Chapter Text
I had been hunting the Minotaur for days now on my own and had left the hunt behind because this was too dangerous for them. For some reason the beast was moving very fast, we had gone all the way to Montauk Beach.
I had my own ideas about why we were here because the beast never really moved this fast. It was hunting something! And by now I could smell it. Even though we were on the beach there was a small but powerful aura nearby. One that belonged here. On the beach, near the water. A son of Poseidon! He broke his oath? Zeus will be very angry! But he is just a child, Zeus wouldn't harm him. Would he!
Then again, I had heard rumours…about… Maria Di Angelo.
I cleared the tree line and saw the beast. Not wanting to pull the fight out more than needed I embedded five arrows in his head and he exploded into dust. I rushed over to where he had been facing to see whether there were any spoils. But instead I found a woman. Half of her body crushed. Large cuts from the monsters axe covering her body. She was dying. Beyond even my brothers help.
She had a child; no less than a year old all of a sudden he sat up on his own and lifted is hands up. I wondered what he was doing until he threw a wall of water at me that made me hit the deck. I heard a whoosh and a thud as the water connected with something that had been behind me.
I tuned and saw a hellhound's crushed body on the floor and was dumbfounded at the child's power to say the least, but then I remembered his mother and turned towards her as she whispered
"L-L-Lady Artemis, P-Please keep my son safe. I know he is male, but he is only a child. Help him p-please. Raise him to be kind and honourable and not the stereotype you despise, P-please! It's his first birthday today" I was touched by her words somehow and looked over at the child sleeping in the sand.
For some unknown reason I had felt empty lately like I needed someone else in my life. At first I thought it meant a lover. But now I know the fates had led me to this child. I picked the little boy up and put him on my hip which felt natural as he clung onto my top for safety and nuzzled my neck trying to get comfy to sleep again.
"I Lady Artemis, Goddess of Childbirth the Hunt and the Moon hereby swear to raise your child as my own on the River Styx." And with one last smile she heaved a sigh and Sally Jackson, as her name-tag on her work uniform said, was no more.
I looked at the baby and noticed he was wearing a snap-suit with dolphins and fish on them and in the back of his neck it said in red 'Perseus' I had never liked that name and decided to change it to just Percy instead.
I chose to take a walk with the child to by supplies for him. Gods always had an unlimited supply of money so it was no problem to buy all the things I would need for Percy. When I was done I checked out and took the trolley to the back of the shop. I flashed it away to my tent in my camp where the huntresses were right now before looking back at the boy still on my hip and seeing him clutching something is his hand. I pried his tiny hand open and took the dolphin toy from his vice like grip. It had an inscription on it that read
'When the darkness comes at night my dear
Know the sun will come again
it's never dark for too long my love,
Happiness always wins in the end'
It was a wooden dolphin and the boy seemed to like it very much as he was reaching up and trying to grab it. I gave it back to him and flashed back to my tent. This startled the child and I knew flashing wasn't very smooth for demigods and the child started to cry.
I put him on my lap and bounced him up and down cooing to him until he stopped crying but it was too late and my two oldest hunters had woken up and curiously come to see what was making the screeching sound.
"Milady. What is that?" asked Phoebe a child of Ares and excellently skilled fighter she said the phrase with disgust as all of my huntresses hated males.
"I found him on the beach with his dying mother. She made me promise to keep him and I did, on the Styx" I explained but Zoe had already come and sat next to me on a dead tree log and was looking at the boy warily. Trying to decide if he was acceptable or not.
"But he is a male child milady!" she said looking between me and the child curiously.
"And a very powerful child at that. Baby Percy here killed a hellhound on his own using the power of the sea. He is a child of Poseidon and that untrustworthy idiot broke his oath and left his child and lover defenceless on the beach against the Minotaur! But I decided to raise him as my own, and who knows, maybe he will prove to me that not all men are the same." I said dreaming about the boy growing up and being a hero but not wanting it to happen too fast.
"Milady? Can I take him to show our sisters please?" Zoe asked quite gleeful at the chance of having a baby brother. I think the fact that he couldn't talk or do anything to hurt and disrespect them made him more acceptable even if he was male. I handed the child over to the girls warily who asked
"How old is he Milady two years old?" they guessed and I couldn't blame them for being wrong because he was quite well developed for his age and already mumbling words that sounded close to English but not nearly there yet
"It is his first birthday today girls. The 27 of July!" I told them to which made their jaws nearly hit the floor and I laughed at their expressions. Zoe turned the boy to face her as Phoebe sat on the log next to her and told him
"Hi baby Percy; we are your new family now. My name is Z-o-e" she pronounce her name slowly putting a hand on her chest to show the boy it was her and the pointed to Phoebe and said slowly
"This is Ph-o-e-b-e" the boy looked at them both wide eyed and curious before opening his mouth and yelling as he threw his little chubby arms up towards their necks opening and closing his palms as though hoping to grasp something which made Zoe lift him up onto her hip. "Zee-Zee, Phe-phe" I smiled and dismissed them as they hurried off to show the hunt their new little, and very cute, member.
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All in all the huntresses took to the child like wildfire. They didn't mind changing him when I asked them if they could take some shifts because taking care of a small child, especially a demigod child, was tiring. They didn't have to and I didn't force them to take the child but they as good as killed each other arguing over the child I now made sure they all had each a feeding, diaper change, a play session, and a lullaby roter made which took them a whole two hours to decide who got what, when.
I was almost always with the boy apart when I went hunting with the girls. Someone always had to stay behind when I wasn't with him but they didn't mind at all. All of the girls loved giving him a bottle now even more than before because Percy manipulated the milk to form images of things he had seen, in the milk! He once showed Zoe fighting a Cyclops and made Phoebe drop the bottle because this was the first time he'd done it, but after that they all fought over who fed him and I thought it was funny to watch them squabble over this little child who seemed to control all of our lives now.
The only troubles we ever had with the child were
1) If he saw any of the girls fighting each other or having a disagreement that got too heated he would start yelling and screaming until they both turned their attention to him which resolved the problem immediately. This wasn't so much a problem as a nuisance but my heart raced each time I heard him cry. The other problem;
2) was that when we bathed him he wouldn't let himself get wet and nearly killed me the first time I tried cleaning the child by submerging himself in the cold lake water and disappearing only to crawl out again at the other side sit in the mud staring at me as if I was the strange one. This wasn't the only bath time problem we had. If he didn't want a bath he would simply make the water go away or form an air bubble around him, and even once I saw him manipulate the water to splash Zoe in the face when she tried to wash him.
All of the girls enjoyed taking care of the little demigod and hunting within our group stopped for a while. They fed him alternately but Zoe and Phoebe somehow turned out to have the majority of the tasks. Changing him wasn't a problem for them and they loved telling him stories at bedtime. He would lie down on their lap as he was quite small for his age though well developed. He would remain perfectly silent and listen to their stories of the hunt over the years.
He also loved it when Zoe and Phoebe sang to him. They did it together whenever their schedule with Percy collided and the child woke up crying.
He was a very bright child and as a year passed which had Percy at 2 years of age, he could sing the alphabet and count to fifty as well as talk as good as any 4 year old I've seen. He was developing very fast.
One night when the girls had gone hunting and I was alone with the boy exactly a year after I first found him on his birthday, we were by the fire together as I was feeding him his bottle for the night when Hestia came out and I freaked.
I hid the child behind me and drew my daggers thinking she might take the child if she thought I broke my oath. She pulled her hands up in surrender and said in a calm voice
"Now Artemis you know I am a peaceful goddess and mean neither you nor the boy any harm." I relaxed and put my knifes away but still held the boy close.
"What do you want?" I said in a deadly serious tone.
"Nothing more than to meet the boy and give him my blessing in due time. I have seen how you are with him, you are a great mother and I wish to help. I want to be a part of this boy's life Artemis. No I will not reveal your secret to anyone before you do ok?" she promised and I knew she was right. After all if I couldn't trust her there was literally no one left.
"I noticed you haven't let Apollo near you since the boy came into your life. Why?" she asked in a curious tone.
"He has many children of his own and cares little or none for any, why should he be allowed near my son?" I questioned, thinking about it, he was my brother and I could trust him with my life even if he was childish.
My huntresses didn't like him but I know he'd like Percy. I would speak to him tonight!
"Good I can see you changed your mind about your brother, and I trust you will let me babysit once in a while. Please?" she begged with those big brown eyes and I broke. I wonder how she knew about me wanting to talk to Apollo. "Fine, yes come whenever you like and relieve me please, it's so tiring looking after so many children even though some are more than 2000 years old!" I slumped in my chair by the fire and pulled my son back onto my lap.
I picked the warm bottle of milk back up for him to drink and he took to it with great enthusiasm, he loved milk very much but was still quite small even though he was developing faster than most.
The flames made his Sea green eyes sparkle and his messy black hair was in need of a haircut. I ran my hand through his hair absentmindedly until Hestia held her hand out and asked for the boy.
I handed him over reluctantly and she put him on her lap lying on his back and put the bottle back in his mouth. We continued to talk about the boy until I mentioned the girls loved hearing him laugh and tickled him often, this put a gleam in her eyes as she laid the boy back down and tickled him.
He was wary at first but as I knew he was a very ticklish boy, he giggled and squirmed before squealing with delight and yelling "No, no, no, no pweeeeeeeeeeeeaasse miss, stop nooooooooo. Hahahahah!" he laughed and looked up when Hestia stopped. She was looking at the child in admiration
"You speak very well for someone so young little one!" she praise him and he smiled before answering
"My sissy's hewp me to learn how to speak pwoply" he bragged and she put him down asking
"I heard you cause a lot of trouble at bath time my dear is that true?" she smiled at him but he squirmed away from her gaze embarrassed of her knowledge of this and asked
"How'd you know?" he looked at her a little scared now like he was going to be punished. He never was punished by anyone, just threatened with no more bed time stories which he loved.
The girls always told him about their hunts over the years or the Greek myths and he couldn't get enough. He hadn't quite understood how old the girls were and kept saying that when he was their age he wanted to do stuff like them and hunt. But I don't think he will be granted immortality. Purely because of his bloodline as a son of a broken oath.
"My boy I am Hestia god of the hearth and home which means I can control fire but I also see everything!" she said as though it was magic.
"Wike mommy? Coz she aweys knows wat I been doin!" he said which made Hestia laugh and he blushed.
"Yes my little one, quite like that!" she answered at him smiling. My huntresses came back after an hour or so and they were all very tired and lugging several dear. Zoe though looked very excited and I was about to ask why when she called
"Percy? Come here. I have a present for you!" the two year old nearly exploded with excitement and ran over to his sister a little shakily as he was only two and sat down by her feet looking up at her until she crouched down and produced a necklace with something white on it that I couldn't see
"It's a bear tooth Perce! We fought the bear and I saved this for you!" she said as she dropped the necklace onto the boy's neck. He beamed up at her and exclaimed
"Bear toof!" looking at his sister in wonder for fighting such a 'dangerous' animal. Hestia flashed away before the girls saw her but I let the goddess talk to my son whenever she wanted to after that which was at least twice every month.
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Monster attacks were more frequent by the time my son was three. He seemed to be attracting them with his strong scent as a very powerful Demigod. But it wasn't anything my huntresses couldn't handle. Until that is, the worst day of my life with my son, after two years with him.
I had taken a nap to revive myself and left the girls with Percy. They were in the middle of playing games with him when there had been a monster attack; Percy wanted to help but was put in his cot by the fire which was where Hestia could see him. But she wasn't watching because she had a meeting with Hades.
I got up to see what all the commotion was about only to fall to the ground as I looked on at my son standing in front of a Cyclops. He was standing protectively over one of his fallen sisters but still looked terrified.
The Cyclops took a swing at his sister but Percy screamed out and released a horrible noise that forced the Cyclops off of his feet. It was then crushed under a tidal wave that came from a nearby river which caused Percy to fall and hit his head on a rock crumpling to the ground unconscious after losing all of his energy summoning so much water.
I surveyed the area quickly and saw that there were no monsters left. I ran to my son and picked him up just as all of the other girls tended to each other's wounds. Percy woke up crying about one of his sisters that had fallen thinking she was dead, she had been revived and now walked up to the both of us holding her arms up to the little child in my arms to show she was fine.
He had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding and he was still crying into my shoulder as he was sitting on my hip. I had never seen such a powerful demigod. At the age of three he had defeated a hellhound and Cyclops and has powers to rival other fully grown children of the gods.
"Whewe are Zee-zee and Phe-phe Mommy. Are dey okay?" asked the frightened child.
"They are fine Percy see" and I turned myself around so he could lift his head and see his sisters were fine. He wriggled in my arms which signalled he wanted to be put down and ran over to them both hugging them by the knees as he was still small with such force they both fell backwards as their legs gave in and laughed at the baby boy now on their stomachs bouncing happy just because they were alive. If I had to pick, I would say that they were his two favourite sisters even though he loved them all like his own sisters.
Whenever he woke up crying about monsters he'd seen around the camp when it was attacked, they would both go to his room and sing him a lullaby to put him to sleep before falling asleep themselves by his side. I had found it quite cute and funny, this happened quite often but not always did both of them react to his cry.
One night when I was awake just listening to the wildlife I heard Zoe crying and mumbling in her sleep. I got up to go and see what was wrong but to my surprise, as I reached the flap of my tent I saw my son was running to Phoebe's tent who came out after a second, and was then pulled to Zoe's tent, after they managed to make her stop crying I heard them both singing to her which was making her laugh.
They didn't come out of the tent until breakfast the next morning. It turns out my son has quite a nice voice and Apollo had tried to get him interested in poetry after I had told him about my son but he was having none of it. I was delighted at how my son was turning out at just the age of three!
My son's favourite way to go anywhere was in the sun chariot and he loved the thrill of going so fast. My girls didn't like Apollo before Percy came into the hunt as he was arrogant and always tried to flirt with them. But he couldn't do this around Percy and the two got up to mischief together like wildfire, not sure if this worries me yet?
I was jolted back to the present when Ares of all people appeared.
"Artemis! You have broken your scared oath?" he questioned looking at Percy with a fierce gaze that made the three year old burst into tears at the 'scary mans' horrible face and he curled up next to his sisters on the floor who stood over him protectively before Zoe hoisted him up onto her hips and replied
"Artemis did no such thing Ares don't jump to such conclusions. This child was born to a mortal and is son of Poseidon but he abandoned him and we do not care for the god any longer. He was on a beach when his mother was killed. Feet away from the sea and the lazy Sea king did nothing! He is every bit as worthless as any man we have ever met!" this seemed to impress Ares, a girl, standing up to him!
Nevertheless he turned to me
"I have been watching your child throughout this fight but do not worry I have not told a single soul. All I wish is to give this child my blessing." He asked in a civil tone I never suspected possible of the war god.
At this Percy quietened down and stopped crying, he looked up at the god and asked
"Wat's a belsing Sir" we all chuckled at the child's pronunciation but Ares spoke and sank to my sons eye level crouching down and explained
"When a god gives someone their blessing my child, it means you inherit a little part of that god's power. So if you had my blessing you would be able to wield any weapon and be very skilled when it comes to a fight. Though I hear you are already quite deadly with a sword called riptide!" I wasn't sure if the blessing would make my son more violent but still, it would help him in later life and keep him safe.
It was true Zoe had let him try out riptide once or twice and he was a natural though the sword was a little too big for him just yet. And to be honest he did already have Hestia's blessing and could create small flames in the palm of his hand and could summon a sandwich here and there.
"Wike when Auntie Hestia gived me her powers. I makes littwl fires now, do you wike sandwiches?" he asked the god wriggling now to make Zoe drop him and beaming as he walked up to the enormous god. He sat down in front of Ares and opened both palms up in front of the god
"Yes I think I could go for a tuna sandwich right now" I smiled knowing my sons reaction at the gods request.
He shut his palms tight and gasped
"I won't let you eat fishies! Dey can talk you know. Only to me though. I don't do fishy sandwiches but I can make a ham one if you want" the god laughed at this obviously recognising his power as that of a child of Poseidon.
The child smiled when the god nodded and opened both his palms summoning two ham sandwiches on white bread with no crust.
"Just the way I like them" the god laughed and Percy beamed as it was his favourite too and they both bit down into their 'home cooked' sandwich. I was amazed at the effect my son had on the normally violent cocky war god. My son peered up at me curiously and asked pleadingly
"Mommy can I pweese let unca Ares give me his belsing" I corrected his last word and he tested it out on his tongue "B-l-e-s-s-i-n-g" he said and looked proud when he finished. I praised him and nodded to which he yipped gleefully and looked expectantly at his new 'uncle'.
Ares finished his sandwich and brushed his hands together to get rid of crumbs he lifted himself off of the ground but then realised he was dealing with a three year old and knelt down with one knee on the floor and picked Percy up and put him on it. Percy was looking more gleeful than ever and nearly bouncing up and down on the war god's knee but controlled himself.
Ares started chanting in ancient Greek and placed his hands on Percy's shoulders. He started glowing red with Ares blessing that I had only seen once before. When he finished chanting Percy fainted but was held steady thanks to Ares.
Zoe and Phoebe rushed forwards to take him to the medical tent and called my brother to revive him. Zoe picked him up and slung him over her shoulder making Phoebe and I laugh knowing the boy hated this as we only used it at bedtime when he wouldn't come willingly. It was easy because he was small and quite scrawny for a child. Would being around so many Gods affect my son?
"Thank you Ares I've never seen that side of you before. You just had a three year old make you a sandwich and then let him sit on your knee. I'm impressed. And I thank you for helping keep my son safe by giving him your blessing." I told the god in gratitude who smiled at me and replied
"Ah it's nothing Arty really all I want to do is watch and help the boy he is very powerful and I am sure he will be a true hero being raised here by you." I smiled warmly at him which seemed to shock the God and he flashed out.
I headed back to the medical tent glad to see not many of my huntresses in there. We had stopped in a park near New York and it was nearing summer break so it was a relief when the harsh heat of Apollo was taken over by my Moon to sooth the mortals from overheating.
"Hey little sis how you doing?" asked my brother and I growled at him
"I'm not your little sister so call me that one more time and I'll castrate you" I warned with a death glare that was returned by him rolling his eyes at me. I pouted that my stare which could make Zeus quiver didn't work on the most annoying god of them all, my own brother.
"When will he wake up?" I asked him curious that he hadn't woken straight away but then again Ares blessing was quite powerful
"Hmm, well if all is normal he should wake up tomorrow morning if you feed him a bit of ambrosia."
"What do you mean normal? What's wrong with him?" I growled at him glad to see the look of fear in his eyes
"No not like that Arty I just meant if you let me give him my blessing it might… take a bit longer!" he announce shrinking back up against a wall. I considered for a moment and thought that it would make him better with a bow and arrow even with Ares' blessing as I heard that all Poseidon's children are useless with a bow. But my child would have to learn
"Fine but do not kill him with too much power" I warned and saw him slacken with a confused look on his face that I hadn't pummelled him into oblivion like I normally would. I left to go to my tent and rest as it was getting dark. I lay down on my bed and went to sleep.
ZOE'S POV
My little brother was lying on a hospital bed unconscious and looking very pale, and if Apollo was right which annoyingly he almost always was when it came to medical stuff, he wouldn't wake up till tomorrow. He had given my baby brother his blessing and the little 3 year old paled more at this. I spoon fed him ambrosia bit by bit and the colour came back a little.
Phoebe was in here with me and we were talking about the past two years with the boy.
"Hahahahah yeah that was funny. But remember when he refused to come out of the lake for bedtime. We just left him there in the dark and told him he wouldn't have bedtime stories for a week. I don't think I've ever seen him move that fast!" we were both laughing and I did remember that we had lots of fond memories of our little brother already and he was only three!
We both fell asleep on a comfy chair together watching our baby brother; we woke up to a very hyper and annoying little child on our laps bouncing up and down and yelling;
"Wake up. Wake up! I can make light now!" he exclaimed and opened his palm to reveal a light coming out of his palm that made it look like he had a torch built into him or something.
"Very cool" we both said at once to appease the child and he got off of us bouncing on the floor. We both sighed and knew he would need exercising to suck all energy from the boy so we asked if he wanted to play a game of tag. He jumped up and down gleefully and squealed
"Yes, Yes please sissy's" we ran out of the tent and he followed. He was very steady on his feet by now and ran after us though still quite slow. We laughed and danced around his outstretched arms keeping him running knowing he could go for quite some time.
Our only mistake was when we got too near the stream we were currently living by. He sat down and closed his eyes concentrating hard before a harness made of water was clipped around both of our waists and he got up asking
"Which one shall be it" he said the word as if it were the end of the world which mad Phoebe laugh and turn his attention to her. She suddenly quietened down and looked mock fearful. He tapped her and yelled
"YOU'RE IT" before grabbing my hand and running. He dashed along the surface of the water while I leaped over the little stream, but I noticed using his powers was having the effect we needed on him and he was still tiring out so all was well. We headed back to camp keeping the game up until he could no more and he was completely drained by the time we got there.
Phoebe caught up with us after a minute or so and we all went to make breakfast. When we had caught breakfast which was elk and 2 rabbits, we cooked it and plated up, 18 servings in total which was 16 huntresses plus Artemis and Percy which was a rather small portion because he was so little.
He was quite scrawny but not as weak as he looked. I turned my back on him for two minutes and when I looked again I saw him flashing into his mother's tent with two plates of food.
I smiled at the thoughtful, kind little brother, I had and called the girls to wake up and they all came out of their own tents grumbling stuff about 'harsh early wake ups' or 'Mmmmmhhh food' they were not morning people but I had grown to be a morning person over the past two years and needed to be with that little bundle of energy that was our little brother running around like a goat on Kool-Aid.
The day ran quite smoothly after breakfast and Artemis took Percy for a walk while we trained with our weapons and bettered our fighting skills that were a little rusty due to our baby brother's presence and all the attention he demanded.
We had just finished clearing up when we saw Percy streak but naked and covered in mud across the clearing our camp was currently in and dive into the clear cool lake in the sunset; he sunk most of his body under the water and only kept his eyes above water level. We all knew he could breathe under water out of our experience with every single bath time we had ever been a part of and all of the open expanses of water that were nearby wherever we stayed which were hiding Percy 50% of the time we played hide and seek for like 3 hours until he came out beaming and yelling
"I Win! I win!" to which Lady Artemis nearly choked him for worrying her, but there was nothing we could do to get him out as he couldn't hear our empty threats and was to fast in the water to catch.
"Sorry about that girls, he escaped when I attempted to bath him!" she explained and Phoebe and I got up from where we were chatting and went to go and help the boy get clean.
"Come on trouble we need you clean and ready for bed in 20 minutes so we can have story time before bed, and if you're good we might be able to sneak a bottle past Mom!" Phoebe whispered the last bit and I smiled at her. She had changed since we had the boy. Just as Ares had, she had let go of her cold exterior shell and was nice to be around after we found the boy.
We were meant to be weaning Percy off of milk but he loved it so much it was hard to deny those puppy dog eyes, even for a huntress! We gave him his bottle every three nights as a treat but he didn't notice the pattern and thought it was just because he was good.
He beamed when he realised that tonight was bottle night and splashed about in the water rubbing his body clumsily trying to rid himself of mud.
"Come her Perce I'll help you get clean fast yeah?" I offered and he swam closer making sure not to splash me just in case his 'reward' wasn't granted. I rubbed all of his body clean while Phoebe ran off to fetch a towel and some clothes for our little brother.
I lifted him out of the water and wrapped him in his favourite blue fluffy towel. Rubbing him dry all over, even though he could will himself dry sometimes, he still liked the feel of a nice soft towel, especially this particular blue one which happened to have fishes on it which Percy adored.
I held him up to Phoebe who dressed him in pyjamas as he was potty trained now and didn't need diapers anymore. He had been extremely easy to potty train. It only took a week and he was off nappies completely. When he was dressed in his PJs we sent him off to say goodnight to all his sisters and he ran away towards the campfire to sing a song before we took him and put him to bed. But not before story time or there would be chaos, as we knew from experience.
FLASHBACK
One night nearly a year ago Phoebe and I had said we didn't have any stories of our hunt left and he threw a hissy fit like no other. He ran out towards the forest and created a small hurricane around himself. He was gone for 10 minutes before we found Lady Artemis and told her about the boy having sent two huntresses into the woods to find him already.
Lady Artemis ran after him and came back with the shattered boy over her shoulder sound asleep.
We asked her how the heck she'd done it and she told us that we might want to review our Greek myths and tell him those otherwise there would be tantrums every night. We laughed at this and took the boy off of his mother to put him to bed.
When he got in bed he woke up and asked for his bottle very quietly which was still on his nightstand next to his tiny bed. We gave it to him smiling and he said he was sorry if he scared us and we assured him we were OK holding our arms up to show him we weren't hurt. He smiled at us and closed his eyes dropping the bottle and fell asleep.
OVER
Tonight we told him the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece. He adored this story and couldn't believe a sheep's wool had the power to heal so much damage.
We gave him his bottle and lay him down on his bed. I sat by his side and stroked his unruly black hair while Phoebe started the story and I took over from time to time. We obviously didn't tell him the part about Medea killing their children and left most parts of the myths like that out.
He was asleep within minutes and we sighed in relief heading back out to our sisters and Artemis.
We were woken up by our wolves howling. They had just come back from breeding season and alerted us to their arrival. We all rushed out to greet the wolves as we were very close to them and Percy came running out screaming.
"Lunar?" this was the pup that Percy had gotten from Artemis for his third birthday and he loved the cub dearly. She was pure white with green eyes just like Percy and made a deep rumbling growl in her throat almost like purring except she wasn't a cat and nuzzled Percy playfully.
Percy shoved the young wolf playfully and ran off as fast as his little legs would carry him as the beast chased after him barking with joy at being re-united with her long lost master. Percy had trained her to play tag and it was their favourite game.
They could play for hours and we let them, hoping they would tire out and quieten down quite soon so we could continue planning Zoe's birthday presents. Her birthday was in a week, she would be 2100 and we didn't want Percy to hear what was happening because he was a very chatty boy so we decided to let him play.
We knew that he had been spending a lot of time with a piece of wood and a little pocket knife but was always guarded closely with it even though he wouldn't let us close to what he was making. He had found a pile of precious stones by a river we stopped at yesterday and kept 5, 2 silver, 2 imperial gold and an emerald which was Zoe's favourite colour.
He had spent some time alone by the fire as well but we let him do it knowing he couldn't be burned after Hestia gave him her blessing nearly 6 months ago.
So far she was getting a new bow from Artemis, a set of green clothes from the other hunters along with emerald earrings and a necklace, I was getting her a new dress, headband and iPod for her beloved Demi Lovato songs along with a £50 voucher as I have been saving up for a whole year because we only celebrate ten year birthdays in the hunt unless of course it's Percy!
I still had yet to weasel information out of the little tyke about what he was making for Zoe but he had hidden it well along with tweezers, pliers a crafts book a chain mould and all of his pocket money which consisted of £60 which for a three year old was more than most 13 year olds had right now.
Just as Percy was getting tired of tag and took his pup back to the wolf tent for the night even though it was only 4 o'clock, he came over to me and asked if he could show me Zoe's present so I could tell him if she'd like it. I was utterly surprise at how easy the task at hand had just become.
I got up from our meeting about Zoe who was still off on a walk and went with the boy to a nearby tree which turned out to be hollow and stored all of the things we had lost over the week and suspected he took.
We were right and I scowled at the boy but it vanished when he looked up at me with a beam on his face that was slightly guilty as he said
"Sowwy Phe-Phe but I had to; I wanted Zee-Zee to have a good pwesent so I made it see!"
Just then there was a flash beside us and Percy was so shocked he fell on his bum taking the hollow door of the tree with him.
He was looking straight up at the pair who had just arrived. I recognized them as Lords Hephaestus and Hermes. Gods of forgery and thieves/travellers among other things. Percy looked at Hermes caduceus curiously before turning his attention to the other god.
At this my little brother got up and ran to me jumping up at the last second and I caught him as usual, swinging him up onto my hip and bouncing him to make him feel safe. I laughed at his reaction to the huge god and he whimpered, burying his head in my neck only peeping at the gods from time to time.
I couldn't blame him for being scared! Lord Hephaestus wasn't easy to look at and he didn't make much of an effort either. I bowed to them still holding Percy and asked
"Why are you here?" I admit it was quite blunt and disrespectful but I was not letting go of the child and they wouldn't take him away from me.
"Relax girl we don't want to harm the child at all in fact quite the opposite. But we are curious as to how he came to exist?" Hermes told me and I explained
"He is a demigod of Poseidon but was abandoned by his father and his mother was killed inches from the ocean and so was Percy nearly. Artemis found him and took him in for unknown reasons that I'm glad for. And if he 'smells' off to you he already has the blasting a of three gods already, who are Apollo, Hestia and Ares" the gods nodded and looked at each other before turning to me and asking
"Would you help us to convince Artemis to let us give the child his blessing?" At this Percy stopped hiding and looked back at the gods with new found courage and asked
"Are you going make me sweep for a day wike unca Ares did?" He said warily eyeing the gods making me chuckle.
"Uhm, it is quite possible young one yes. But don't worry my child, you will wake up in the morning and be better than ever" I was stunned at the way the great god of forges was talking to the child and looked at him curiously making him explain.
"Child I'm not completely antisocial. Small children quite delight me in fact, I think they're quite … funny!" he said chuckling making Percy look at him oddly but he seemed to become more comfortable.
"Why do you want to give him this blessing may I ask?" I was curious why so many gods were taking an interest in the boy yet Zeus and Poseidon still didn't know where he was.
"Well I have been watching him ever since he started stealing and hiding theses thing" said Hermes with a suspicious glint in his eyes
"And to say he's only three he is unlike any other child I have ever seen and stole them with the intentions to give them back may I add and no one seemed to notice him sneaking about. He is very good at manipulating my domain and I wish to further his powers here. Also a certain… prophecy…. Very important!" he saw my worried face as I held the boy closer but re-assured me by saying
"It won't happen for a long, long time my dear and Hephaestus has the same reasons that you would understand if you went to look at the charm the boy made! Amazing!" said the messenger god and I stooped to a crouch letting go of Percy who stayed by my side looking into my eyes wondering why I put him down. I smiled warmly and the worry vanished from his face. I took wonder in how he trusted me so much!
"Can you show me Zoe's special present now Water Baby?" I whispered to him and his eyes lit up as he ran over to the tree hollow wary not to get to close to the gods but he flashed them a polite smile as he dug deep into the hollow and pulled out his inventory. Hermes waved his hand over the equipment that had been stolen and safely returned it.
He took a small charm on a chain of silver and dropped it into my hand studying my expression eager to please as usual. It was a wooden heart perfectly carved with a tiny silver bow within a hollow bit of the carving. A tiny impossibly small arrow had been placed their and a jewel of emerald had been set in the back of it. I was gob smacked to say the least.
The gods left us to go and speak with Artemis I guessed and I just sat down in the long grass pulling Percy with me onto my lap and interrogated him on how he'd done it. He explained that he just knew what to do and couldn't really remember how he'd done it, so after he finished I picked the boy back up giving him Zoe's present back so he could hide it and strolled back towards camp with the boy on my hip where he rested his head on my shoulder, tired after playing with his pup almost all day long.
We found his Mom by the fire and sat down on logs facing her.
She saw the gods and immediately took Percy off of me holding him close to her chest. She looked very fearful and probably suspected Hermes was here to take Percy away but couldn't quite figure out how Hephaestus fit into the whole thing.
I smiled reassuringly at her and her expression softened slightly.
"Hello Hermes, Hephaestus. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I almost laughed at her choice of words as they were obviously so false.
The other gods were obviously trying to find a way to explain why they were there so I decided to help as they were taking rather long to explain which would only make Artemis more suspicious.
"Well Artemis, you know how Percy's been very sneaky lately and we suspected he stole quite a few things but couldn't pin any of them on him. It turns out he made Zoe a charm to put on a necklace and a beautiful one it is too! I have no idea how he did it but as he has been using Hermes and Hephaestus' domains they were able to see him and were absolutely amazed at his craftsmanship or in Hermes case thievery. They came to ask if they could bless the boy as he is obviously gifted within their domains and they wish to help him with certain… things!" I had heard there was a new prophecy which belonged to one of the big three and I guessed this was one of the reasons so many gods were taking an interest in Percy.
Though Poseidon never got the chance to detect the boy's presence as he was never allowed near the sea just in case
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It was Percy's first hunt without me and though he wasn't alone I was still nervous. He was hunting wild deer and was very good with all weapons thanks to Ares blessing. He was also very stealthy thanks to a blessing had gotten recently from the god of thieves.
Though I wasn't technically meant to accompany him due to his pride and the fact he wanted to do this independently I wanted to watch my son kill his first deer on his own. He crept on the floor silently and notched an arrow with ease in silence. He stood up slowly but not shaking.
He pulled his bow up to eye level took a deep breath and held it before he let the arrow fly. It soared through the air and hit a buck straight through the head and it crumpled to the floor.
I turned into a sparrow and flew into the next tree proud of my son for being the perfect hunter. The girls cheered him and walked over to the buck ruffling Percy's hair affectionately as they passed to which he protested loudly and pushed them off which made them laugh at him.
He pulled a length of rope out of his pocket and bent down to the buck tying all four legs together. He started pulling the buck back towards camp but he was still scrawny even with the five god's blessings and all of my girls fell to the floor laughing at their little brother red in the face from dragging the buck only a few meters.
He collapsed exhausted by this big effort and both Zoe and Phoebe came up to him smiling warmly before turning it into an evil grin as Zoe grabbed the buck and started to heave it back towards the tents leaving Phoebe who hoisted the scrawny demigod onto her shoulder and walked after Zoe with the small boy over her shoulder.
My son protested loudly at this though still not being able to stand up properly as he was exhausted and hammered Phoebes back yelling at her to let him down. All 6 of them headed back to camp and I flew ahead to meet them and give them no reason to suspect I had been watching. They returned and Phoebe set the boy down who was sulking at still being treated like a child. Which he was. I laughed and praise him on his kill
"That's a very big one Percy well done. And a buck at that you chose well my dear" I told him while ruffling his hair
"Mooooom" he whined and we all laughed at his embarrassment. That night we ate the buck and everyone thanked Percy making him smile.
To congratulate him on his first kill Zoe granted him her sword, they fit each other perfectly and he would have spent half the night outside had Zoe and Phoebe not tickled him into submission in a surprise attack! We all watched as they carried the young boy off to his bed who was protesting loudly. I loved the bond the two had with Percy.
He had made us closer, stronger, and in turn made me stronger as I pulled strength from my domain!
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Percy was Six and a half now and carried the blessing of six gods. He was busy sparring with his sister Zoe who was teaching him new tricks with his sword riptide. She had given the child her sword and told him the story on his sixth birthday when he killed his first buck. He had been trained with weapons by Ares from time to time and was a natural with spear and sword.
He was getting better at bow and arrow every day as he strived to be like his sisters. His powers had also grown immensely for now he could control moderate flames thanks to Hestia as well as summon a small meal for four, though it drained him. He could shadow travel short distances but preferred traveling by water vapour.
He could create small storms when angered enough and manipulate water quite well for his age. He was very stealthy thanks to Hermes blessing and the girls things went missing from time to time only to turn up in odd places like trees or even slipped back into their tent without noticing making them believe they were slightly insane.
He had made the girls each a symbol of a bow and arrow with the tips of the arrows and bows itself being coloured by a different colour jewel for each of my 23 huntresses.
He could also make light and poems easily thanks to my brother who had changed since he discovered Percy. The boy seemed to change everyone around him in a good way. - It was the start of the summer and Ellie and I, one of the younger huntresses were out and about shopping for snacks and stuff. We were in Manhattan and we had seen some cool bow and arrows in a shop window. Some kids came up to us and shoved us to the ground. I was quite small and scrawny for my age but was fast and stronger than I looked.
The boys were mortal and were just out for a fight. So I gave them one. If you could call it a fight really, it wasn't fair, 3 on 2... They needed more as Ellie and I were obviously more skilled than they were in combat.
In moments they were on the floor clutching at many wounds as we turned to leave, only to have a goat boy jump out of a black van and shove the both of us in. Another girl came up to us and snapped her fingers I front of our faces quietly whispering
"Sleep" and panicking I felt myself drifting off.
What was Mom going to do when she found out?
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I woke up in a deck chair next to Ellie who was asleep so I shook her awake. We were on a porch next to the beach which scared me quite a bit being so close to my father's domain Her eyes widened as we realized where we were and that's when a man in a wheelchair came up to us.
"My boy you have woken up! This is camp half-blood, home to all children of the gods. My dear do you know what you are?" I gathered this was the teacher of heroes I had heard quite a lot about and bowed low saying
"Master Chiron, I know I am a demigod but I already have a home and we were kidnapped by a satyr and a blonde girl and forced here I know where to go and I need to get back so just let me leave please or my Mother will kill me." I warned him but he ignored me.
"I cannot do that my child I have express orders from Zeus himself to keep you hear until you are claimed. So I advise you do as I say lest you want to face the wrath of Zeus!" He explained. Great, I was stuck here until my mother figured out where I was and claimed me which was going to attract some weird attention from the children at camp here as Artemis was not allowed children. Though I'm not technically her biological son!
"I will give you both the tour" he said and stepped out of his wheelchair to expose his full true body which was half horse! Ellie had never been to camp before as she was quite new but still quite a lot older than me. I was nine while she was 17 but looked 13.
We were shown the archery range which we both loved and the battle arena. The dining pavilion was just as Zoe described to me as she had been here quite a lot over the past few centuries. We saw the canoe lake and the beach, the climbing wall and the armoury.
Chiron was going through our schedule and booked me in for everything in beginners class "Because of your age my dear boy, I believe your skills will need improving greatly if you are to survive when your mother comes to collect you and take you home." He told me and I laughed because he seemed to think I had a mortal mother.
It was true my real mother was only mortal but she's gone now and Artemis has been my mother since the age of 1. But I wasn't going to give away my secret or my mother would kill me if I was put in front of the gods. She was very protective!
We were both put in the Hermes cabin and Ellie was not happy at being so close to many other boys.
Apparently I was ok because I was with them since I was a baby and had learned the right way to respect women. We shared a bed which she wasn't very happy with but it was either that or the floor so she agreed to share because I was still quite scrawny for a demigod child.
A 14 year old boy was head counsellor for the Hermes cabin and came up to us giving us toiletries and some clothes he 'borrowed' from storage. We thanked him and by the time we had settled in and greeted all the unclaimed and children of Hermes it was time for dinner. Apparently this was where we were to be claimed.
Ellie didn't tell anyone she was a huntress and didn't have to because she had been wearing casual clothes when we went shopping. She said that she didn't want anyone to be suspicious of why we had been found together.
We reached the dining pavilion and took seats beside each other. The food was very good and as we gave our offering I had a brilliant way to give our location away to mum and as I tipped the biggest sausage into the sizzling flames I whispered
"For Artemis. Help!" and as I did all noise stopped. The lights dimmed and there was a blue glow coming from above my head. I looked up. There was a trident above my head! How dare my father claim me.
I am NO son of his. I only use my water powers when I need them most or if someone is in danger and don't even smell like the ocean anymore because I have the blessings of six gods on me as well as being around my Mom so much I now have silver flecks in my eyes and bits of silver in my hair, though it went quite oddly with my black hair no one seemed to notice.
Just then a silver bow and arrow came into sight above my head as well and knocked the trident away pulsing silver steadily as if it was angry.
I laughed at my mother's anger and protectiveness and everyone looked at me as if I belonged in a mental ward. The moon was also shining brighter which happened when my mother was travelling by flash and I shut my eyes tight knowing she was coming and not wanting to be blinded by the flash.
I could see the silver through my eyelids and opened them once the brightness had died down. I saw my sisters scanning the Hermes table for me and when my two oldest siblings found me I groaned at the thought of being embarrassed in front of all of these demigods by my sisters.
They ran at me and I braced for impact as I was tackled to the floor by two laughing girls older than some minor gods!
"Zee-Zee Phe-Phe I'm ok no need to worry. Just got abducted by a few campers, it was all a big misunderstanding!" I re assured them as I looked at my kidnappers who were gob smacked and not looking at me. I had learnt their names were Annabeth, Luke and Grover.
They had been on a mission to save another stray demigod who was beside me. They both got up and shot a worried look at Mom. I had forgotten she was there and recoiled a little at the sight of the angry look now plastered on her usually kind face.
The goat boy 'Grover' came up to my mother and bowed so low he nearly kissed her shoes mumbling an apology for taking her son. The blonde girl at the Athena table said sorry as well but the Hermes boy, Luke looked at me with curiosity as if I was a prize which didn't go down well with my sisters who both went up to him and kicked him in the manhood making all of the boys in the venue slightly uncomfortable.
Ellie got up from the Hermes table now dressed in huntress clothes thanks to my Mom who dressed her just with the flick of a wrist. All of the boys she passed leaned away realizing who she was and staring at her in awe. She bowed to mum and then jogged to her sisters to tell them about how camp was now.
Chiron stepped out of the crowd with a puzzling look on his face but my mother was faster to talk than he was and explained
"Chiron I know and respect that my father has given you orders to keep my son here. No he is not my biological son before you ask and is a son of my useless uncle instead. He is my son now though and has been since the age of one!" all eyes were on me.
I got scared and stepped closer to Zoe for comfort who threw an arm around me and ruffled my hair which made me groan. I hated it when people did that. I was glad to be back with my family now though. That is until we were interrupted by another blinding flash.
The middle of the dining pavilion was filled with the whole Olympian council including Auntie Hestia who was tending the flames I had made my sacrifice in.
Even Poseidon had shown his face. All demigods bowed along with me and the huntresses to the gods though no one bowed to Poseidon as I turned to Hestia who was my favourite goddess next to my mum.