looked confused as if wondering how a demigod could even survive without knowing how to defend themselves, “Didn’t you serve in the legion?”

“Yeah, but I was with the logistics department.”

Percy grinned, “You’re lucky then! I hate killing monsters, they remind me too much of Mrs. O’Leary.”

“Who is that?’

“She’s my pet hellhound!” As if that was the most normal sentence.

But when Julian stopped dead in his tracks, utter befuddled, “Your pet what?”

It was then that Julian learned the most important thing about Percy. Not that he’d vanquished innumerable monsters but that he’d also saved some.

So Percy told him about Bessie, who he’d stood up to Zeus himself to save. A monster who any other demigod would have killed without a thought.

And another day, Percy told Julian about an encounter with Iapetus, who had saved him in Tartarus.

How he had shoved him into the River Lythe and in return, the Piercer himself had led Percy to the Doors of Death.

Julian had long since decided that the most important lesson Percy Jackson had taught him was not that of the sword, but of kindness. The Son of Poseidon had walked into the realm of monsters and made a friend.

So Julian kept showing up to practice and felt himself becoming stronger until one day, they were interrupted.

Julian hadn’t noticed anything amiss until Percy Jackson lowered Riptide and looked up at the bleachers, “Why are you here, Mars?”

Julian hadn’t even noticed him. How did he not notice his own father?

But he then stood up and walked down onto the training grounds, “Can’t I visit my favorite demigod? Oh and you too, kid.”

Percy wrinkled his nose, “He’s literally your son? I don’t see why I’m your favorite demigod.”

By this point, all of the demigods were kneeling, it was rare enough to be visited by a deity, but the god of WAR?

Well, except for Percy.

“Well, you’re much more interesting than young Julian here. I hear you’ve been giving him lessons?”

Julian had never even met his father, but maybe he was keeping tabs from afar?

Percy just grinned, “Yup, he’s gotten a lot better these past few months.”

Mars grinned, but not in a proud father way, more an unsettling, bloodthirsty way, “No one better to teach my son, than the boy who beat me in a duel at 12.”

Julian looked up, shocked. He had heard rumors about Percy and Ares fighting but had completely discarded them.

A demigod beating the god of war? Preposterous.

But just Percy groaned, “Haven’t we gotten past that?”

Julian’s father shook his head slowly, pulling out a huge broadsword, “Wanna have a little bout?”

Then something changed in Percy’s face. And for once, Julian saw a glimpse of the truth behind all the myths that followed the Son of Poseidon around.

He was excited at the prospect of beating up the god of War.

Chapter Text

This was the worst day of Kate’s life.

Her little girl, Julia was lying prone on the stretcher, pale as snow.

An older medic, a Greek she thought, rushed her into the room. He had bright hair and wore what would have been a crisp white doctor's coat if it was not stained with her daughter's blood.

“What got her?”

“A gorgon,” Kate choked on a sob, “please you must save her.”

The doctor cursed, spitting an Ancient Greek word that Kate didn’t quite recognize.

He rushed around the stretcher, leaving Julia alone for a moment, “Do you know who Percy Jackson is?”

Kate gaped at him, what did a son of Poseidon have to do with her daughter, “What?”

Alarms started to ring and her daughter became even paler, if that was possible but the doctor stayed focused on her, “Do you know Percy?”

Kate started to sob, “Of- Of course, the son of Poseidon but what does he-“

The doctor cut her off, “ He’s in the senate building, right down the street. If someone is speaking, interrupt them, but you must bring him here or Julia will die.”

Kate stumbled out the door.

~

As she went up the stairs to the senate building, Kate thought of nothing.

A familiar deep-seated panic was curled up in her chest, the feeling that at any moment, her life could change forever. She had thought she knew panic before, suffering with anxiety all her life, but this was something else.

If Julia did not make it… best she didn't even think of the possibility.

She stumbled to the huge arching doorway only to be blocked by a tall man, wearing a traditional legionnaire uniform, “You can’t go in here, Ma’am. There’s an important meeting going on.”

She stared blankly at him.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” The man looked at her closely and then saw the blood, “Are you hurt?”

“Please, my daughter.” Kate reached out for the man, “Please, the doctor said I need to get Percy Jackson.”

Turning inside, the man beckoned her forwards.

~

The Senate was bigger in real life and packed full with New Rome politicians. An auger stood at the podium, speaking furiously in Latin.

The guard left to look for Percy Jackson, but Kate had already spotted him and started climbing the stairs. Sitting to the right of the Praetors, the son of Poseidon looked almost like a god in his formal chiton.

Quickly, it seemed the room realized they had an intruder, growing silent as they watched a lady covered in blood make her way to the praetors.

A guard came forward to block her way, so she quickly tried to explain, “Please, I must speak with Percy Jackson.”

“No, wait until after the senate meeting.” The man took her roughly by the arm and began to lead her down the stairs.

“Wait.” Any muttering that had started up because of the commotion as Percy asked, “Why do you need to speak with me?”

Tears began to burn in Kate’s eyes but she spoke over the guard's shoulder, “Please Perseus, a doctor named Will told me I had to bring you to the infirmary immediately, to interrupt at all costs.”

Percy’s eyes softened in response and had begun to stand when the man burst out in anger, “You have no place interrupting my speech!”

“Fuck off, Octavius."

The man scoffed, “I am the living incarnation of Apollo’s will! You would not speak to a god like that.”

Percy’s eyes narrowed, turning colder, “Octavius, you know nothing of what Apollo stands for.” Percy’s eyes narrowed, turning colder, “You see a woman begging for my help, covered in blood, sent by Apollo’s favorite son, Will Solace – and you think your stupid speeches are worth more? The next time I see him, will be the last you remain in your position of stature, I swear on the styx.”
Thunder boomed. The lights flicked for a moment.

The power immediately went out in the Senate House. More thunder boomed, seemingly shaking the building.

And then Percy reached for Kate’s hand and in an instant, they were back in the infirmary.

She slumped to the floor, in shock, “What was that?”

“Oh, just my ongoing quarrel with Octavius.”

“No, the magical teleporting across the city thing.”

“Oh, vapor travel.” The demigod rubbed his neck in what seemed like… embarrassment?

“Oh.”

The doctor remained at her daughter’s bedside, face grim, “Percy, it's Gorgon blood.”

Percy stood confused, “Wait why am I here? Do you need me to fight to Gorgon? I thought it was Annabeth or Nico injured, who is this? What do you want me to do with Gorgon's blood?”

“Percy, we don’t have time,” the doctor's eyes slid to Kate’s (did he seem nervous for some reason?), “Nico told me about Tartarus – about Akhlys.”

Instantly, Percy’s whole demeanor changed, he pulled a ballpoint pen out of his pocket and began twirling it. Riptide.

“I don’t do blood bending, I promised not to Will. Isn’t there some other way?”

“No.”

Percy looked far away, his face turning ashen.

Kate’s stomach dropped, could the son of Poseidon do such a thing?

She had heard the stories, things she would normally never believe, just legends that had spiraled out of control.

Blood bending was not right, monstrous.

But this was Julia.

If there was ever a chance for a hero to live up to his legend, it would be now.

“Please, Perseus.” Kate reached out, “Please, you must try to save my daughter.”

It seemed to break the man out of his stupor, and he knelt by her side, “Of course, of course I will.”

Percy placed his hands on Julia’s wound, his face turning grim, “It's gone far, Will. Nearing her heart.”

“Can you help?”

“Yes.”

Percy took control of the poison in Julia’s bloodstream and began to painstakingly move it towards the wound entrance. As sweat began to drip down his forehead, Will rushed away only to come back with a golden drink, “Take some nectar.”

It seemed to be what the demigod needed because the poison moved much faster afterward until it floated seemingly harmless in the air. Had this liquid truly left her daughter on the brink of death?

After moving it to an awaiting vial, Percy immediately stood and stumbled away from the bedside, out of sight. The doctor took his place and set his hand on Kate’s shoulder, “She’ll be fine, Ma’am. The wound isn’t too deep, although it will scar but… I’m sorry we had to do it this way. There is no cure for gorgon blood.”

~

She looked so small in that hospital bed, so helpless, but Kate knew she was alive. The doctor had deemed her stable. She could feel her heart beating as she held her small wrist.

Blood-bending.

She imagined what she would have thought of the man had she heard the rumor on the street, probably disgusted and afraid. Enough Romans already feared Neptune and his offspring, as they often turned monstrous in ancient myth. She would have been no different.

She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Julia, but she heard Percy Jackson in the bathroom, vomiting up whatever he had eaten that day.

She heard his sobs to Will, “She… she looked just like Estelle, lying there on the bed. What have I done?”

How many rumors of the heroic demigod's actions turned nightmarish? Did they only encompass what he hated most about himself?

At that moment, Kate decided to never tell a soul about what happened to her daughter.