Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Countless never ending scrolls sprawl across the floors of a library, myths etched into every inch of parchment. On a closer inspection, the myths don't resemble any in this universe. Quills made of owl feathers flit back and forth across the scrolls, all of them surrounding one figure in the middle. Armor fits on them as if it was a second skin, the sliver glinting in the light.

The scrolls nearest to them depict the same image over and over again, a child held in the arms of their mother. Envy drips from —who could only be called divine— the goddess's eyes as they trace the family. The quill in their hand is rapidly scribbling out a list of names.

But for the past 5 iterations, the same name is repeated: Annabeth. Over and over again, until the goddess could practically hear it spill it from her mouth. So Athena —the maiden goddess of wisdom, war, and weaving— curls the letters in her mouth, "Annabeth. Annabeth, my daughter who's forever a shade lost in my mind." A type of haunting empty wanting follows the declaration. The only kind remaining from certain type of cruelty of a goddess with a cursed bloodline to never bear a child without cost.

A restless night grasps at Annabeth, intertwining her within familiar memories. But there was no comfort here, not for her. The feeling of spider webs feeds into the panic building in her chest. A statue of a goddess with cold eyes. Scorching hot air searing her nostrils and liquid fire sliding down her throat. A flash of a cursed blade. A brother: bleeding, dying, and scorned.

She wants to leave. She can't handle this, not again. Isn't living through it once enough? Why must they haunt her? Her mouth is sealed shut yet she pleads, begging for a reprieve she knows will not come. An owl calls in the distance. Annabeth's downwards spiral halts abruptly as the symbol registers. It's low, mournful even, a tone she would never associate her mother with.

Annabeth. She turns to face the voice but there's no one there. Annabeth. Her voice cracks as she speaks, "Mother? Where are you?"

My daughter…lost in… mind. A gray sparkling string appears out of nowhere, dangling enticingly among her nightmares. She seizes it with a near hysterical desperation. Anything to escape the horrors her mind conjured. But it wasn't a goddess's whim to release her daughter from the nightmare plaguing her own mind. No, it was something else entirely. it started looping around her arms and tightening with a single minded goal.

Relief faltered instantly, leaving her with nothing but a need for freedom. She tries to yank her arms out, but the threads just dug in more. Swirling and circling her even as she fights against it. Oh gods, why did she think her mother would ever help her. The sound of a thread going taut rings out as she's cocooned entirely.

Suddenly, she's being stretched. Vertically, horizontally, and gods she doesn't know anymore. Hysterically, she's reminded of Crusty's water beds from her first quest. A whisper flits by, so quick she nearly misses it, "Precious one, don't worry they will treasure you when these other gods have not."

She notes how they think of her as precious, perhaps an opportunity for manipulation, "Stop! Please it hurts, I don't- I don't want this. You're hurting me!" The tightening of the strings immediately lets up, only clinging on loosely around her. It's so abrupt that she doesn't have time to kick them off before something else scoops her up.

"Almost there, just need to make you younger."

A shiver runs down her spine, there's only one Greek being with time as their domain. But how did Kronos gain enough power for this? More importantly, why is he doing this and where is she being taken to? She's about to ask before the feeling of being on the run washes over her. Not just from any time she ran away, but the dim warmth she gets when she thinks back to when her family was only Luke and Thalia.

An echoey giggle resounds all around her, "Not Kronos, little architect. But you were twelve on your first quest? A brutal end to your childhood, but I can give you another in this universe."

Alarm bells ring in her mind as she tries to find the books on myths in her library, but the hazy feeling muffles the terror she knows she feels. Her blinks get longer and longer, no matter how hard she tries to keep them open. Soon, she slips into unconsciousness.

Grass brushes against Annabeth's arms, did she fall asleep in the strawberry fields with Percy again? Gods, she should probably get them back into their cabins before Mr. D finds them. Or worse, her mother. That memory was probably the most horrible one she has if she's being honest. She swings her left arm back, patting around to find her soulmate whose always close behind.

Her brow furrows as she finds to trace of him, then her bleary eyes blink open to try and see him. Nothing. More importantly, she doesn't recognize where she is at all. Not a tree, stone, or even the clearing she's in. And oh gods she's tiny.

Years of training and being a runaway snaps her awake immediately. Her hand swinging to her side to grip her sword. The familiar feel of leather calms her nerves as she surveys the area. Empty, only the noises of nature curls in the air. The longer no new noises happens, the calmer she feels. Eventually, it was enough for her to drop her guard. Now to take stock.

While she's now twelve again, she does still have her sword and cap. Although the sword is too heavy for her to truly weld it, she could stab someone in an emergency. A new book opens in her mind and she neatly notes down 'find new weapon' on it. No ambrosia or her questing bag. Her nightmare comes back in bits and pieces. As always, she categorizes it: a powerful unknown hostile(?) who can use the time domain; something that can mimic her mother's calling so well that she fell for it; she has been taken to a secondary place; and for some reason, she's considered as something precious. Enough that they wouldn't hurt her.

Annabeth's sharp gray eyes trace over the foliage, each species making her concern raise. There's only one place where all of these plants would grow together. Why is she in ancient Greece? Sure, they have access to the time domain, but what do they get from putting her here?

They referred to the gods as other, like they're not their gods. Could it be that this time period is where they're originally from? And what do they even mean by treasuring her. She's not stupid, compared to other demigods, her relationship with her godly parent is neutral at best. At worse, Athena can barely look at her whenever she's up on Olympus.

The gray strands of hair and quiet ache in her lungs only adds more questions. She was de-aged yet her scars and wounds remain. The only thing she can do now is gather more information. A city or village would be preferable but it's not like she can be picky.

She nearly sends a prayer up to Hermes before remembering that she shouldn't catch the god's attention. Three minutes in and she almost screws up; gods, what did she do to be brought here. The tales of ancient gods stored in her mind are now a warning rather than just tales. And she knows just how badly women are treated in this time period.

The light weight on her side now feels so much more valuable as it sinks in just where she's at. Her status as a demigod can't protect her from everything— Wait, does her mother have kids yet?

Panic starts welling up again before she roughly shoves it down. Information first and panic attacks second. With that, she hurries out of the clearing.

Tents covers the field ahead of her, different symbols sectioning the camp. A war camp, Annabeth notes as she eyes the armor littered around. Her Yankee's cap is set firmly on her head, rendering her invisible to mortals and monsters alike. Her eyes darts between the symbols, greedily taking in information.

She's just about to check out a different section when she sees it. An embroidered owl with a bow, Odysseus's family crest. The tent was deep within the camp, if she were to check it out she has to be careful.

Her footsteps are completely silent as she makes her way over, perks of being raised by a Hermes kid. The whispered leers of the soldiers makes her antsy as they talk about the women by the river. She doesn't try to overhear any more information after that. Winds drift through the camp, allowing her to catch brief glimpses into tents. Then a wide clearing with training dummies filled with soldiers appears, most of them jeering on the ones sparring in the middle.

She's about to avoid it no matter the cost before a dagger catches her eyes. Despite looking ordinary, her blood sings when she lays eyes on it, drawing her in. If it wasn't for the fine layer of dust that covers it, she probably would've thought it was some ceremonial blade based on the intricate feathers engraved on it.

It's a small bronze dagger, tiny enough that she could wield it comfortably. And well, she did have a checklist to complete. It wasn't even a challenge to scoop it up —along with its sheathe— and strap it on her swordless thigh. Then she moves on, leaving the crime scene behind.

Odysseus's banner waves tauntingly in the wind, a beacon signaling where the tent is. Not like she's gonna complain about the security issue when it benefits her. More importantly, the entrance is drawn wide open, as if inviting her in. The only caveat is that the owner and another soldier is inside. Based on the lavish bronze chest plate with numerous dolphin —Thetis's symbol, her mind supplies— engravings, this was probably Achilles.

A war camp, a young Odysseus, and an alive Achilles. There's only one myth with all three of these: the Trojan war. If Annabeth could afford to speak right now, she would spill every single sailor curse Percy taught her in alphabetical order. But no, she has to be extra careful since her mother oversees this camp. At least her death would be quick if she's caught, this Sea would drown her slowly.

They're talking loud enough that she can overhear without entering the tent, but it seems as if it's nothing too important. Although, even with being able to understand ancient Greek, none of the conversation makes sense to her.

"Your patron gifted you another blessing? I thought the Styx's curse was the only one you'd get."

"With the glory I'm bringing her through the war, she saw it fit to bless me with the lungs of the sea. Poseidon may not like me but I cannot drown. With this, I may be able to push through the river and secure a bridge."

"An invulnerable soldier who can breathe underwater? I can already think of several plans that may lead us to victory."

The conversation devolves into war planning from there, but Annabeth's mind was already reeling. None of that made sense, in fact, it made so little sense that she's practically begging for this to be a weird dream. Why use patron instead of mother? Unless there's another goddess involved, but Poseidon is siding with the Trojans; which water god would dare go against him for a hero they have no relation to?

And 'blessing' implies that he had not gotten it from his blood, not from the diluted ichor in his veins. Nothing is going according to the myth emblazoned in her mind, stripping her of the one advantage she holds. She needs more information, something is very wrong here.

Just as she takes one step back, she hears the shouting of drunken soldiers. Most of them are goading on someone else to tell myths, something about being the best story teller in camp. If she wants answers, that's where she'll find them. She dips between tents again before finding a crate on the edge of the crowd.

The wood doesn't even creak as she perches on it, giving her the height needed to peer over the grown adults. Not for the first time, she curses her younger body. But she doesn't have time to dwell on that, not when the myths from the story teller's lips were none she knows.

A curse, a child bearing curse on the most promiscuous beings in the universe. Is she even in the same universe, oh gods she just gonna ignore that for now. Does Olympus even have the second generation? Does her mother even— wait no she does. Annabeth huffs, annoyed that her life is in fact, not easier. But even with the confirmation of all the main gods, it doesn't stop the fact that nearly every minor god doesn't exist. She half wishes to leave right now and have a mental breakdown under the cover of the forest, but she needs to know about demigods.

And oh gods does she learn. A cycle of repeated life and death, of ichor becoming poison in veins and damning babies into monsters. The near insanity of cursed monsters, forever banished to roam the lands for golden blood. Of the only demigod to ever live by becoming a god. How in replacement of demigod heroes, there are now champions. Blessed mortal children made to take on the mantle of monster slaying for their patron, for they cannot bear to end their own children's suffering. Of goddesses taking vows to have neither children nor champions to save themselves.

Her mother is a maiden goddess; moreover, she's a goddess of a linage that cannot have demigod children. Oh, Annabeth is so screwed, she completely prefers the predictable disdain of her original mother over the unknown variable this causes. She vaguely notes down the tale of Thetis claiming Achilles as her champion, blessing him with a dip into the Styx to kill the hydra born from her daughter.

Gods, she needs to leave, like right now. Even in her disoriented state, she just barely manages to squeak out the camp undetected. But she still nearly hurls the meager food in her stomach. She doesn't, not when she intimately knows the suffering of starvation, but it is a close thing.

She has nothing. No supplies, none of her war veteran fighting skills, no information, not a single advantage she can play into, and most importantly, no Percy. In a complete different universe, where she's not even supposed to exist. And a time period where women literally don't have rights.

No help will come because who would even think of an unproven multiverse theory. Even then, how would they even get her out of here? The gods didn't help when the world was about to be destroyed, so why would they help out a single demigod? Tears start welling up inside her eyes as she thinks of the nonexistent chance of going home.

Annabeth wants to go home, she wants go back to sketching out more cabins, bicker with Jason over the designs, go to that girls' night out that Piper promised her. She wants to see Grover and learn about more wood types, even that means suffering through a hundred nymphs coming to bother them. She wants to be rubbing in the Athena's cabin latest capture the flag win into everyone's faces. She wants to make sure that she hasn't cursed another mother into baking cookies for a child who will never come home.

But most of all, she wants to see Percy again. To wake back up with the one constant in her life. Gods, she wishes he was here, but she can't damn him to another universe just for her.

Still, it doesn't stop her from saying it out loud, "I wish Percy was here." A flash of light has her freezing in place. A dazed familiar 12-year old boy sprawls out in front of her, his sea green eyes hazy. Even as dread and guilt slides down her spine, she can't keep the hope out of her voice, "Percy?"

His eyes snap to her, widening as they take her in, "Annabeth?"

Chapter Text

Annabeth is here. She's in front of Percy, he hasn't failed to protect her. A second barely ticks by before he slams into her with a single minded intensity to hold her as close as physically possible.

A squawk of shock rings out by his ear, and it's the most beautiful thing he has heard. He pulls back a little, just to wipe away the tears and hold her face in his palms. Baby fat clings onto her cheeks, making her the picture of innocence. But he hasn't seen this version of her since he was twelve. And as the relief of seeing her dies down, he starts to look around.

This was certainly not camp Half-Blood. He's definitely shorter, even shorter than Annabeth. He's twelve again isn't he? Of course his luck wouldn't let him keep his muscles, gods he worked so hard for them. But the starburst shaped scar on her forehead brings him up short. She didn't have that at 12. No, it was the year after when Polyphemus dropped her head first.

He tries taking an experimental breath, feeling the familiar strain of scarring on his lungs. So not only are they de-aged, but they still have all of their scars. Great. The one good thing about being young again and neither of them even get that. Arms closing in around his waist snaps him out of his thoughts. Her head lays on his shoulder as her hand draws little shapes on his back. He can feel his breathing becoming more steady as time goes on. Yes, everything is fine, they're together now, and that means they can face whatever the Hades is going on.

Okay, what did Chiron say when meeting back up with an ally? Assess, debrief, and goals. They're both safe for now so he should start the debrief. Now, he swears that he opened his mouth to ask where they were but what comes out is, "Who took you?"

Her hair tickles his chin as she shrugs, "I have no idea. I was having a nightmare when I hear my mother calling out to me. But it wasn't her, or at least not our version of her."

Annabeth always chooses her words carefully, for her to use 'version' means there's something else he's not getting. "Minerva? Or does it have something to do with this new location?"

He hears her suck in a breath, practically thinking out loud about how to break whatever news she has to him. Then she smushes her head into his shoulder before whispering so quietly that he nearly misses it, "We're in a different universe."

Well, the situation can't be that bad if she's making a joke. A startled laugh bursts from him, "Come on Wise Girl, you can just give me the big bad that I need to stab."

She sighs like she was expecting this, "No really, I know this seems absurd but this isn't our universe. For gods' sake, it isn't even our time. There, that plant is Silphium. It's native to Greece, and more importantly, it went extinct during the Romans' rule. Half mile east, there's a war camp. Not made of demigods or monsters, but mortals. Yet the gods' symbols mark several of the banners and they only have bronze weaponry and armor. As for the different universe theory- I'm not even sure how in the first place. But please believe me, I don't- I don't know what do if you don't."

She wouldn't lie to him, not about this. And Percy can see the desperation in her eyes, for him to believe her no matter how unrealistic this seems. So Percy does, because she has never led him astray and she won't do it now. But he needs her to stop spiraling, luckily he knows exactly how to pull her back from her mind.

The quiet pleading stops abruptly as he kisses her: short, sweet, and a reassurance. A pretty pink dances across her cheeks as big owl-like eyes stare at him in bewilderment. So he kisses her again and again until her laughter drowns out her terrified begging in his mind.

"Percy! I- haha! Stop, wait I'm trying to be serious here!"

He does stop, but he also pulls her close to touch their foreheads together, "I believe you. Now, what makes this universe different from ours?" The question gives her a base to start on, something to anchor her thousand and one thoughts.

"I listened in to a myth telling, it was completely different from Kronos's defeat and beyond. The Kronides didn't kill him immediately, letting him have his final words. With it, he cursed them to never have children without it tearing at their soul. The main gods still exist, like the Olympians and their spouses, but a lot of the minor gods are dead."

He blinks in astonishment, this was definitely not their universe. If the myths changed then these have to be completely different gods. No matter if they share the same names, the bases of them have been rewritten. More than that, the myths branching off of them would have to twist. While the main gods still exist, minor gods had still held a good chuck of myths.

This time it was Annabeth's turn to drag him out of his thoughts with a kiss, a smile on her face as she does so, "Still with me Seaweed Brain?"

"Always."

"It's not just divine children, they also can't have demigod children. Every single one, except for Mr. D, was a stillborn or had the ichor in their veins turn them into a monster. In replacement of demigod heroes, champions were made. As far as I've seen, all demigods from the myths have been turned into champions. They get their powers from blessing from their sponsor god instead of their blood. Currently, Achilles is the only champion nearby for now."

"So what, this version of Athe—" A hand quickly covers his mouth, stopping his sentence. Out of childish spite, he licks it to watch her face cringe.

"Percy, I know how much you hate the names have power rule, but we should probably follow it for now," an unamused expression rests on her face as she wipes her hand on the grass.

"Fineee," but even with his agreement, he sticks his tongue out at her, "so this version of Wisdom took you away?"

"Not intentionally I don't think, or I would've been found out awhile ago. No, I think she made a call somehow and something answered her by dropping me here. I was having a nightmare when I heard the call. Then a string appeared, so I grabbed it to get away from my memories. It took me, bundled me up, and brought me to some cosmic being I have no idea about. I'm pretty sure that they're the one who de-aged us but apart from that I have nothing."

He rolls over the information in his mind. Even saves a little mental note to beat up a cosmic divine being after this. This is like an 8 out of 10 issue, he still has Annabeth and his memories so it's still better than Hera's quest. His hand comes up to absentmindedly play with her curls. She leans in before speaking up again, "So, what's happening in camp?"

Percy cringes, the moments after finding out Annabeth was missing weren't fun. But he can see in her eyes that she needs to know that everyone else is fine. With that, his resolve crumbles instantly before he starts from the beginning. The memories playing out like a movie to him.

Sunlight blinds him as his cabin door bursts open. Malcolm comes rushing in, face dropping as his eyes dart across the room. What really alarms Percy, however, is the blue Yankees cap crushed in his hand. He kicks off his blanket before running towards the other, "What happened to Annabeth?"

("What? But I have them right here?"

"I don't know Wise Girl, but one of them must be a replica.")

A glint of fear shines through his gray eyes, but he couldn't soften his tone, not when something happened to her. Looking outside didn't bring him relief, not with the rest of the head counselors staring at him. Clarisse held a very familiar Drakon bone sword, and his heart dropped. He swears there's a low hissing noise from somewhere, but he dismisses it just as quickly as he hears it, "Connor. Travis. This isn't funny. Where. Is. She."

(He can see Annabeth pause as he says their names, her eyes darting around as if they'll appear suddenly. But nothing happens and a inkling of suspicion curls in her expression)

Clarisse snaps at him before either of the twins answer, "Look Prissy, they didn't do anything. We don't know where she is, we thought she was with you but then we found her cap. And if she isn't here then…" She trails off as she catches sight of his expression. He doesn't blame her, not when he can feel himself snarling.

None of the Seven are here, most of them were either back home or at Camp Jupiter. Thalia was somewhere in Los Vegas with the Hunt, and gods know where Nico is. So there's no other cabin she would be in, not without her equipment. He can feel the earth shifting underneath him, feel the stilling of the waves as he tries to reel himself in.

The cap and sword are quickly shoved into his hands, something to stop him from digging his nails into his palms. The familiar feel of leather and fabric is enough for him to reorientate his rage. Cracking noises sound out as he marches past the small crowd, all of them moving out of his way. He should care about how he's scaring them right now, but the anger seeping under his skin turns his sight red. It barely takes a minute before he's slamming open the doors to the big house, screaming for Mr. D to get down here.

("Screaming at a god? Really Percy?"

"What can I say? It's scientifically proven that my impertinence triples in your absence.")

Vines coil around his legs before he even steps foot within the building. The faint scent of oak barrels shifting to a much more hostile rotten grape smell. The god's form isn't his usual of a drunken slob, instead it's one that matches his madness domain much more, "Percy Jackson, what's the meaning of this?"

"Which one of you took her."

Vibrant purple eyes dart down to the times in his hands, widening at the sight of them. The pressure of the room drops as he realizes just what happened. Dionysus looks back up to whatever depth is swirling in Percy's eyes and makes a choice, "I swear on the River of Styx that I have no idea how this happened nor anyone who would."

The shaking of the ground calms as Percy takes second to breathe, he has to work with the gods, not piss of his only chance of getting answers, "Can you track her down with these items?"

The god extends one of his hands, "I can try but I can't guarantee anything. Not if they went as far as Hera did with you."

He grits his teeth, whatever, he'll take what he can get. However, as the sword and cap land in his palm, something in his demeanor shifts. Purple expands rapidly as he brings the items closer to his face. Percy is about to snap if he doesn't move them away. He almost does but the roaring call of a leopard rips through the air.

He's forced to close his eyes as a blinding light appears. The shifting of feathers and the unfurling of scrolls gives away who answered the call. His face shifts into a snarl at the neutral expression on Athena's face.

An owl's beak clicks right before she speaks, "What's the meaning of this Dionysus? I have-"

Madness just shoves the items into her talons, not even waiting for her to finish. The ichor drains from her face as she grips the items. She brings them closer, turning and checking every inch of them. A rattle shakes the air as she shrieks, "Who dares to erase my claim!?"

("She cared?"

"Of course she did, it's you, Wise Girl. Who wouldn't care?"

"…I didn't know that she would still claim me as hers.")

Annoyingly, Mr. D response with hissing and roaring rather than words he can eavesdrop on. The gods rapidly exchange inhuman noises before Percy gets frustrated, "Would either of you please explain what's going on!"

Wine purple eyes and familiar owl eyes blink as if they just remember his existence. Mr. D frowns before responding, "Go back to the others, you guys need to form a search party. Start checking everywhere, we need to report back to Olympus. Once we're back I'll explain what's going on."

With that, Percy has to close his very mortal eyes to avoid the true form of two gods. Back to square 0. The next hour is blurry as he collaborates with the other councilors to form search parties. He elects to go alone and no one stops him.

("Seaweed Brain, why did you go alone when something is kidnapping people?"

He shrugs, but answers honestly despite his apprehension, "It was safer for the others to stay away from me.")

The iris message to the others was draining, their shock only adding to his despair. But even that memory was fuzzy as he disappears into the woods. The creek lake laps at his feet, as if they were apologizing for not keeping Annabeth safe. Laughable. He's the one whose supposed to keep her safe. He's the one who failed her family over and over again. She was the original camp's collective little sister; Silena's, Beckendorf's, Luke's sister. He couldn't save them and now he failed to save Annabeth.

("Percy…"

"Not now please. Save it for when we go home, when you're safe again.")

A glimmer catches his eye, a graphite colored string dangling above the lake from some unknown place. But the shade of graphite stops him from instinctively slicing it. It was the same shade of gray as her favorite drafting pencil. The one that makes up all of her blueprints.

More damningly, a whisper has him swimming towards it like his life depends on it. I wish Percy was here. The last thing he remembers is grabbing the string with both of his hands.

Guilt swirls in Annabeth's eyes, enough that he's pulling her close again. He kisses her temple, "Don't look like that. I'm glad I'm with you. Even if it's another universe. I'll follow you anywhere."

His reassurance doesn't do the trick, only making her eyes scrunch up more. For a second, he thinks she's about to say something. But she closes her mouth before taking a breath. He's about to ask before she shoots him a glare and then softens, "No. Not here. When we're home."

Percy knows that she's compartmentalizing again, but he made the same request earlier. So, he rests his head on her shoulder and nods, "Then tell me what's realization you made earlier?"

"I think I know how I got here in the first place. Remember how I said I thought I heard my mother?" He nods again. "That was this universe's Wisdom. Here, having a demigod hero would probably be a miracle. So it's not that big of a stretch to assume all gods have wished for one before. But, this time was different. She somehow got my name, and it allowed her to call out to me. Like I did for you. Which brought me here."

Well, now he gets why she looked so alarmed when he started naming people. But that wouldn't explain why they aren't here right now, "So what's the other requirement or requirements?"

"Intent. With a first name spoken out loud and intent, we could probably pull someone else here. Wisdom wanted a soldier with her blood and I wanted you with me. But it still doesn't explain how she got my name."

"The mysterious divine multiverse being?"

She shrugs, so not a sure answer. But she does think it had a hand in it if her next words are any indication, "They might be the one to make it possible in the first place. Let's face it, Jason or you should've been the first one to go if these were truly the only requirement. Not me, whose name shouldn't even exist in this era."

Percy quietly cusses before a thought hits him, "Wait, could the opposite be true as well?"

The storm brewing behind her eyes halts as she turns the idea over, "Maybe, that's probably our best chance back. But there's no way to communicate that even with taking someone else. For now, let's focus on being able to live here."

"Ah, the goals time."

"What can I say, Chir- he's been teaching heroes for years. His advice is bound to be good. Anyway, with names being an important theme, we probably shouldn't use ours. I don't want to find out if we can be called back once we get home."

He's about to suggest their original nicknames but he thinks better of it. This would taint them, cover the last untouched part of their lives with trauma. Like they haven't had enough already. Moreover, they would have to give it to other people to use. It wouldn't a just them thing anymore. Because of that, he goes for something different, "How about Quill for you? It's a feather used as a writing utensil and an inanimate object, so they can't trace it back to your name."

"We're trying to not be outed as demigods Seaweed Brain, but if they don't think demigods exist then…" Annabeth dissolves into a pile of muttering in his arms, her mind chasing loose thoughts. He can feel an adoring smile appear on his face at her scrunched up baby face.

Her head shoots up, an idea spilling out her mouth, "For you, how about Tidal for tidal wave?"

"Wait, if my name is Tidal… Then I can call myself 'Tide Pod'!"

"Percy, wait no-"

His smile widens at the laugh he pulls from her, gray eyes turning into crescents at her delight. Her hands come to grip on his shirt, shaking with laughter. His hand grabs Riptide from his pocket, lifting its pen form in the air like a sword, "Tide Pod and his trusty weapon, Riptide. The land quivers before him!"

Annabeth pushes herself out of his embrace, stepping back even as she shakes with laughter. He finds himself immediately missing her warmth, clinging on when she offers her hand. Eventually, her laughs subsides as she pulls them through the forest, "Come on, lets find a place to camp out."

A figure cuts through the air, wings flapping behind them. Scrolls held aloft in their arms as they hurry through the air. They stop abruptly, hovering over a little clearing in the woods. Amber snake eyes widening as they scan the markings inside, "Well, well, well, I thought they were play fighting right now? Why did Poseidon and Athena secretly meet up?"

Hermes flits about the clearing, checking out the weak traces of divinity. The smell of sea and ink faintly lingers in the air. Small child sized foot prints are barely visible in the dirt. He would think she was chasing down a monster if it weren't for the pristine state of the plants around them.

His eyes flick up to the clouds, smiling as he mentally notes down the area. Roughly .5 miles from the Greek camp, did Poseidon already want to give in? Well, he was always soft towards the younger generations. Either way, the young god can make fun of him about at the meeting of Olympus. Which is happening in an hour… or right now! He stumbles briefly, cursing his sense of time, before turning straight up towards Olympus.

Chapter Text

Hermes kicks off the cloud with a little twirl, wings flapping languidly behind him. The doors to the council stands before him, glowing softly and already slightly ajar. A playful strum on a lyre announces his appearance when he kicks open the door. It's already a mess in there: Poseidon somehow smuggled in 20 something horses; Hades isn't doing better with Cerberus chasing them; Hestia, Persephone, and Demeter clearly worked together for some plant only feast; there's a full on brawl between the younger generation to the side; and Zeus is leaning against Hera with no intention of stopping them. To the right of Poseidon, Triton fusses over Pallas while Amphitrite fusses over both of them. Sea gods, always so overprotective.

In all, it's a pretty normal Olympus meeting. He's honestly surprised neither Ares or Dionysus bit anyone yet. Sunlight dances across his face as Apollo spots him, waving him over to watch the current sparring match. Messenger flits closer, permanently hovering above the marble ground.

The others notices his arrival, a mishmash of essences curling closer. An affectionate shock zips through his curls as a ribbon made of veil fabric ties itself on his caduceus. He laughs, the whispers of many languages drifting into the air along with it.

Aphrodite twists around Athena's spear in one smooth motion, her dagger swiping down and knocking it off course. His ear wings do a delighted flap at the rare cuss he overhears as it embeds itself into the ground. Wisdom goes along with it to twirl around the shaft. Putting her in the perfect position to kick Ares in the face. A clang rings out as her steel shoes hit the broad end of his sword. Then, a sliver arrow slices through the air, nicking Love at the shoulder.

Before any of them continues fighting, a cough comes from the table. A low current runs through the marble floor as Zeus taps his lightning bolt on it twice, simply getting their attention.

The dining table is plated with many vegetarian dishes; more importantly, a plate of his favorite fruits: strawberries. Luckily, an open seat is right next to Poseidon: his target. So Hermes slips into the seat, not even waiting for the fight to come to a complete stop. There's a warm indulgent chuckle from someone, settling in the air like honey. A gloved hand drop sugared dates onto his plate, then Hestia brings up her other hand to ruffle his hair.

Dionysus appears out nowhere to lounge across his armrests, tossing grapes in the air to catch in his mouth. Vines climb on his chair, twisting and curling over the wooden carvings. The second generation quickly fills in the remaining seats between the Kronides. Apart from a couple of scuffles for some dishes, everyone settles down for the meeting.

He can see his father's eyes dart to each of his children, relaxing when he spots no wounds from the spar. He sort of tunes out of the meeting, merely flickering in to give a vote when it comes to it. But who could blame him? These meetings are so boring. Plus, he wants to get to teasing already! This war has been going for so long that it's not even interesting anymore. They all need something to distract themselves from the newest deaths of their children. Maybe this could spice things up. He waits for a lull in the conversation, and is rewarded after Athena's well composed rant of different inefficient policies.

Or something, cause he didn't actually listen in and is just going off of the 75% Athena rule. He makes his move, swinging his legs so he's parallel to the table and facing Poseidon, "Guess what a little birdie saw?"

His bread piece with kelp on it pauses midair as he registers Hermes talking to him, "What did you see Hawk?"

"A secret little rendezvous between the sea and wits! So tell me Uncle, what were you doing near the Greek's camp? Going soft on us already old man?" His sharp thrill catches the attention of the entire table, pulling them in like a siren. To be a messenger, he does have to be good at catching attention after all.

Conflicting sea breezes dances in the air, confusion apparent on Poseidon's face even without it, "I never stepped near the Greek camp per my agreement when we started this Trojan war. Where did you get this information?"

For the first time since this meeting started, Hermes freezes completely. The sudden silence is jarring before he tilts his head, "What? But I found both of your essences in a clearing near the Greek camp? And I know it wasn't a monster or there would've been signs of a fight."

He looks over to Athena, searching for a confirmation but gets nothing. She tilts her head as well, the same confusion of Poseidon reflected in her eyes, "I haven't been to the Greek camp this entire week. I've been too busy meeting with my priestesses in Athens."

All eyes shift to Apollo, who sits with a conflicted expression on his face, "All of them are telling the truth." The younger generation looks around uncomfortably, confused at the realization. But the older gods have stilled, faces going completely blank.

"You've must have been mistaken Hermes," the careful rumble of lightning echoes in the chamber. Like Zeus believes he saw wrong, even though his sky blue eyes nervously darts between his siblings.

He huffs, as if he couldn't recognize their energy signatures! Screw that, he's not letting the Kronides hide this to deal with it alone. The younger gods might not have as much experience or power as them, but it's not like they were only a couple centuries old. His mind made up, he slams his hands on the table, "There's no way I could mistake their signatures! Athena doesn't even have anything to mistake it for! In that clearing, I smelled ink and parchment, who else would have that scent? You!" He points at Poseidon. "And You!" His hand swings around to gesture at Athena, "I'll take both of you to that clearing to show it!"

He expected Zeus to be the one to calm him down, but Hestia was the one to speak up, "Messenger, if you want to accuse them, do so privately. This is a family dinner, and I will not have this derail it."

"Yes, Aunt Hestia…" His wings droop as he slumps back into his seat, lacklusterly twirling some bread in honey. The meeting seem to trudge on, stilled conversations trying for some sense of normalcy. None of them achieved it, tension brewing like a fine aged wine.

Truly, the end of this dreadful meeting could not come sooner. Eventually, they were all dismissed, free to go back to their activities. And before Poseidon could whisk himself away in a sea breeze, Hermes latches on to his arm and wills travel to pull itself away from the sea god. He knows what he did based on the exasperated sigh above him. Sea green eyes turn to Zeus before darting back down as if to say 'are you seeing this?'

Unluckily for Sea, amused electric blue eyes simply motions for him to obey the whims of his son. Hermes isn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, and tugs Poseidon over to where Athena stands, waiting for them. The feathered patterned fins around her ears flick as they arrive, "You're lucky, Odysseus just sent up a prayer about a thief."

The jingle of many gold coins reverberate in the air, a vaguely amused hum coming from him, "A thief? Well, I can always appreciate a good theft, what did they steal?"

Gray eyes darken, "A dagger, a very specific ceremonial dagger."

Both of them pause, there's only one dagger related to Odysseus she would mention that way. With the countless number of their children's deaths, mortals saw it fit to create a ritual to honor them. A small silent ritual that nearly all households do. To leave out children's toys and child training weapons for the monsters that still held their children's soul. For maiden goddesses, intricate child sized symbols are made of their domains, to honor their birth and childhood. It wasn't uncommon to see dusty wooden carvings around a war camp, mostly for Ares and Athena.

As Odysseus was Athena's favored mortal, he forged two things for her. One, a wooden and bronze plated mimicry of her Aegis as a child's toy. This one, he first made when he devoted himself to her.

The other newer companion piece was a completely bronze dagger with engraved owl feathers around the handle of it. The design intentional as he was looking for guidance in war and wisdom for the Trojan War. Athena had even blessed it herself for it to keep its sharpness against time.

For someone to steal it? Well, it would certainly piss off the goddess it's dedicated to. Hermes takes a step back for good measure, holding up his hands as a sign of surrender, "No one prayed to me nor did I feel that theft. Besides we gotta go to the Greek camp anyway, you can meet up with Odysseus after the clearing."

She nods, and then Hermes pulls on travel domain to whisk them away. The gentle rumble of cart wheels fade away as trees come into view. His ear wings flap once before settling as the hustle and bustle of Greek camp becomes audible. He parts some bushes before pointing demandingly into the clearing, "See! I know it was your guys' traces!"

As he points them out, the faint traces of divinity seemed to stir in their presence. The soft sea scent coiling as the ink scent stains the trails of it. But with its stronger appearance, the nuances of them become much clearer. The light form of sea mist wasn't intentional, no it was much closer to Triton's sea claim than Poseidon's. Although, this was directly contradicted by the power churring violently right below it. On the other hand, even while covered by the sea breeze, it was clear that the parchment wasn't Greek in origin. As their paper is made from papyrus pith, there's usually a hint of it in Athena's essence.

Yet this one had none of it, a clean and pure scent of nothing but paper. Sure, there were many similar hints of Athena's other marks tainting it. A different type of ink for writing, a conglomerate mash of miscellaneous smells as a sign of a well-used scroll, leather from a blade handle, and the sharp undertone of celestial bronze. But weirdly enough, weaving doesn't seem to appear. None of her favored thread or sheep wool can be found within it.

With the two presumed sources right next to them, it's clear that these weren't their traces at all. No, it would make much more sense to say that these are from a child of theirs.

But… Athena has none and will never be able to have any. While all of Poseidon's pod is guarded viciously deep below the seas, where no mortal can reach. Hermes's hand drops, confusion slowly increasing in his expression. He doesn't know what to do now.

Looking back at the other two is no help, as both of them have stiffened beside him. Although, their pupils are blown out wide and their inhuman characteristics signals them being intensely focused. Like… weirdly intensely focused. Hell, Athena's snake tongue flicked out to get a better sense. A faint memory of his stirs, ones of electric blue eyes looking at him with that same intensity.

He shakes his head, trying to get rid of the memory. Another minute passes by without any movement, he starts snapping in their faces, "Hellooo? Anyone home in there? Don't tell me both of you split your consciousness and left me behind."

Owl eyes blink back to focus, shaking her head to chase away the last of the fuzziness, "I- I don't know what came over me."

Poseidon brought a scaled hand to his head, stepping back and mimicking Athena's actions, "This clearing is suspicious Hermes, I need to bring this back to my siblings." A quiet, probably unintended, mutter is easily overheard by both younger gods, "If he can mimic an alive godly child's signature, then he's growing more powerful than we thought." And even though they were on land right now, a storm kicks up over the forest. The rain washing away the faded trail leading out of the clearing.

Hermes doesn't even get to try to pull away travel from Sea before the rain contorts to conceal him. He huffs, "So rude! Not even a goodbye huh 'Thena?"

He doesn't even get any answer as she begins to mutter herself, "An alive god's child signature? Even if someone could do that, why me, who can't any have under any circumstance?"

Exasperated, he just throws his hands up, "No explanation for little old me huh guys? Great talking we're having, really feeling the back and forth." But he did get more information than he expected. A being that Poseidon didn't even question if they could mimic a godly signature, only if they built up enough power to do it now? That means they should've been weakened right now, and there's only so few things that could scare the Kronides that much. One of them being their father.

His wings twitch at the thought of that titan who cursed them. Anger swelling in the very depths of his being. Well, if Kronos wants to rise then Hermes will be here to rip him into a thousand more pieces.

Looking besides him, he sees Athena still in thought, curiosity and concern warring in her gray eyes. Several languages layered over each other prods at her little cocoon of thoughts, "Heyyy, you still need to see Odysseus remember? We can't just follow the already washed away traces. You don't just say you need to respond to a message and then don't, in front of the god of messengers."

"I- yes that prayer. Apologies, this trace is messing with me more than I would like to admit," in an, admittedly in character, abrupt move, her divinity burns as she flashes away.

"Can't get nothing out of her huh? I'm the god of communication yet getting something out of her is like pulling teeth! The second she admits vulnerability, she's gone." With that, he disappears to follow her trail.

Odysseus stops his pacing as the divinity dies down to reveal them. He drops into a kneel before Athena motions for him to get up, "You prayed about a theft?"

"Athena, you heard! But yes, after revising our plans to accommodate Achilles's new blessing, I came out to the arena to find it missing," his eyes slide to meet Hermes's, before quickly looking away. He's bold, the god will give him that. Most don't even dare to question their whims, guess that's why she got interested in him in the first place.

"Ignore him, he's here as council. Could one of your soldiers have moved it?"

"No, I specifically told them to avoid that area, and it's out of the way so no one should've went to it in the first place."

The faint noise of a scroll unfurling off a table follows the goddess's hum, "Could I see the companion shield?" And Hermes suddenly gets an inkling on what she wants to do. With the war domain, both her and Ares can sense the markings of weapons. A well loved weapon would sing with praises of their owner, where a neglected one would split and crumble at the mention of theirs. With more divine weapons, liked the blessed dagger, they could sense the weapon's feelings towards their owner. And through a companion weapon, they could vaguely sense how the other half feels.

As Athena tries to parse out location or the owner from the dagger through the shield, Hermes swoops closer to Odysseus. Heterochromia eyes of blue and brown look at him with wariness. He'd give to the king, if he wasn't the god of cunningness, then he probably wouldn't have caught it.

He lets the brim of his helm tilt back, revealing his inhuman eyes. Tension brewing within Odysseus's back as he does so. Enough that Apollo would've chastise him if he was here. Mmmm, King of Ithaca wasn't he? A wife and a… son waiting for him back in his homeland. Lucky, lucky little mortal who knows fatherhood more than him.

Perhaps its the remaining bitterness from Alcetas, who's now a griffin roaming the woods near Crete, that leads him to probe, "How has the Greek's camp been doing? The new blessing for Achilles must be good if you're making plans around it."

Wariness immediately spikes higher in mismatching eyes, not that he can blame him. Even though he's neutral this time, it wouldn't be a surprise if he told anything he got to the Trojans' gods. But a mortal does not dismiss a direct question from a god, no matter their status, "We're doing great, our camp has not suffered. Truly, within this year, I might be able to go home to my family."

Well, Athena was right to ask if Hermes had blessed him at some point, he does have quite the sliver tongue. Mentioning his family as a silent appeal for mercy, to think about who's waiting for him at home when Hermes has no children waiting for him. Incoherent murmuring fills the eerie silence, his smile widening, "Quite the confidence you have! Say what's the new blessing anyway? It must be good if it's giving you this much confidence in saving Helen. And while you guys may have Thetis and Triton on your side, Poseidon is still King of the Seas."

"Lord Hermes, Achilles newest blessing is a boon to us all. Yet it's merely a minuscule one in front of your power. Must I share my hand when it would be more interesting to you if it's shown in the heat of battle?"

"You could just say you don't want to tell, I won't begrudge you for that. I know you've been desperate for an answer after the mutiny. Never mind the countless of soldiers you've been losing." The king stiffens at the reminder, mouth opening to respond. But the sharp click of an owl beak prevents him from doing so. The two men look back to see Athena staring at the shield with a confused expression.

One of his ear wings droops in concern, "What is it sister?"

The goddess drops the shield back onto the desk in the tent, "It's happy? Delighted even, something about fulfilling a long lost purpose. And it insists that I know its owner, but refuses to tell me its location? It's appalled that I thought it was stolen, saying that it called out to them in the first place."

Odysseus was rapidly paling, "Athena, I swear that I have no clue what's going on."

"No, it doesn't consider you as its owner. I don't even know what could've even happened to result in this. It wasn't even this joyful when I first blessed it."

Hermes claps his hands, "Well! I'm now thoroughly interested in this theft, say couldn't you just imprison them so I can ask what happened."

Blue and brown eyes slide over to Athena, waiting for her response. Which, fair, the punishment for this theft fell to her after all. Luckily, she nods, her curiosity winning over her wraith, "Yes. If the dagger was the one who called out to them in the first place, then it would hardly be fair to judge them. A face-to-face meeting should suffice for this transgression."

He kicks off of the ground, circling at the top of the tent, "Glad, this is now over—" Athena's head snaps to the side, following something, "—what is it do you see now?"

She shakes her head, "Nothing, I thought I saw a string tied to my hand."

Rain pelts the ground, unnatural and godly in nature if the speed in which it formed was any indicator. A cloak figure parts a couple of bushes, right at the eye of the storm. The small clearing behind the foliage is isolated and soaked. Yet divinity lingered like a fog. Sea, papers, and gold. Poseidon, Athena, and Hermes was here.

But pass the centuries old divinities, were the faintest traces of new divinity. Small, weak, and mortal. The last ingredient they were looking for after all these millennium. If they could get a clean sample… Then the hounds would be able to trace the children, no matter where their parents take them. Eyes, older than they seem, glance over the bushes, carefully tracing broken branches. Gods wouldn't just walk around like mortals after all.

The cloaked figure stands up, rain turning away from them as if they were diseased, and begins to hunt.

Chapter Text

Grandiose golden doors tower above even Dionysus as he flashes in front of Olympus's council room. The scent of wine trails behind him as he pushes it open. The god doesn't bother asking if Athena wishes to enter first, not when she's holding those scentless items.

At least he doesn't have to get rid of the disguise he wears in front of the campers this time. The crackle of lightning highlights their entrance, cold and demanding. He dips into low bow as Zeus demands, but Athena merely nods. Yet there's no thunder demanding her compliance, favoritism at its finest. Swirling wine colored eyes dart to the rest of the thrones, seeing the respective gods sitting in them.

The thrones are set up to about ¾ of a circle, so each them faces someone else except Zeus. A subtle power play, and admittedly, a pretty good one. Either way, the most important thing is that all of them answered his call. Vines grow and curl around his arms as he flashes into his seat. The silent flap of an owl's wings tells him that Athena does the same. Three taps of the master bolt sends a stinging current throughout the room, signaling the start of the meeting.

"Dionysus, why have you called this meeting?" Golden eyes —matching Kronos's if Luke was any indication— that were tainted by the power of the master bolt, burrow into him. The bitter scene of ozone oppressing his rich wine essence.

"Father, someone has stolen one of the heroes of Olympus."

"All of this over a mortal? This could've been privat-"

Athena choose to speak up now, restrained anger tight within her voice, "My daughter, architect of Olympus, has been taken. My claims wiped and her stuff markless."

With this, the fidgeting of the room pauses. Luckily for Annabeth, she's well liked in Olympus due to her job as the architect, and of course, her other titles. If it had been any normal camper, he wouldn't have bother calling anyone except the parent. Not because he didn't care, but because they wouldn't.

But more importantly, something that could completely wipe out a claim on a favored child of a god was dangerous. Disbelief started to creep into different colored eyes, and he could tell that they were losing them. His eyes meet gray one across the room, and she reluctantly nods. Talons hesitate around the two items, but eventually she relinquishes one to be passed around. The drakon sword, one that Athena personally blessed in their fight with the giants, was sent around. While Annabeth's Yankees cap remains clutched within her grasp.

Reactions were similar to his own, disgust and horror marring each of their faces as their hands brushed against the sword. Not even Hera had dared to touch upon the claims on Percy when she took him. Which is why none of them believe that any god would do this. A small rumble shakes the coast of Mexico as Poseidon handles the sword. Dionysus knows that he's gotten closer to Annabeth, if only for his favorite mortal son.

But the fact she acts nearly identical to a much younger Athena —according to those who were around her back then— is somehow working in her favor. Maybe the rumors about the goddess's childhood were more truthful than he thought.

As the sword loops back to Athena, all eyes turn back to him for answers. Hermes's ever twitching wings flare out as he asks the question on everyone's mind, "Has anyone else been taken? Do we know if she'll be the only one?"

Dionysus shakes his head, "Only Annabeth has been taken right now. If this will continue has yet to be seen. She must've been taken between when she fell asleep to when her items were found."

A rumble of thunder signals Zeus's statement, "Then we should wait, there is no need to alert the others and spread unnecessary panic now."

"But Father, the longer we wait, the less likely Annabeth will be found-"

"Athena! I have made my judgment, we shall reconvene when more information has been found." The master bolt crackles when he raises it but just as he's about to bring it down, an Iris message appears in front of the council. Chiron is seen pacing nervously on the porch of the big house back at camp, his hand clutched tightly around something. When the mist solidifies, he turns to face the council.

"Dionysus, we have an issue. Percy has been taken, Riptide was found floating in the creek and I cannot sense any claims from it." Sea stills, before exploding into a tsunami on the coast of Hawaii. Salt starts encrusting the bottom of every throne, cracking and crystallizing in an endless cycle. He can hear the uneasy murmuring from the rest of the gods, can feel the instinctive growl building at the back of his throat. He was just talking with Percy, had left him unattended to call this meeting. Couldn't even leave a piece of his consciousness to guard the camp, because of Zeus's stupid rule that the entirety of a god has to attend meetings.

Theater splits off, teleporting back to camp and grabbing Riptide to bring back for Poseidon. Webbed hands snatch it out of the partial consciousness's hand, before he rejoins Dionysus. The muttering in the room grows louder, anxiety on who's next, running through them.

Because if the strongest demigod in this era, maybe even through entire Greek history, could be taken… Then none of their children are safe. Their war traumatized children who are just beginning to heal. The gods may act callous, but at their core, they are very possessive beings. If anything, the ancient laws are set in place to protect the demigods no matter how meaningless they seem.

He should know, the wraith that filled him when Castor died nearly made him damn the ancient laws and wipe out the entire hill. If it wasn't for the others watching him, then he would've taken the backlash. That's why sponsoring for Camp Half-Blood was considered a cruel punishment, you may be able to raise your kids but you can't save them.

It's worse in this era, where they had no choice but to become attached due to the wars as their children became more bitter and jaded. They've been getting better, but not as forgiving or loving anymore. He gets a very personal view as every demigod —no matter which side they came from— who've been through any of the wars comes to him for therapy. At least until the therapists from New Rome could visit.

Shark fangs snap furiously as waves curl possessively around the small pen. For a second, Dionysus thinks Zeus was gonna ask to check the pen for claims. Which would've ended in a terrible fight, yet he only sends over a cloud to comfort his brother. It's such a domestic sight that Festivity nearly questions if whoever has been taking demigods had replaced Zeus. The sea stops, if only for a second, before turning deceptively calm. Glowing sea green eyes, that reminds the god so much of the stolen camper, scan the room before demanding, "I'm going to find them. And once I do, I will kill whoever took him."

The declaration is merely met with understanding silence, even a solemn nod from Athena. Zeus breathes in, clearly bracing to say something that will ruin this moment, "You may, but the council will not help you."

The depths of the sea presses down in the room, a foreign essence among the skies. A snarl is ripped from the sea god, his new angular fish's lure flashing dangerously. Clawed webbed hands dig into his throne, glaring at Zeus, "My son, the only hero to ever become savior of Olympus twice over, was taken. And you want to ignore it?"

"Brother, we cannot handle another fight with something of this power after two wars. The demigods even less so, maybe it would be-"

"SHUT UP! I don't have a mortal child for you to threaten this time! Do not finished that sentence unless you want an entirely different fight on your hands. Do you think I wouldn't notice your fear? Percy is the closest demigod to ascension since Dionysus. And we all know that Annabeth would follow him anywhere after what he's done for her. With their notoriety among demigods, you're worried they would raise them into Olympian power. Never mind about how the minor gods adore Annabeth for genuinely respecting them when rebuilding their homes and temples. If this was one your kids, you would've demanded we rally armies to get them back."

The master bolt crackles in Zeus's hand, his anger powering it to a blinding white, "So what? Perseus and his group of friends are a threat! The Seven and camp leaders have been gaining too much divinity for demigods, one push for any of them to ascend and they'll all start following. We can't have that much new blood."

His eyes swings towards Athena, one who supported this idea before when it was just Percy. Now, the real question if she'll do it again against the daughter she wronged. And she… hesitates for a millisecond before nodding slowly.

Dionysus winces, knowing how Zeus would take anything that wasn't immediate obedience as a sign of overthrowing. Despite it what it must looked like, he does remember her part in that one time they tried to overthrow him. He just needed a scapegoat for Hera and Poseidon to move their anger to when it couldn't be him.

Lightning and thunder booms overhead, winds kicking up into a miniature tornado, "Daughter, we have basically a whole war council ascending. Do not forget your wisdom within your emotions. With us weakened and those demigods strengthened? Their resentment? Their anger? The entire Greek and Roman world knows how you've managed to send their most beloved pair of leaders, Annabeth and Percy, into Tartarus. Who do you think would be first on their list?"

The gentle scratching of pens in the background stops, fading away as Athena nods resolutely and resumes the general posture she had accidentally dropped. The only sign of her discomfort is the downward tilt of her helmet plume. Multiple eyes bounce back and forth the pair, watching as she lowers her stance.

With that, Dionysus sighs internally, the two most wronged parents have been separated. That mention of Tartarus was a calculated attack, one that had Poseidon stilling, a well placed reminder of their issues. And the sea does not easily forgive, especially for one who has damned a son of the seas to a fate none should bear. Never mind when taking account whatever beef Triton has with her.

It was really no surprise when the meeting ended soon after, not a single thing done. The vote ended in 2 to 10, saving the demigods as the minority. The room quakes when Poseidon leaves, sea green eyes glaring at each one of them. But they calmed as they met his wine purple, the only other one to vote to save them. Even if Athena's plume dropped further when she raised her barely trembling hand to vote. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if she's doing her own search away from the council's eyes later. The rest of the council leaves in similar fashions, worry marring their faces instead of glaring. He about to let the vines take him, when the sharp clap of lightning halts him.

Zeus beckons him over when he sees Dionysus stopped teleporting. Can't disobey a king after all. A hand lands on his shoulder, heavy and commanding, "Son, I want you keep an eye on the demigods. See how they react without the pair leading, and if they can be brought back to reason." To become loyal to the gods and the gods only goes unsaid. "And I've talked to the Romans who know, they've agreed to keep this silent from the rest. It should stay that way, right?"

This was a warning, his father never called him his son without wanting something from him. And he just showed his hand by supporting Poseidon. If wants to get back into Zeus's good books then he has to follow his order. Dionysus nods, slipping back into drunkard mask he loves and hates in equal measures. The sharp snap of a director's clapperboard marks his arrival back to camp.

It was dinner time so he was surprised when Chiron was still pacing on the porch of the big house, tail stilling as he catches sight of the god. He was a little less surprised at the sight of demigods ignoring dinner to wait for the gods' judgment. The centaur hurriedly trots over as Dionysus smudges the stains on his shirt, "Has the council come to a decision?"

"We've been ordered to ignore the issue."

He reels back, hooves stomping in surprise. The soft murmuring of the demigods become gasps and angry shouting. Whoops, too bad about Zeus's request. Instead turning to face either of the two immortals, the campers all turn towards the counselors. Not a new habit, not when they had no one else to turn to during either war. Chiron may not have said anything, but Dionysus knows that he's been sitting down more and more. Personally, he doesn't think the old horse would croak from this yet. Clarisse claps twice, silencing the noise. She has become the camp's de facto leader when Percy and Annabeth are gone, not unsurprising due to how many quests the pair had to go on.

"Settle down! They'll be fine eventually, if they can get out of Tartarus together, then they can come back from this. For now, we hold camp until they come back. I don't want to see any solo movement anymore, that's what got Prissy taken. Pick a partner, or pick five for all I care, but no more moving by yourself. Counselors, make sure your cabin has partners and join up with only one other person. All of us have to be as available as we can be."

The crowd starts splitting off into groups of all sizes, while the counselors start marking down who's with who. Dionysus's wine eyes follow Pollux as he pairs up with Connor when Travis goes with Katie. It's really no wonder how each of them are traveling down the path towards divinity when they act like that.

Trust basically pours out of the younger campers' eyes, the steady belief that they will be cared for in the counselors' hands. Sure, the Seven might be hurtling down the path to godhood, Percy especially, but the ones left behind are still following along as they always do. Following their generals like loyal soldiers.

With the camp taken care of, he has one other thing to do before acting like the usual camp director again. The waves of the beach churns dangerously as the god forms on the edge of them, a can of diet coke in hand. The brown carbonated liquid is easily washed away into the sea as he pours it out, but it'll do its job nicely. The salty air strengthens as the water movement becomes purposeful, more deliberate. He doesn't even shift as the ocean surges into one point, falling to reveal Poseidon.

With that claimless pen still in hand, and his trident in the other, the god was a juxtaposition of fatherly love and protective rage. The sea's very depths swirls in his eyes, no longer that familiar sea green from before. A demand falls from Sea when he see him, "The creek. He was taken in the creek, there could be someone who saw something there."

Madness nods, simply stating. "Dryads and nymphs like to hang around that area."

The two of them are whisked away, forming at the creek where Percy was taken. Multicolored heads start peering out at the sight of the two gods. Perking up and coming closer as Dionysus beckons them forward. The smell of wine starts to condense in the area, calling out more, "Hello, we were wondering if anyone saw the abduction of the boy with sea green eyes and black hair?"

The diverse group starts looking around, muttering and shaking heads. There was a lot of admissions of staying away from him due to how angry he was. He couldn't blame them, not after the glimpse he got when Percy brought back Annabeth's stuff. Poseidon doesn't seem to share the same sentiment as his eyes darken further into the Mariana trench. He was about to tell him to calm himself when a hand shoots up among the crowd. A sharp finned nymph looking at them, "I didn't manage to see much but I was resting near the banks when I saw him."

Impatient as always, Poseidon surges forward to ask more questions, "What was he doing? Did anyone else grab him? Was it group or a single person? Their features?"

The nymph shakes their head, "None of that. He was just… standing there mopingly while staring at the water. Then his head snapped up suddenly, like something caught his eye. That's seemed to awakened him or something because he just jumped into the water and started swimming like a madman. He stopped roughly about there," their hand comes up to gesture vaguely at the middle of the creek, "and brought both of his hands up like he was grabbing something."

Well, Dionysus was stumped. Not a clue other than seemingly some kind of illusion magic. It doesn't look like Poseidon has any other idea either as he looks on confusedly at where the nymph pointed to. None of these kids can catch a break huh.

The other's magic slips off of an invisible form like water, hardly a deterrent against the treasures hidden beneath. Void like eyes greedily taking in the life forces running about. Dozen of perfectly normal half mortal and half gods were stored in this camp. A few them even held speckles of gold lining their fate strings. More importantly, they could practically taste the abundance of belief and worship in the air. None of that stale reality feel in the huge living areas outside from here.

The swirling of primordial essence condenses into a tiny form, one matching size of the many children running around. Inky black hair with dust that looks like constellations, if one looks too closely, fall at the edges of their vision. Insanity and Sea are clearly somewhere in the forest, not even splitting off to keep watch over these precious lives. Further beyond, near the other end of the barrier they could sense Wisdom lingering about. Never mind of the others who weren't even here. How useless. Can't even appreciate the stars they have. No matter, it'll only make taking the rest easier. A blood red string catches their eye, its thread fraying and twisted. With how the other strings linger near it, its probably another connector thread like the gray one from earlier.

Good, if they can make that string go next… Then it'll be easier to take more with the rest of this Fate's tapestry loose. It's a necessity after all, to have believers, especially in the future of a godless world.

Chapter Text

Dried hay sprays out of the gash Clarisse slices down in the training dummy. The familiar feel of adrenaline pumping through her veins. Then, the fleet footed steps of a Hermes's kid creep up behind her. Sending her whirling around to block the swipe with her spear. Sand bellows up as she kicks of the ground, away from her opponent. Chris stands across from her, sword in hand. For a second, she thinks she sees the roads of New York and a bloody, bloody, helmet. But her next blink only shows him gesturing playfully to continue.

Thrust, spin, duck. Among the campers, any of the older campers' spars are basically dances. A side affect of learning everyone's fighting habits during the war. To duck under their swings to protect their weak spot. To fight like they're the same person, a singular complete unit. Not like younger campers know that, not when they say wish they could do this.

Good, at least they kept their wonder, she would've killed to be like that again. War might be in her blood, but it doesn't fuel her heart or brain. Not when sparring became tainted by the feeling of barely scrapping by against titans or giants. When her spear's shaft is stained red, not by paint, but her blood from practicing. Over, and over again until she was strong enough to protect her home.

Swerving around a slash, she drag her spear on the ground to kick up a cloud. Something she would've never done when she was younger, but there's is no honor in surviving. Not anymore. One quick thrust through it, knocks her spearhead into Chris's sword handle.

The blade vibrates violently, forcing him back. He doesn't drop it because in war dropping a blade meant you were dead, not that you couldn't fight anymore. Instead, he brings up both hands in surrender with her spear pointing at his chest. Clarisse relaxes her grip, letting the shaft fall back so she can set it perpendicular to the ground. He sheathes his sword, coming closer to bump his head affectionately against her shoulder. Loud sarcastic clapping with wolf-whistles comes from entrance of the arena, Pollux and Connor stand there motioning exaggeratedly. The pair file into the arena, switching places with Clarisse and Chris to become the sparring pair instead.

She leans against the rock wall surrounding the sparring field, spear set beside her. Chris stands beside her, and the squad of them wait for the rest of the counselors to come in. Sure, they had the dining room in the big room for head counselor meetings but that felt…tainted. By war, too many war plans took place in there. It's no longer a place any of them can joke around in.

The worse part of it though, are the ghosts of past deaths hanging over it like a noose. If she pauses for too long, she could see the memories left by them. Little gift from dear old dad, to be able to see the marks from war casualties. Luke, Lee, Beckendorf, Castor, Silena. And now Annabeth and Percy joined them.

Not yet of course, but no weapons or tools? Not even Riptide? She's being realistic. Luckily, Nico came running over once he heard that camp was in danger. She's not under any pretense that it was for any of them, except for Will Solace and maybe the Hermes's twins. Either way, they got confirmation that the two aren't dead yet since Nico hasn't sense their souls. The rest of the counselors file in pairs, following the new rule she established after Percy was taken. All of their masks of reliable mentor falling as they don't spot anyone else outside of their group. Clarisse leans into her boyfriend's side, he lets her without putting an arm around her shoulders. Like she prefers, it would take her an extra second to draw her spear to protect them if he did.

The spar comes to draw, the two of them stopping once everyone arrives and sits down. Katie and Travis are talking quietly between themselves, having finally gotten together. Malcolm sitting behind them with a resigned look. She doesn't blame the guy, not when he had to deal with Annabeth in the same cabin before she finally got with Percy. Will and Nico sits side by side, a shy look on both of their faces as they hold hands. Leo and Piper catch up, probably since she came back to camp just for this.

She nods at Chris, pulling away to take out a pouch of drachmas. He takes out a prism, shining a flash light through it to create a rainbow for her to throw it in. The colors shimmers for a bit, accepting the payment, "O' Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and show me the Praetors and former Praetor at Camp Jupiter."

Another meeting room slowly appears in the rainbow, all of the Romans who know about the situation in there. Frank, Hazel, and Reyna are sat around the table in the middle. There's an empty seat between the former and current leaders, the one left to honor Jason. She didn't really know the guy, but he was decent the few times they interacted.

With everyone here, she starts them off, "So debrief, owlhead went missing somewhere around yesterday morning to the night before that. No one noticed anything unusual, nor did she act off beforehand. Prissy was still here, yet after the first search for his girlfriend, Riptide was found floating in a random creek deep in the forest. The gods had a meeting on Olympus where they decided to do nothing."

Hazel picks up after her, "We managed to tell the upper ranks of the army about the kidnappings, but Jupiter issued a gag order soon after. Currently, a majority of Romans have no idea that this is happening."

"Neither do any of the Amazons, I didn't even manage to tell Hylla before the gag order. And since I'm usually the only point of contact with them, it's safe to assume they don't know. I have no idea about the hunters however," Reyna sighs while rubbing between her eyes.

"Prissy told the lightning bug, I think she may have told the rest since they said they're on the way here."

The former Praetor nods, turning towards Nico, "Anything on their souls?"

He shakes his head, "Nothing, not even any ghost whispering about them living. It's like they disappeared off the planet."

Clarisse sighs, none of them have anything. The gods won't check it out, or share the information they've got. And she knows Poseidon was with Mr. D on that beach, one of the younger Hermes kid told on them. She should've sent someone to tail them, but the younger campers need reassurance. She can't fail them, not like how everyone failed her. The demigods are on their own yet again, no help from any of the gods. And they're on the defensive, no clue on goals , who they are, or even concrete timing of anything. It's difficult to say what their even aiming for with these two victims specifically. Combined, both of them probably pissed off the entirety of the divine world in some way. Commonalities won't help either because they both share too many.

Of course, just as she starts checking out colleges, the two trouble magnets just had to get taken. At least they're probably together and she doesn't have to fear about one of them freaking out every 10 seconds. The months of Percy being missing were bleak.

She sighs again, "What protocols have you guys started, we might need them."

Frank is the one who answers this time, "Patrols are now at least 2 or more, night shifts are an additional 2. We've also issued an overall warning to new Rome to not stay alone for now. Our younger recruits have to be with a senior recruit anytime outside. We've also shifted to a barrack system again."

Not for the first time, a bitterness wells up within her. She thought about doing those, but they simply didn't have the numbers for it. Not with the uptick of new campers after the wars, or the small one just after that Olympus meeting. The gods are scared of this, yet won't do anything about it. They didn't have to shift sleeping arrangements because they were already doing it.

Pollux speaks up, "Have any of your gods spoken about this? Even my father refuses to tell me anything, after he promised to try not to hide anything from me anymore." There's a hint of anger in his tone, one that Clarisse understands all too well. Turns out even godly dads can't live up to expectations just like mortal ones.

Reyna shakes her head, "We've got nothing, some of them are even sure that this was a Greek issue only."

Katie hums in thought, letting Travis fix up the numerous amounts of plants in her hair, "When do the hunters arrive?"

"Two days presumably."

"Then why don't we hold a meeting when they get here? I hate admitting it, but the gods were right. We don't have enough information yet, no motives, timing, or anything. It's clear that none of us have any leads now. Besides, Grover should be arriving in time with the hunters, maybe he'll have something with that empathy link with Per— him."

So, they were already at that stage huh? Guess seeing Riptide separate from its owner really did shake them all up. After the wars, no one could bring themselves to say any of the deads' names after the funeral. Too many deaths, too many reminders, too many sacrifices. It extended to missing and presumed dead people after Percy was taken. Annabeth got too hopeful at every mention of his name, only to be disappointed afterwards. Even Clarisse wasn't mean enough back then to keep watching the light in her eyes dim. So they just… stopped saying names. It hurt of course, but the new campers no longer asked about who they were.

Even the Romans adopted it, once they went through war again with the Emperors. It was just easier not to speak on why their army size was half of what it was supposed to be. Not to mention, the lost of their saving grace.

And if the Queen of Olympus couldn't take Riptide away, then whatever did this must be greater than a god. With their track record, they moved on from giant to primordial. It's just hard, staying positive after two wars and everything that the Fates could throw at them.

Clarisse blinks back into focus, looking around to see the crestfallen mood she decides to finish this up. It's clear that none of them want to continue anyway, "That's a good idea, we'll have another meeting once the Hunt and Enchilada boy arrive at camp. If anyone else has anything, speak up now or we're probably ending the meeting if everyone is okay with it."

The Romans looked surprised at the mention of a satyr, which, fair, she had seen the how the fauns acts over there. She still can't believe that both of them acted like polar opposites. Anyway, there was a little bit of muttering between everyone, but no one spoke up against it. The silence was a disappointed one as they came to same conclusion of the gods. But they can't do anything about it, all they could do is hold camp until dawn once more. She claps, catching all of their attention, "Meeting dismissed then, of course if anything new happens you can call one before the arrivals but for now we're done." She turns to gestures to the Greeks, "Now you guys get out of here, I have a class to teach."

That pulls a couple eye rolls and chuckles, even a mocking salute from one of the twins. They all said their goodbyes before swiping through the Iris message. Chris presses a light kiss to her forehead, one that has her swatting playfully at his shoulder. He looks smug as he quickly sidesteps it, the prick. If she didn't have a class right now, she would've fought him right then.

But eventually, he too leaves her alone in the arena. The younger kids start to file in, including the newest one. No one knows when they got in, but that's excusable with the amount of chaos going round. They didn't have anyone on new camper duty for a bit. Sort of weird that a satyr didn't come up to register them, but they did claim that their parent dropped them off and left. Not too uncommon with younger demigods, once the mortal parent figures out how hard it is to raise them.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that Clarisse's instincts are warning her. Something about their empty eyes sets her on edge. Or worse, how they light up with unnerving focus for a 6 year old whenever they land on any of the older campers. Their behavior didn't make anymore sense today either, especially as they started calling people by jewels or some synonym to precious.

Yet, they seemed to be probing for names even as they don't use them. Moreover, they're only seen near campers. Not a single time has she seen them near an immortal. Even the nymphs in the lake. That's why she took them in for her beginners class, to keep an eye on them. To see if they're a threat to her home.

Honestly, she placed a bet that they're a Hades or a Pluto kid, something Nico took one look at and laughed. A shout pulls her out of her musing, an Aphrodite kid excitedly waving a knife around. Well, time to get this class started before someone hits an eye.

The gaggle of kids bounce around excitedly as they sheathe their weapons. All of them hurrying to get to their next activity. But one of them stays behind, that creepy kid, Nanake, if Clarisse remembers correctly. Even as she watches them walk up to her, she cannot hear any of their footsteps. But she doesn't give anything away, if they're a threat she can't let them know that she's already suspicious. Their black eyes burrow into her, the feeling of being pinned runs up and down her arms.

"I have a question," their even toned voice sounds out, seeming to echo around the field, "Why must you learn to weld weapons?"

Her eyes sharpen, to use 'you' instead of 'we' has some implications. But she answers truthfully, "To protect ourselves. Being a demigod means we'll be hunted down by monsters until we either work up a reputation not to be messed with or become too powerful for them to risk attacking us."

"Surely, your godly parents must protect you? You are their children after all."

Without intending to, she laughs, sharp and broken, "One of many, if I fall there will always be another. At best, we're their heroes. At worse, we're disgraces. Even if we're all wiped out tomorrow, they can always start again. If they start now, it'll be too little, too late. They didn't help when there was war, both times, and they didn't help after. We, the demigods, build this camp to where it is today. Yet we still needed their permission to change anything."

Disgust whirls even in their empty eyes, "Wars? And you participated with no godly help? Who would even dare to attack the children of the gods?"

They're being weirdly concerned with being the children of gods part. Not like a usual camper who denies their existence at the beginning. But like the fact the gods had children was the surprising part. She needs more information, "The only beings who could challenge the gods. First, it was the titans, then it was the giants. Kronos and Gaia raise an army to try and take over the world."

"Kronos and Gaia rose, so they sent their children to fight them!? When was this, how many of you died!?"

The mention of causalities brings out a flinch from her, memories flashing quickly behind her eyelids. But she needs more, this isn't enough to pin down their identity, "Kronos's war ended a year ago, and lasted 4 years. Gaia's ended a couple months ago, only 3 months after Kronos's. Camp was basically cut down to only a forth between the two of them."

The shift in the 6 year old's posture has her stepping back. The rage in them evident. And she swears she can hear some kind of weaving instrument in the background. Her instincts screams that she's outmatched, that she needs reinforcements. But as she about to bolt, everything calms down. Like someone snipped the tension in half. When she looks back into their eyes, it's like a void took their place, rooting her to the ground, unable to run. They speak again, sounding like something otherworldly layered over them, "Then they must be in Elysium, no? Those who fought must be granted the home of heroes. There's so many of you gone. Do not worry Ruby, you'll see them again."

Okay, she's really creeped out right now. Whatever, survive this and bring back information to the other counselors. Just keep up her mask of normalcy, "I know that, I'm mortal. Surely, after all I've done I'll be let into Elysium to see them again after I've died."

The kid (or being? They're definitely NOT a demigod) pulls back further, a small smile on their face, "I didn't catch your name. What was it?"

Clarisse really did not want to give her name, but she gets the feeling that she doesn't really have a choice in the matter, "Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares."

The thing tilts their head, "Thanks! I'll be seeing you soon Ruby."

Why ask for her name if they're just gonna use that creepy nickname instead? But before she can ask, they were running out of the arena. Well, it's more important to get this to the others than ask. She waits for a minute, making sure that they're far away before bolting it to the pavilion. At least one other counselor should be there, and that's all she needs. Something sea green catches her eye, but when she focuses on it, it was only the Poseidon cabin.

She can look around for clues in there later. Right now, she catches Travis, Katie, and Malcolm by the pavilion, "We need to talk."

A bar fight raged nearby, making Ares smile. The anger wafting off them tasting delicious. Even then, he pushes the doors open to leave. Making his way back to his motorcycle as Artemis brought the moon across the night sky. He need a distraction from that damn meeting. Bringing up the disappearance of those two brats like they mattered.

Well, it's not like any of his kids are weak enough to get taken. But even as he thinks that, something nags at him. Because even if he won't admit it out loud, Jackson was good. Beating him, even mind controlled and weakened, at 12 was no easy task. And his older children are tired, tired of war, tired of him. Maybe he should keep an eye out for them. But just as he's about to get on his motorcycle, a sense of wrongness falls on him. It disappears quickly, but he recognizes the feeling. Someone cursed him, or at least attempted too. It slid off his essence too quickly to set in.

He should bring this up to Athena, she'll know what to do if it's a clue. But he needs to check in on his children first.

Chapter Text

Percy huffs, tossing out the dried sticks into the hole in the middle of their camp. He's been gathering sticks and pulling out the moisture from them for kindling. The sudden rain from earlier was incredibly annoying, drenching their only set of clothes. While he was able to pull out the water from their clothes, it didn't stop their body heat from sapping away. He's been delegated to sit and try to make a fire after he couldn't stop coughing while running around for materials.

Of course, Annabeth said it was because he was the only one who could due to the rain. He knows she lying, the worry in her eyes gives her away. But he really didn't miss his 12 year old body, not when he has to deal with scar tissue and second hand smoke damage to his lungs. Remnants of Smelly Gabe, it went away once he was killed and Percy got his hands on ambrosia. As he throws down the firewood, there's another rustle as Annabeth ties off another leaf to their makeshift tent. He doesn't know how she made a string out of broken vines, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't helpful.

She already finished with the base of the tent, long thin logs set up to make a cone shape. Currently, she's working on tying the cover on, made out of leaves, mud, and sticks. The space inside should fit the both of them, but it'll be cramped. There's only so much wood either of them can carry after all.

He sighs, grabbing a handful of dry grass. Then the chunk of flint he set on his little rock stool. The freshwater river nearby —roughly 100 ft away from their camp and a little more than half a mile west from the Greek camp— was already proving its worth. Annabeth thought it would be safe, as most river wouldn't have their gods in this universe. As long as they didn't end up at Achelon river or whatever its name was, that one might actually have its godly patron.

Striking the flint with another rock, sparks start to fly off the flint onto the grass. Once the sparks catches onto it, he fans it before tossing it into his make shift fire hole.

Once again, Percy makes a mental note to thank Chiron for the wilderness survival classes. It's important that demigods can't be track or discovered, so the centaur usually teaches the Dakota Fire Hole method for its minimum appearance. They still needed fire with the amount of times they lose supplies on quests. Harsh discovery during those months of missions for the Kronos war.

Truthfully, both of them were only gonna temporarily settle down due to the rain. But then Annabeth's newest dagger started vibrating, like seriously shaking. She couldn't even swipe at foliage with how badly it shook. He bet it was like Magnus's sword where it was sentient, but couldn't speak into minds. She said it's probably more like Piper's knife, because it's origin was Greek.

And then when they tried to continue after the rain, a gray string appeared on Annabeth's wrist. It stopped her from continuing forward, and couldn't be cut by any of their weapons. Stepping backwards only made it vanish visually, but it'll appear again when she move forward. Moreover, he also has a string. He can move 50 ft feet further than her but that's it. She theorized that they're probably tied to where ever they were summoned at, a way to keep them from running too far. Whoever did this is really trying to climb up his list of beings to punch. At least the nymphs in the river were nice, even if they kept commenting on how he smelt like the sea. And how their clothes looked foreign. He does NOT want to meet this version of his father because of gossiping nymphs.

Once they finish setting up camp, they should probably go back to the river to gather more information. And remember to stick to their aliases. Percy rubs his hands together, then holds them out to warm by the fire. There's a frustrated sigh by the tent, looking over only shows Annabeth glaring angrily at a shredded leaf.

With her puffed up cheeks and furrowed brow, he couldn't help the laugh that falls out. She rolls her eyes at him but there's twitch to her frown that gives away the smile she's holding back. He walks over, looking up at her for once since he turned 14, "I got the fire running, why don't we take a break for now."

Her gray eyes shift back to the in-process tent, "I don't know, we should get a shelter up before it starts raining again."

"But if you stay cold then you might get sick, and that'll be worse. So, tactically, it's better if you take a break."

The unamused stare from her makes it clear that she knows what he's doing. But the lure of sitting by a campfire —even one in the ground— once more proves too good to resist. She sighs and doesn't put up a fight as he takes her hand. Both of them sit by the campfire, warming up together. The silence stretches, the weight of their reality settling a little too close. So he speaks, "Man, I miss firecracker. I wouldn't need this flint if he was here."

The name 'Leo' goes replaced, it's safer, after all, if they just use nicknames for everyone. Annabeth nods, tucking herself into his side, "Yeah, even though he probably would've robbed the Greek's armory for metal. Although, Charm wouldn't be much better. She would've convinced the soldiers to give her their rations before running away."

"Maybe RARA would be able to convince them to let her lead."

"At least it would be better than Marshal immediately picking a fight with them."

Piper, Reyna, and Clarisse. Honestly, saying the nicknames just reminds him of the situation they're in. Being forced to dance around their names like a puppet. He's tired, both of them are. All the demigods deserved a break after everything, not be forced to keep up with schooling because they can't just say war recovery on mortal records. After this is done, he's bring up the idea of moving to Canada to get away from the Greek pantheon. Might be the only thing they could do to leave this divine world.

The subtle shivering from the body leaning on him started to fade, the fire heating up the air. Sunlight streamed through the trees, signaling the late afternoon. If they don't head over to the river soon, they'll lose daylight to find their way back. "Hey, Wise girl. Do you want to go back to the river to ask about the gods? The nymphs should know more about them than mortals after all."

Her eyes quickly flick over to him, an analytical expression on her face. The one she usually wears when deciding the pros and cons of a capture the flag plan. She hums, "That's a good idea, although we'd need to be careful to not do anything unusual. Don't want anything getting back the gods after all. Where did we leave off again?"

"They were telling us about different children of the gods, I think they were on the story of a son of death. We did get some more explanation, like how they usually last a couple of months. But no demigod, except for Dionysus, has ever lasted longer than a year. Putting us firmly into anomaly territory."

"And some more information on monsters and champions right? That monsters are deformed and paradoxically stronger and weaker. Less intelligence, more strength, and more… hungry. Most importantly, they don't reform. Not when they're still part mortal. So, every monster is more of a type rather than a species like in our universe. Champions usually have to hunt monsters routinely, at the request of their sponsor. They've reported some monsters still having some sort of consciousness left. Horrible and warped, but consciousness nonetheless."

The last component of their previous talk with the nymphs makes him frown, "Worse, since the gods are weakened and there's not enough of them for all of the domains… Titans and giants haven't been completely kept away." Monsters, gods, titans, and giants. Isn't this one big party of all of their enemies huh? He stands, holding out a hand to pull Annabeth up, "Since we've already decided, we gotta get going now so we can get back before the sun sets."

She sends a longing glance as her almost finished tent, hands twitching to get back to it. Percy puts a stop to that immediately, covering her eyes with his hands, "Nuh uh, I know you hate leaving unfinished projects, but we can come back later to finish it up by the campfire light. But if the sun sets, then we can't go to the river."

She gives an exaggerated sigh, walking on the path towards the river, "You're right, hopefully my dagger won't act weirdly like before."

"I don't know, you should never rely on a demigod's luck," he banters as he follows after her.

Percy laughs as he breaks through the surface of the water, energy filling his veins. The water clings to him, like it couldn't bear to let him go. Even though he couldn't completely enjoy the water, not with the nymphs watching nearby, it was still refreshing to even be in it. Annabeth is on the shore, squatting down to talk to the nymphs peering up at her. He swims over, pulling himself up on the rocky bank to sit beside her.

She doesn't even halt the conversation as she takes his hand to pull him closer, "The Greeks already been here for years now? So they've been sieging for a while already, do you know how many years exactly?"

The pair of nymphs looked at each other before shaking their heads, "No Quill, we don't really keep track of time, just enough to know that the camp has been there for awhile based on mortal lifespans. The women come down here to wash clothes, and sometimes the soldiers try to see who can bring one of us back."

He couldn't help the distasteful expression following that statement, he gets that it's a different time period and all, but really? Well, he guess that their gods haven't really changed much either, if the reason why Mr. D is in change has any merit. Still, all of them, including the gods, should have some basic decency. If any of them act like Gabe… Then he'll have to warn Annabeth on what he'll probably do. Even after everything the Greek world threw at him, and the fact that he's realistically able to destroy Gabe, he still feels that boiling anger when his mom admitted that he hit her.

Percy feels two squeezes on his hand, Annabeth looking at him worryingly. A simple question hidden in it, 'You okay?' Her eyes gestures to the river as the nymphs murmured. The water was stirring up violently, frothing and slamming against the shore. His emotions urging the water to lash out and devour.

He takes a deep breath, running through the breathing exercises Mr. D taught him. Inhale, hold for 3 seconds, exhale, repeat. The same exercises most of war veterans learned, and the one that all big three kids have to learn. The power running through their veins responds to their emotions. If they can't keep them in check, then something bad is bound to happen. Poseidon kids especially, the ocean is ever changing after all.

The water smooths, returning to its natural state as he squeezes Annabeth's hand once in return, 'Yes.' With that, they both turn back towards the confused nymphs. The pair of them were running hands through the river, trying to find the source of this disturbance. He clears his throat, catching their attention, "Do the soldiers still try to bother you guys? Do you need help?"

"The soldiers will always bother us, even when they leave, more will come. That's how it's always been. But against mortals, we can protect ourselves fine. It's just easier to ignore them."

Another fair skinned nymph swims up to their little huddle, fish fins languidly gliding through the water, "Quill, Tide pod, since you're new here, and you don't even know about the soldiers, I though I should warn you about them. Go hide, they're coming today."

Percy makes a move towards where the nymph came from, intent on blocking them off. But the hand connected to his pulls him back, Annabeth shaking her head. He tries to pull away but his younger body has no training what so ever, "Quill! What are you doing!?"

"Getting you to a place where you can hide your hydrokinesis," she hisses back, "I'm not gonna stop you, but as much as we both want to, we can't just showcase divine powers while masquerading as mortals." With that she tugs him into the forest, pulling them both behind an outcrop of rocks. He moves to peer around stone, awaiting the soldiers. She doesn't protest, joining him to look around. One of her hands drops to the cap hung around her waist, pulling off its loop to place it on her own head, "I'm gonna try to listen in to their conversation, if I splash twice near someone, then they're legible to get hit by a wave."

"Shouldn't I wear the cap? You wouldn't have to splash and sneak over there then."

"Seaweed Brain, I love you but at the mention of harassment, you were already stirring up the river. If they spot a source of disturbance, they might try to swing at it to see whose attacking them. And," the storm clouds in her eyes soften, "you shouldn't have to hear something like this again."

His indignation at his benching crumbles against the soft protection of Annabeth. While he's usually acting like the protector between the two of them, at the slightest hint of his discomfort has her rushing in. Especially once they both sat down and went over their childhood. From unintentional neglect to afford to raise him, to arriving to camp with silent footsteps without needing to be trained. Of fights right outside his bedroom door, and the never ending smell of beer permeating the apartment.

Of Annabeth's lively house, alive and bright only as long as it's isolated from her. Family meals spent in her room, hidden away from the rest. So he takes a breath and steps back, letting her sneak over. The gravel is slightly crunched under invisible feet, the noise drowned out by the river.

Further up, he can hear the shuffling of a group, sandals grinding into the ground and the slamming of sheaths against legs. The whistle and coaxing of the soldiers paired with the gentle splashes of the nymphs. But he waits, waits for the quiet but deliberate splashes just barely on the shore. They must be avoiding going into the water then, where the nature spirits would have the advantage.

Focusing, he draws back the water from the edge. Holding back its power to release the stored energy all at once, and give Annabeth a chance to get away. After 5 seconds, he releases it, listening to the shouts of surprise from the sudden surge of the river.

The soldiers probably think the nymphs finally retaliated if their rampant scrambles were any indicator. But both him and Annabeth forgot to take something into account, while they were demigods —therefore stronger and faster than mortals their age and unmatched as adults— they weren't their actual ages. Which meant they weren't a match against a panicked group of adult men in base abilities. A young sounding yelp echos from the group of grown men. Annabeth. He swings around the rock, eyes wide as he spots her knocked down in front of the group, her cap on the rocky shore.

The men look bewildered, before frowning and crowding in on her. Probably thinking she was a runway servant who needed to brought back to camp. A hand reached out to grab onto her arm, and another reached towards the dagger on her thigh. Nymphs looked on in worry, trying to reach them on the shore.

That didn't matter, not to Percy, not when she was looking up in well hidden fear. As her hand swings out to smack away the hand, water rises from the river to slam the soldiers down. Everyone stops to look at the floating water, twisting and curling around Annabeth like a shield. She blinks once in surprise, before her eyes sharpen as they always do whenever they had a plan.

She stands, with all the divine grace a demigod gifts her, her shining gray eyes burning into each of them, "Leave. Is this how you treat the wilderness around you? The river you use to clean yourself in? Of the nymphs who live in it?" Her attention briefly flicks back to Percy, communicating for him to go along with whatever this act was.

She raises a finger towards the most well dressed man, a signal for him. He sends the water down, curling around his head like an eel. A warning, one that'll turn into a threat if the man continues.

Her voice cuts through the air, "Did you not hear me? I said leave." With that she flicks her open hand up, water following it away from the soldiers. The group scrambles away, a quick apology thrown out. Next, her attention switches to the nymphs gathering by the shore. But they know him, so he should be able to come out. Percy hurries from behind the rock, staying back to not to attract attention but close enough to support. The nymphs look up at Annabeth with awe and curiosity, most of them focusing in on her eyes. One of them swims up, the one that warned them about the soldiers before, "Goddess Athena! I apologize for not recognizing your eyes sooner!"

Shoot, Athena's moniker of bright eyed and lack of brainchildren means she's the only one who should have that shade of gray for eyes. And Annabeth has always taken more after her mother than her father, her eyes especially. He looks towards her, waiting her decision. She slightly inclines her head, slightly owl like, before standing up straighter, "I apologize for the misconduct of the Greeks, I hope they've done no harm to you."

Neither confirming or denying then, but they need to leave soon. Athena's name was evoked, and if she was paying any attention, they'll be caught. Another nymph swims up, "No wonder you smelt of olives my Lady! I had no idea that your Oceanid bloodline offered you control over water, your Mother Metis would be proud."

Strange water patterns form in the river, and for a split second, he thinks he sees eyes. Percy ignores it for now, they don't have the luxury of figuring who was that now. Annabeth steps, back, continuing to offer platitudes and avoiding to verbally claim to be her mother. Soon, they turn away from the river, hurrying away in the setting sun.

The forest groans with the sounds of the night, darkness being held back by their campfire. He's drying more sticks to throw into the pit, while Annabeth sits beside him with her head in her hands. The tent was finished awhile ago, with her hurrying over to distract herself from the disaster by the river. But if she's still unresponsive, then it didn't help enough. Neither of them could sleep yet, not with the possibility of Athena over hearing their little stunt. He tosses in the last bundle of sticks, deciding to quit in favor of cheering up Annabeth. Then he turns to face her, gently nudging the top of her head. She doesn't move. He pokes her. Nothing. Well, time to bring out the tried and true method of pulling her out of a spiral, tickling.

His hand shifts down, poking at her side. This time she actually reacts, flinching as her head shoots up to glare at him with her signature 'don't you dare' look. Too bad he's like 60% audacity, especially if it'll get her to laugh and snap out of her spiral. So he dives at her, hands aim for her sides. There's a squawk as she tries to shove him off, "Percy! No!"

"Then stop blaming yourself! Both of us forgot about our current ages, and neither of us expect them to act like an out of control stampede. So you! Cannot place the blame solely on yourself."

"But I'm the one who made the plan, and if it weren't for my eye color then they would've never evoked her name."

"Like my eyes aren't a dead ringer to my father, they would've probably figured us out if we tried to pass of me as by dad. Face it Annabeth, you aren't in the wrong. We had a plan, and yeah sure it went wrong, but you improvised and got us out of there. That's just how things happened. Besides, we scared off those harassers, isn't that the most important part?" He grumbles as he pokes at her sides. Muffled laughter comes from her as she finally manages to get him off. He doesn't try to tickle her again, merely pulling her closer into a hug.

She sighs and snuggles closer, "You're right, we managed to do something at least." Then she frowns, "But the leader reminds me of someone, someone who's important."

"Then we'll figure it out later, for now we should rest." The two of them lay there, looking up at the very different night sky. Zoe wasn't there at this time of course, but there seem to be more random stars than he remembered.

Annabeth snorts suddenly, "Can you imagine what our friends would say if they saw us like this?"

He thinks for a second, "Well I'm sure Jewel would love not being the, technically, youngest of the Seven anymore. Neeks would definitely laugh at us though."

"Oh absolutely, but he would help us turn back. I think everyone you've made a short joke to would take pictures as blackmail. I know I would've."

"Hey! It's not my fault I grew to be 6 ft tall, it's been a pain adjusting to my shorter height now anyway. Well, I know Marsha- Clarisse would've loooved to- What the!?" Percy smacks a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. A flash of light, a thump, and then a groan signaled the arrival another person stuck in this mess. Both of them quickly scramble up right. Annabeth quickly rushed over to the new 12-year-old side, helping her off the ground. She's about to explain when a soft gasp echos from the side.

All three of their heads snapped to the direction of the noise. Empty air greets them. But the slightest glimmer confirms their suspicion. Annabeth's glare intensifies, "I know you're there. Don't think invisibility hides you completely." The air waivers like it's thinking. She levels the dagger towards the space. For a second, Percy thinks they're about to get into a fight. But the haziness disperses like mist, revealing two figures. The exact thing they were worrying about earlier.

Familiar gray owl-like eyes and an off shade of sea green eyes burrow into the trio. His girlfriend nearly drops her dagger in shock at the sight of her mother. The goddess looked different than their universe's. More inhuman, harder to forget that they're not even related to humans. He has no idea whose the other goddess however. But he's sure that she's a water goddess by the sea coloring and scales. Moreover, he recognizes the royal sea family symbol on her pins, his father's symbol. Even if he doesn't recognize her, she's directly related to Poseidon. He can sense Clarisse's eyes flick to him and Annabeth, confusion evident in her eyes.

But Percy doesn't pay any attention to it, not when two goddess saw them call someone from their universe. Not when neither of them blinked throughout this entire scene. Not when Athena is staring at Annabeth with something akin to possessiveness in her eyes. Never mind the curiosity and interest from whoever this goddess was, settling on him.

Fuck.

The night sky proves helpful to conceal the cloaked figure, strange hounds flanking them. In front of them, the Achelous River stirs with the trace of new divinity. With a single flick of the being's hand, the dogs start sniffing around. A sea breeze and paper scent linger on specific rock, far enough away from the river to provide an untainted sample of it. The pack start circling it, sniffing and taking in the pair of scents.

Then the hounds all line up, a sign of them being ready to track the new mortal godlings down. The cloaked figure nods, and they all bolt off in one direction. Footsteps of four legged beings echo in the now silent forest with rhythmic and unnatural precision.

Kronos smiles. Perfect.

Chapter Text

Rough winds turn into gentle cradling as Athena swoops down, the side effect of Zeus's fatherly affection for her. The slightest hint of petrichor changes into a sea breeze as she nears the beach. Sand flies up as she lands, wings flapping to slow her descent. Ocean waves lap at the beach shore, inviting her in. The goddess walks forward, feathers shifting into scales and wings folding back to combine into a frilled fin. As she's fully submerged, her legs turns into iridescent blue gray fish tail.

She opens and closes her hand a few times, getting used to the webbed claws in place of her usual talons. With her transformation complete, she dives deeper until she spots a coral reef. When she nears it, a turquoise and golden blur shoots forward to slam into her, "Athena! You're here!"

The goddess tumbles backwards in the water, holding her energetic childhood friend, "Pallas, you have to stop greeting me like this. You know I don't take this form often enough to instantly right myself."

Sharp fangs shine as the nymph laughs, "All the more reason too then, if you haven't already learned that after all these years. Truly, I'm just doing my royal duty as the heir's daughter in teaching you how to maneuver in water."

"Triton literally told you that don't have to do any royal duties."

"Yeah, but how else am I supposed to excuse tackling you?"

"So you admit that you just want to attack me," Athena pushes Pallas away, swatting at her attempts to hug her again. That only seems to encourage her, her hand coming up to snap at the water. The usually calm water immediately fights against her, pushing her arms away enough for Pallas to tackle her again. She sighs, giving up at this point. Despite being Metis's daughter, an Oceanid, she inherited none of her powers and only her form. Probably due to her mother's sacrifice and her own childhood up in the skies, except for the rare occasion both of their parents had to do something. Which led to their friendship under the eyes of their shared babysitter: Poseidon.

The frills surrounding her ears perk up, twitching as she catches an evocation of her name. Not from mortals, from nymphs. Goddess Athena! I apologize for not recognizing your eyes sooner! That brings her up short, this wasn't a prayer nor a plead. No, it was apologizing for not recognizing her eyes despite her not being there. And that's a very concerning mistake, no one should have her eyes. Especially since her epithet of Glaukopis Athena means bright eyed is reserved specifically for her, making her eyes shine without the need to consciously do it herself.

Moreover, mortal or immortal shouldn't have any of her eye forms. Not the bright yellow owl eyes or the inhumanly gray colored irises she prefers. Nymphs should be able to sense divinity too, even if it's only the nature aspects of it. Abruptly, she's reminded of that clearing, with a trace of her divinity but only slightly different. Along with the somewhat stolen dagger? Well, even then, this might be connected to them. Closing her eyes, she focuses in where the last evocation happened. No wonder you smelt of olives my Lady! I had no idea that your Oceanid bloodline offered you control over water, your Mother Metis would be proud.

Well, whoever is impersonating her does not have the greatest grasp of her myths. Not if they're using hydrokinesis to convince them, another nymph maybe? No, the others would probably know them and wouldn't fall for it. That clearing though… If Poseidon's suspicions hold any merit, then it might be good to check this out.

Cold water brushes over her ear fins, bringing her attention away from the evocation of her name. Pallas floats over her, head tilted as she tries to parse out what took Athena's attention away, "What's got you attention?"

The goddess swings her tail, pushing away from her friend, "Someone is impersonating me. A nymph used my name as if I was there. Moreover, they seem to have my eyes and an olive marked divinity somehow. And, not sure if Poseidon already told you, but there was clearing with similar traces of our divinities. Not like little traces, but almost like a parent and child essence similarity."

The gold and turquoise fish tail stills, Pallas looking at her with bewilderment, "But you're a sworn maiden, and I would've known if there was a new child in the royal family."

"Exactly, it's suspicious. His reaction was concerning too, his mumbling points to him thinking that something as powerful as Time found out how to mimic a godly child essence. Maybe to lure us somewhere, most of us would check it out if we did sense it. Moreover, it tricked Hermes into believing it was us. It wasn't until we arrived that it acted up and developed nuances of a close relative."

"We should check out wherever your name was evoked then, maybe the nymphs there could give us a hint on who it was."

Athena surges up, catching the nymph by the hand, "Already ahead of you." The world shifts as they're transferred to the Achelous River, the main nymph hangout spot in the direction of the call. Even if the original caller wasn't here, they could probably be directed towards them. Apollo dips below the horizon, while Artemis rises to the sky. Even with the ability to leave the water, she doesn't, keeping the Oceanid traits she inherited. If these nature spirits know her by her Oceanid bloodline, then it would just be easier to keep it the same. Pallas shifts lower into river, twisting into a smaller form to fit into river bed.

She matches her, so that both of them could move around easier. Ahead of them, a group of nymphs excitedly chatters beneath the surface. Before either of them can near, however, a figure forms from the water. Achelous, the god of this river and fresh water, bows before them, "I'm assuming you've come regarding the calls."

She inclines her head in acknowledgement, "Yes, I was wondering why a bunch of nymphs started using my name. As if I was there in person no less, yet I was nowhere nearby." Beside her, Pallas twirls her medallion of the royal family symbol in her hands. A subtle support, one he recognizes if the way his eyes flick towards it.

His eel tail coils, the frown on his face becoming more pronounced, "I was wondering if you'd know who she was, if not…"

"You saw her then. How was she able to trick the nymphs?"

"One of them had your divinity, or well, one that's very similar to yours."

Pallas perks up, "One of them?"

The god frowns deeper, concern rising, "You didn't even know she had a friend? Maybe I should've kept them here. But yes, the pair was two children. One with gray eyes like yours, she was also marked by your domains. Which is why I didn't want to take any chances in case it was you taking on a smaller form. While the other was a boy who had sea green eyes, closer to Poseidon than Pallas. Similarly, the sea practically radiated from him. Both of them were very close with each other, they were always in each other's sight. They visited the nymphs for information gathering, they kept asking questions about the Greek camp nearby and myths. It was as if they've never been here, even the most basic of information they asked about."

Athena and Pallas share a look, that didn't sound like the monstrous titan that the older gods were terrified and furious with. No, this genuinely sounds like two children in a foreign place and lost. But their divinity… Did another pantheon lose them? Her ear fins flatten, displeasure at the mere thought of not treasuring a godly child upsetting her.

Well, if they were such bad parents then they don't deserve children anyway. All of the other gods know better than lose a child in Greece, ever since Poseidon tried to lure a kid of another water god into his kingdom. And if a child of a different wisdom god happened to wander this deep into Greece… Then she's not gonna pretend that she's more civilized than him.

Scrolls rattle in her mind as she remembers her little meltdown two weeks ago. She didn't want to tell Hermes, but while she has been busy with Athens, it wasn't the thing to prevent her from going to the Greek camp. No, it was that glimpse she caught of a seven year old girl, a miracle that was her daughter, while dreaming. The quietest of whisper of name that she forgot upon waking up.

After that, she's been locked away in her library, trying to recall it. And she did, the name Annabeth forming in her mouth with the same feel as one of her beloved olives. It was foreign, one she has never hear in her homelands, but it fit perfectly all the same. Before she knows it, a question spills from her over active mind, "How old was the girl?"

Both Pallas and Achelous look at her in questioning surprise, then he answers, "I would say around 12, same with the boy."

Athena sighs in mild disappointment, she's not surprised but there was some hope. She nods, and thanks the river god for his information. Both her and Pallas leaves soon after, intent on tracking the children down. There's a small moment to de-transform into a land walking form, where she got to laugh at her friend for once. The forest runs on before them, and she does have to admit they were good at hiding their tracks, but not good enough. Pallas sweeps her spears, expression souring as she steps on the forest floor. Stars shine above them, bring and sparkling unlike the children they're based on. Her still finned ears twitch as she catches the tail end of a conversation.

She places a hand to halt the nymph, sea blue eyes flicking towards her. The goddess motions for her to listen, watching as her eyes widen when she catches the talking. She flicks her wrist, calling her favorite spell: invisibility. People under the same spell will be able to see each other, but no one else will be able to. The dim light of a fire lights up the little clearing, providing enough light to illuminate the girl's eyes.

Gray. Her gray. Not just that, the child's eyes were big and wide like an owl's. A cleverness and sharpness found within them that no other child has. More importantly, her domains sing, wisdom, weaving, and war, curls around the child like a shield. That's her child. Athena doesn't know how, but truthfully, she couldn't care less about how she came to be. She has a child now. Who has hidden her owlet from her? Why is she covered in scars no child should have? Why does her domain scream that this 12 year old has seen and lived through war?

Her child isn't protected, not in this wide clearing with entrance points everywhere. She can see a small tent just to the side, and it nearly makes her coo. Her child's first nest is a little small but not bad for what's probably a first attempt. The goddess blinks, shaking her head. No wonder her father locked her up in Olympus for her first few centuries, she can barely think straight with her owlet in such a dangerous area.

She needs her in her library, away from prying eyes and mortal world. Her child can come back down when she becomes a full fledged goddess in her own right. The boy suddenly attacks her daughter, aiming for her sides. In a second she's reaching for her spear before Pallas yanks her arm down. Her feathers raise, a rattle threatening to rise from her throat.

Her friend cuts that out immediately, letting go of her arm to grab at her face instead. She's forced to glare into sea blue eyes before the nymph pushes her head towards the other pair. Pallas points at the boy's eyes, his sea green eyes. Oh right, in the face of her miracle daughter, she completely forgot that Poseidon also probably had a new child.

Athena reluctantly raises both of her hands palm out, showing that she wouldn't summon her weapon. Pallas nods, letting her go as a flash of light erupts in the clearing. A new child laid dazed in the clearing, looking like a similar age to her daughter and the Sea's son. Her owlet hurries to help the new girl up, friends if their familiarity with each other shows anything. But as her daughter nears, war splits off from her. She unintentionally lets out a gasp as it turns bloody and violent as it rears its head over the newest child. Another child of war, one of Ares's this time.

Could the children summon more of themselves? Where are they coming from? If there's more of them there then how could they be hidden from her family? More importantly, can they get more children. The boy said something like a name, probably whoever was summoned name. They know how to do it, if the way Poseidon's boy slapped his hand over his mouth was any indicator. Her daughter wasn't surprised at the appearance of Ares's daughter.

However, the gasp leads to the children discovering them, heads snapping to them in unison. And if it was any of the other kids, she may have kept up the spell. But she won't refuse her daughter's first request, especially when she resembles her favorite mortal, Odysseus, so well. The spell drops, revealing them both. She would've liked to keep hiding Pallas but the spell was casted as one.

Now, she wasn't expecting anything positive since she has only known her daughter at this instance. But she didn't know what she did to warrant an expression of sheer terror. The goddess pauses, hand instinctively raising to soothe her owlet. Theories run over the shelves in her mind, each one more worrying than the last. But before she can open her mouth, a blur shoots out from the bushes.

Fangs snap around her outreached hand, and something like poison seeps into the wound. A hiss rips itself out of her throat as she summons her spear. Her other hand brings it down into the hound's body, swinging sideways to tear it in half.

Owl wings snap out behind her, flapping to place herself in front of the children. The rattle building in her throat shaking the foliage. While the soft but sharp slice through air tells her that Pallas summoned her own spear. An entire pack of the hounds jumps from the bushes, attacking the camp with a single minded intensity.

Even as she cuts through two of them, it feels as if she's been slowed down. Spear soaring through the air later than it should. These weren't normal animals, not when they easily towered over the kids by at least a foot and their fangs dripped with venom. Potent enough that she couldn't dispel it, left arm hanging limply by her side. Thankfully, it only seemed to paralyze instead of kill. But if it's even effecting her, she looks at the trio of children crowded behind her.

Her daughter and the boy was whispering rapidly to Ares's daughter. Something about names having power, if they're putting emphasis on it then it's definitely one of the conditions for summoning. Gray eyes glare at her, knowing she's listening in even while fighting.

Her owlet does the most adorable huff of frustration, turning back to repeat her point but not elaborating to not give away more information. A point that isn't clicking as crimson eyes furrow in confusion and irritation. Back to the fight, the paralysis would leave one of them helpless for who knows how long.

Her and Pallas weave around each other with an ease that spoke of centuries of sparring together, a dance both of them memorized. But with that feel of familiarity, it only made the strangeness stand out more. A half a beat slower, then a beat too fast, like an ever changing tempo.

Teeth sink into her wing, while claws tore at the sensitive fins flowing behind Pallas. Twin gasps of pain echoing in the clearing. Bringing their dance to a halt, a gape large enough for a hound to slip through their barrier. One that they didn't let go of as one leapt through towards their real target, the children. Both immortals tried to recover but they were too slow as more hounds attacked them at their momentary distraction.

There's a sudden glint of a blade, and Poseidon's child is now wielding a celestial bronze sword. The head of the attacking hound falls off. These aren't any hounds then, these are monsters. She spins her spear, pushing away the tide of wolves to close back the gap.

As she settles back in front of the trio, one of the tree's shadow suddenly stretches. Long, thin, and barely moving as if it was a sundial's shadow. A cloaked figure step out of it, sickle in hand. And if her memories are right, of Zeus talking about a man larger than life with a sickle in hand, then that's Kronos. Realistically, their situation isn't good with both of them injured and a group of children they need to protect. Looking to the side, she meets sea blue eyes and tilts her head towards the forest. They need to run, securing the children take priority over defeating the titan.

Their spears twirls in unison, merely a distraction from their next move. Metal shines in the fire light as the spears soars through the air at the cloaked figure. In the same moment, Athena grabs her daughter with her one good arm. Pallas scoops up Poseidon's son before hurrying towards Ares's daughter.

But that short distance was enough, the ever present sense of time presses on them. Slowing their movements to a stop. Instinctively, she teleports away from the oppression. Across the clearing, the nymph is forced to leap backwards as the sickle comes slicing between her and the girl. A hound jumps forward, teeth latching onto the fragile arm of defenseless child. Despite the girl's attempt to dodge it, she simply wasn't fast enough to get away.

She drops like a rock, paralysis taking affect immediately. The other two kids shout in distress, fighting to get away from their respective protectors. They're outmatched, had a hostage taken against them, and still had to protect 2 other kids.

Leaves rustle behind her, causing her to spin around. But she has no weapon, not with her one good arm protecting her daughter. A blur jumps out, latching on to her daughter before she's able to kick away. She feels her owlet go limp. Poseidon's son thrashes harder, his teeth sinking into Pallas's arm. The goddess shouts, "GET OVER HERE ARE-" A sickle slices through her cheeks and her tongue. Ichor splutters out instead of the summon, leaving them without back up. The metal glints as the curved blade turns in midair, heading towards Pallas, who wasn't a goddess but a nymph. She would be killed if they stayed here.

With that, she teleports, grabbing the nymph before teleporting again up to Olympus. She has to be quick to save the other demigod. But she isn't at Olympus when she opens her eyes. No, she's still within the forest. Ichor continues to spill from the cut and onto her chiton, they're not safe yet.

Athena tightens the hold with her daughter, and the limp grasp on Pallas's shoulder. Forest, forest and forest again no matter how many times she teleports. Before she can try once more, a hand grabs her shoulder. Her friend directs her focus down to the children. The boy had his eyes shut, but was still trying to squirm away.

A gray string is tied around her owlet's wrist, and a sea green one around Poseidon's foal. Both strings are taut, straining with tension. If she could frown, she would, but the slit in her face is making it hard to focus. The hand on her shoulder pulls her to side, and the strings disappears. The nymph frowns, "I kept seeing the strings every time you teleported. I think they're tied to this place and can't leave. We need to store them somewhere safe and get help to save the other one."

More ichor bubbles up as she instinctively tries to hiss at the idea of leaving her only child, probably from now and forever, defenseless in the area with Time. Pallas only tightens her grip, "Look, I hate it too, but I can't teleport and you can't talk right now. Every second means that child is suffering and your daughter continues to succumb to that venom. It may be made to only to paralyze but that doesn't mean there other effects on mortals. And be realistic, do you think the both of us can fend him off on our own? We can't just wait for them to try and find us using the general direction of a call with such a short time limit. Go to a safe place near here, isn't the Greek camp here?"

The goddess begrudgingly nods, closing her eyes and opening them to a startled Odysseus. She immediately usurps his cot, gently setting down her owlet onto it. The second Pallas lets go of the boy, he scrambles over to her daughter's side. Her hero sputters in confusion and alarm, "Athena! Who could injure you this badly!? Are you alright? Who are these children?"

"Odysseus, right? Look, whatever mission you're on is now replaced by this one. These kids are children of gods, the girl being Athena's. No, she didn't break her vows, we have no idea where they came from. We're placing them in your protection for now, they can stray too far way from this camp. If either of them gets hurt under your watch, we will wipe this camp out ourselves. Use whatever means to keep them safe, they're being hunted down and we can't take them away from here. We'll come back once we've gotten rid of the threat," with that, Pallas turns back to Athena.

This time, the warm glow of Olympus greets her as she opens her eyes. The two of them hurry down the halls, towards the soft voices echoing through the halls. She slams the door open, finding Zeus, Poseidon, and other Kronides. A blinding blast of lightning rips through the sky as electric blue eyes take in her state.

Suddenly, a hand as soft as clouds cradles her face. Her father's other arm coming up to cradle her closer. Athena tries to warn him about Kronos. But only succeeds in his eyes tightening with worry as ichor splatters on his robe. Looking to the side only shows Poseidon, distantly she can hear the drowning of hundreds of fishermen. Pallas pulls away from his shoulder, "Grandfather! We need everyone's help, Time is back and he's hunting the children. We need to go back and-"

A growl sounding like a whirlpool echoes out, "No, not when the two of you are so injured. We can hunt him down later, your safety is more important." More ichor flows from her mouth as she tries to push away from her father. They don't get it, her owlet is in danger and they're not helping.

"You don't get it! There's-" Her friend suddenly goes mute, and she can see the hand on the back of her neck. Panic starts welling up, the only one who knows and can talk has been scruffed.

Zeus whispers soothing words, similar ones to Poseidon's to Pallas, but she doesn't care. Her wings come up to help push him away as she grabs his arm. Athena's eyes become wide and pleading as she tries to pull him out. But it doesn't convey enough, not to a father whose daughter has been injured. As a talon like hand comes up to gently grab the back of her neck, a voice like thunder booms through Olympus, "Apollo! Come here! Athena and Pallas has been gravely injured. Hermes! Go get everyone else." Even as her limbs go limp, and Athena's mind blurs at the edges, she can't help but think about her defenseless owlet in the Greek camp.

A flourishing forest ground lay before them, partially translucent people happily wandering in between the trees. It was paradise, even if its inhabitants all bore a large scar from where they were killed. This was Elysium, home of the dead heroes.

The majority of the younger ones wore brightly colored shirts, either of purple or orange. A blond-haired and blue-eyed purple shirt wearing boy laughs among the people crowding around a campfire. To the side, a couple lean against each other with matching orange shirts. The mood was bright and light, sweetening the air with their delight.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a child with too black hair and eyes watched them. A closer look reveals a note in their hand, the names Will and Nico on it in pen.

Chapter Text

When Clarisse opens her eyes, she nearly recoils at the sheer amount of weakness weighing her down. Something foreign slugs through her veins, coiling around the distilled ichor in her blood. The blurry ceiling comes into focus as she blinks more. Her limbs feel heavy as she sits up, wincing as she scrapes her hands on the rocky floor. What just happened?

The area she's in is pitch black, not even the soft glow of the night sky. A secondary location then. Is her spear nearby? She thinks she saw it before everything happened. She stands, walking around the space by sweeping her foot ahead of her to check for traps. The room is small and enclosed, no traps or anything dangerous. The walls don't have any give either, just a rough texture that she would say is more rock. And unfortunately, no spear. This should be safe enough to plan then.

Anyway, what the fuck was all of that? On the good side, she found Percy and Annabeth. On the bad side, is literally everything else that happened. She makes a frustrated growl as she opens and closes her baby hands. Gods, demigod luck is bad but usually only Percy's is this horrible.

She's pretty sure she's been kidnapped, by some weird old? young? dude. Who's probably some kind of monster or immortal if their control over those hounds was any indication. That's not even the first kidnapping, not when she suddenly appeared in what seemed to be Annabeth and Percy's camp.

Then Athena and some other goddess showed up, acting all weird before they were attacked. She got some explanation, but not all with the goddesses listening in. Facts are that she's in ancient Greece, not just that but Annabeth couldn't tell her more; these gods can't have children, which probably means Annabeth was hinting at a different universe; and beware of names? If this is a different universe, then Annabeth was warning her about catching the gods' attention. When Clarisse gets back, she's gonna petition to make a language for demigods only for information sharing. Either way, she was bitten by some venomous dog which led her to here.

She runs her hand over the bite mark, already patched up for some reason. So they need her alive then. Makes sense with being locked in this cell or cage. No openings, not even a food tray; sound proofing, if she had to guess; and not even a hint of light. Isolation torture? Well, camp is gonna freak with her gone, especially since she took up the camp morale keeper role.

She's not gonna lie, it would be really helpful to be able to see or get out of here. The wall doesn't even budge when she kicks it, a frustrated mumble falling from her lips, "Where's nightlight- Will or death breath- Nico when you need them?" She doesn't get to ponder any further as a light erupts in her small cage.

An elbow knocks into her gut and she shoves the offender away, wincing. Two people came in if the groans are anything to go off of. Both young and male, it shouldn't be too hard to protect herself even as a child— Wait a second, she knows those groans, "Will? Nico?" The two figures still before a small glow fills the dark room. Will was glowing, an Apollo kid trait, for light. The itty bitty figures of two children around 9 years old are illuminated in the dim light. To the side of the glowing child, a first aid kit clips to his belt. While Nico had his signature Stygian iron sword attached to his waist. Even if it was disproportionately larger against his smaller frame. Well, she guesses that her escape plan just arrived.

She claps, the noise reverberating in the small room, "Okay, so welcome to this quest? Hell hole? Not sure, but it's certainly a pain. The summary of things: Annabeth and Percy are in this place, I don't know where anymore; this is probably a different universe, one where gods can't have children; so don’t catch the gods’ attention; you're gonna go through puberty again; some dude kidnapped me, he's probably gonna come back so we should leave soon; a different being kidnapped all of us; oh, and we're in ancient Greece."

Blank eyes stare up at her, confusion and disbelief in them. Which, fair, she was in their position not too long ago. This is a lot of information to take in, but they need to get out of here before that guy comes back. Clarisse gestures to the small inescapable room, "We can debrief more, but we gotta get out of here first."

Nico sighs, grabbing onto her leg and tightening his hold on Will's hand. The dim glow flickers, nearly going out entirely to sink the room into shadows. The cold grip of darkness latches on her leg and suddenly her weight shifts. The next time she opens her eyes reveals the bright sky and a forest. Gods, shadow travel is really convenient.

She's been knocked out for at least half a day, Annabeth and Percy are long gone then. There's another pained groan from Nico, his face paler than usual. Will looks on with worry, especially since they had to use shadow travel to get out. There's a small cave entrance to the side of them, a black film sealing it up. Probably their previous cage. There’s a glint of metal on the upturned ground in front of it. She goes closer, recognizing the length of the item buried underground. Her spear. What kind of idiot leaves their victim’s weapon near them? Whatever, she’s not complaining. As she pulls it free of the dirt and swings it a few times, the weight nearly topples her over as she over adjusts to her new body. Even then, the familiar weight soothes her nerves. Taking some inspiration from Nico's new sword placement, she attaches it to her back, the weight would throw off any of her movements otherwise. 

As she looks around, she realizes that it looks similar to where she first came. Still in the same forest probably, but why wouldn't they take her away further? Leverage? Or is there something here that they need? Either way, they should get as far as they can from this place. Nico can still stand, but he's unstable on his feet. Will is currently helping him stabilize himself, but they'll both be slower.

Clarisse sighs, there's one method that'll let them all move freely. But neither she nor Nico are gonna like it. As the pair looks up to her for a direction to move, she holds out a hand. They pause as she kneels in front of them with her back facing them, "Look death breath, we've gotta get a move on and we can't have both of you slowed down. So, piggyback."

"I'm literally so incredibly fine, in fact, I think Will can let me go so I can walk on my own," Nico all but growls. While she doesn't blame him, growing up so fast only makes childish actions seem worse. Never mind when childhood is synonymous to trauma in their line of work.

Will, however, has no qualms with forcing patients to do uncomfortable things to get better. Probably from becoming the singular medic for a camp of ADHD kids who get injured like it's a competition. He guides Nico closer to Clarisse, "Nico, I love you, but you better get on her back. Or gods help me, I will put you into a baby sling."

Unlike what his father holds dominion over, Nico does have a will to live, or at the very least, wants to not get babied further. So, he shuts up and gets on Clarisse's back. The walk is silent as they travel, apart from Will quietly fussing over his boyfriend. At some point of the journey, a string stopped Clarisse from traveling any further so they had to curve their path.

They need to find somewhere safe, but she doesn't want to take any chances of being tracked down. Especially by those hounds, the worst case scenario is that they're trained for tracking. So they have to keep moving. Her mind strays back towards camp, back to the children who were counting on her, "How’s camp?"

The pair winces, Will shaking his head nervously, “Not well, there was another quick search for you but nothing was found. A lot of the newer campers started getting anxious, and a rumor spread of a monster that got into camp. The Stolls are trying to snuff it out to keep the calm, but that doesn’t resolve the anxiety. While both War cabins joined to help search deeper for their respective members. Mr. D started hovering around the cabins too, and Chiron actually started being serious about curfew. Which didn’t help since people started talking about not sleeping for a bit. We had to stop any lake or sea activities because the waters were too dangerous.”

Honestly, a lot worse than she expected for the few hours she was gone. Well, having another camper taken at lights out probably didn’t help anything, “Did you guys call another meeting?”

He nods, “Yeah, we called the Romans to tell them that you were taken. But there’s still nothing we could do. Although, they set up a night patrol in case someone on their side got taken while sleeping.”

Nico shuffles on her back, peering over her shoulder to join in the conversation, “The main thing is that our godly parents’ started paying a lot more attention to us. Like the night you were taken, my father visited me in my dreams and told me to watch out. Apparently, he felt a disturbance within Elysium.”

Clarisse and Will’s heads snap towards him, disbelief in their voice as they say the same thing, “Within Elysium?”

He nods, “It wasn’t there for long but he did say it lingered near the section with modern demigod heroes specifically.” Modern demigod heroes. Silena. Could she be here? Even if it was in this universe, she’d get to see her again. She’d be able to apologize for not stepping up for the first call of war.

Her brows crease in worry, “Did he mention anyone missing after?”

His black hair swings wildly as he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t know, he left soon after while looking worried.”

“If any of the traitors came here… Then we have another issue.”

Will tilts his head, “No, we should be fine, the ones granted Elysium betrayed Time at the end.”

She grits her teeth, “But what if they wanted more power here? Not all of them were like Silena, and there was that bastard Lu-” A flash of light forces her to close her eyes. No, no way. That’s not what Annabeth had warned her about right? It was saying the gods’ name that was bad, not someone else’s. Yet when she opened her eyes, jew like blue eyes blink up at her wildly. Still in that orange shirt, and a golden bracelet replacing the silver one she saw her with the last time. Even if she looked younger than the last time she saw her, there’s no way she wouldn’t recognize her. For a split second she sees a burn taking up the entirety of her face, the next, it’s only smooth and unblemished skin. Her voice cracks as she speaks, “Silena?”

Blue eyes soften, a timid quality she’s never seen in them before, “Hey Clarisse.” Will seems to be in the same position she’s in at least, staring at the new girl like she’s a ghost. Because she is a ghost from the 1st war. If she could hug her she would, but that would drop Nico. So she merely lets the single tear welling up fall. As her vision blurs, a hand comes up to wipe the tears away, “Don’t let this meeting start off this bad, I thought I taught you better than to take second chances for granted.”

In her peripheral vision, she can see Nico awkwardly sliding off her back to lean on Will. But whatever, that just means she gets to hug her dead friend. They take a few more seconds of silent tears and a brief hug, before Clarisse composes herself into her leader mode. Silena straps her sword to her side, her younger body not being too different from when she died. As she runs through the same summary, Nico and Will are quietly talking in the back. Silena’s expression scrunches up at every new twist she drops. When she finishes there’s another flash of light.

There shouldn’t be, she hasn’t said anyone’s name. As she opens her eyes once more, a familiar hero sits up. His blond hair and blue eyes shining in the sun, Jason Grace. To his side, his familiar imperial gold gladius. She didn’t tell Nico and Will, she forgot in the moment of reuniting with her first crush friend. 

She claps her hands, making everyone’s attention snap towards her, “Okay, I just came across a realization that everyone should know. We can’t say anyone’s name, that’s how people keep getting stolen. I thought that Annabeth had meant that we couldn’t say the gods’ names, which we probably still can’t, without drawing their attention. But the stress about the names have power rule meant that our names have power.”

And after giving the former praetor the rundown. Jason frowns, every bit as practical as a Roman even if Jason hung around both camps equally, “So this being that’s targeting us can travel dimensions, deage people, and revive them? They’re targeting demigods specifically, so it’s mostly the Greeks they’re after, if your account of that unsettling child holds merit. But they’re not limited to Greeks, not when I’m here.”

Nico shoots back, a hint of guilt on his face that’s quickly washed away, “I summoned you here, we don’t know if the being is watching over each exchange. Speculation about only demigods might not hold up since everyone has only mentioned demigods so far. But it would be a good assumption if they were the presence my father sensed.”

Clarisse sighs, rounding them all up to continue walking, “Are the gods gonna catch wind of this?”

“Probably, my father is keeping a closer eye on Elysium after that intrusion. The campers might be under surveillance after so many people were taken, never mind that two of them should’ve been dead. Maybe the gods will actually do something with the sons of all the big three being taken.”

Will sighs exhaustingly, “My dad will probably hang around even with a ban now, he was already asking for updates at night. I just hope he can treat the campers while doing so, I haven’t finished training all of the new Apollo kids. The Roman gods might take this more seriously now that one of their own has been taken.”

Silena and Jason look at each other, apparently having met while they were dead, but Silena is the one who says, “Should we be concerned about what happens if we go back? We may be alive here, but what if we return back to being dead?”

Clarisse winces, she doesn’t want to go back to never being able to see her friend again. But Chris is back home, and she swore to never let any of the kids be unprepared for war. Not like she was. So for now, she shoves those thoughts back, “We’ll deal with that once we can go home. Annabeth might have a vague idea on how to do so if we find her. Let’s take a small break, and then try to regroup up with the pair. We should be far enough from that cave now.” 

Even so, they still decided to forgo a campfire. Not like they had any need to see or meat to grill. Nico finally gets to fully collapse, much to the worry of his boyfriend and Jason. But Silena sits next to her, curiosity in her blue eyes. Like this, Clarisse can almost pretend they were at the campfire in camp half blood. Gossiping about other campers. But Silena’s next sentence shatters that illusion, “So you managed to become an adult? How’s college, if you’re going.”

She’s hit with the fact that she’s older than Silena now, by two ish years in fact. While Silena never got to graduate high school, not while preparing about the war on both sides. She leans back against her spear, “...It’s going okay. I’m currently only doing online classes, but I was planning to transfer fully on campus this year. But in another college.”

“You’re currently going to New Rome right? The Romans told us about their city. A whole city filled with demigods and their family… I think I would’ve loved settling down there with my lover.” A melancholic expression creeps on her face, wishful even. For something that her life was cut too short to enjoy. Silena suddenly shakes her head, “Enough about that, I heard that Percy and Annabeth finally got together?”

The topic change was so abrupt that it startled a laugh from Clarisse. Even after all these years, Silena was still the same. She nods, “Yeah, they finally stopped dancing around each other once the war ended. I found them kissing afterwards and threw them into the lake. They became an even more sickening couple than you and your soulmate.” Calling Beckendorf, Silena’s soulmate, used to hurt. But this time, she finds it’s nothing more than a distant ache. She thinks of Chris, who’s probably freaking out back home, and yearns. 

At least her old feelings won’t get in the way of this quest. It may still hurt to look at her friend, but it’s only the ache of the possibility of losing her again. If it’s like this, Clarisse can deal with this. 

Aphrodite screeches, the sound of delicate porcelain shattering on the ground scraping against the ears of anyone nearby. Dove wings flare over her head, wide and imposing despite the rounded feathers. She whirls around, her war aspect coming to life as hisses at the message set on her bedside.

But there’s no mistaking that name. Silena Beauregard written on it in cursive. Her dove has been taken from her final resting place. Something dared to rip her soul out of the home of the heroes. To violate the sanctuary of all the god’s children. To take her darling daughter who has already suffered so much. Who went through heartbreak over and over again despite being promised nothing but love. The camp isn’t safe, Elysium isn’t safe, yet Zeus still is against her bringing her flock up to Olympus. A mournful croon falls from her lips as tears drip from her face like pearls. 

Down in the mortal realms, there’s a small uptick of heartbreaks that goes unnoticed. The goddess thinks of her other children. Of Piper, of Drew, of her younger children like Lacy and Mitchell. Fine, if she can’t move her children, she’ll simply go to them instead. The swirl of dove feathers and rose petals settles as Love disappears. 

Chapter Text

The ground beats with the steady strikes of a war drum. Heavy, purposeful, and earthshaking. Ares's eyes flame behind the sunglasses he wears. Adrenaline pumps in his veins, slow and thick unlike the feeling it gives him. One of his daughters was taken, the most accomplished of his drove. War torn and bloodstained Clarisse, who bested a drakon in single combat.

It makes him want to beat some monster into nothingness. He’s aware he’s not the best father. Not when his daughter flinched back when he raised his voice at her first quest. But any god worth their name wouldn’t let something of theirs be stolen without retaliation. And the modern world may have forgotten it, but he was the first god to go onto trial for torturing Halirrhothius for raping his daughter. His footsteps sear the ground at the memory, a scowl scaring away the weaker campers hovering nearby. 

For a second he thinks he sees something that should not be here. An unnatural domain crammed into a child-like body as a mocking disguise. But there’s nothing when he sends a pulse of magic to check it out. 

He would get his daughter back, even if he has to go on trial again for the brutality of this murder. Well, the god looks up to the cabin he was heading toward, he may not even be the only one up there if Aphrodite was this angry. Not that he would ever blame her, not when whatever did this violated the resting place of heroes to get to her daughter. 

Dove feathers are scattered throughout the air along with the lingering scent of a rose. Curled around the Aphrodite cabin was a very clear claim. The older brats were here, murmuring and circling the cabin for any entry point. They were anxious, more so as it became clear they were probably being targeted. The favorites were being taken. Poseidon’s favorite son even compared to his other brood. Athena’s most talented child, the only one to ever get her statue back. His own daughter who was covered in war, who hated it and reveled in it in the same breath. Hades’s son, who he’s always apologetic towards after their little spat. And one of the only two survivors of the Kronos war from the Apollo cabin, his only healer for so long. 

More than that, they’re not stopping at the living ones. No, Hera’s little champion and Aphrodite’s traitor daughter were taken from Elysium. No sound, no noise, and no tracks. Who knows if they’re only stopping at this generation, they could wander further in Elysium to find older generations. He’s not blind to Hermes’s anxious twitching, or the familiar bloodstained Backbiter he keeps checking on. 

His mind wanders back to the spear in his armory, too small for his preferred form and claimless. Then to how Athena snatched back the drakon bone sword when they were finished passing it around. Immediately whisking away both the sword and cap back to her library after that meeting.

His attention drifts back to the remaining kids. Scorched earth flashes in his eyes as he sees war carved onto their skin. In their scars, in their movements, in their eyes, in their twitching hands, and in their very instinct themselves. They prowl like a predator, yet dart away like prey. A product of their upbringing he supposes. From being chased around to doing the chasing. They could never forget the lessons survival taught them. 

His presence brings them up short, their eyes unabashedly shooting to his hands to check for a weapon. They return back up to his face when they don’t find any. There’s a beat of hesitation before one of Athena’s dips into a bow, before the rest, “Lord Ares, I presume you’re here for Aphrodite?”

He lets his sunglasses slide down, grinning as the kid doesn’t flinch back at the sights within his eyes, “Yeah, I’m here to check on her. Tell me what happened when she arrived here.”

Way too familiar gray eyes remain on him as the kid nods, reminding him that he still has to talk to Athena about the attempted curse. Ares notes it down mentally as the kid starts talking, “Lady Aphrodite appeared out of nowhere during lunch. She seemed… distressed as she turned towards where her children were sitting. She made some kind of bird call. Which caused even the few of her kids who weren’t at lunch yet to come as if they were being led by a string. Piper even got up from her seat at the head counselor table to go over. And she was never close to her mother, so there’s no reason why she would do that. Before anyone could question it, they were all whisked away into Aphrodite’s cabin.”

Ares sighs, blood red eyes scanning the small crowd that wandered over to eavesdrop. Most of them were looking on in worry, probably worried about their comrades who were stuck inside. He looks back up to the cabin, stepping forward. The metallic scent of blood goes unnoticed by the group, even the rose scent as it tripled in response. 

Silena was the one taken, Clarisse’s friend, Camp Half Blood’s traitor and beloved camper. One of the few kids that took after Aphrodite’s war aspect even a little bit. He stalks closer to the entrance, even as she warns him. Her magic coils, threatening and hostile. The low thrum of retreat trumpets echo out, causing her to pause. The door cracks open, a soft pink mist rolling out. He’s finally able to enter the cabin.

A low hazy feeling permeates throughout the air, delicate and teasing as it curls over his shoulders. Unwillingly, he feels the constant thrum of adrenaline settle as her magic does its job. Around the cabin, the bunk beds were stripped empty except for the frames. Then pushed aside so the middle of the cabin could be padded with the mattresses. Blankets and comforters were layered at the edges of the mattresses, forming a nest of some kind. Inside were children of all ages, eyes and focus hazy as they were kept under a lull of charmspeak. 

In the center of them all was Aphrodite herself, Piper curled next to her while the youngest was cradled in her arms. White dove wings spread out, covering them up to hide them from his view. Aphrodite stares at him appraisingly, fully knowing that Zeus sent him down here to retrieve her, “I won’t move.”

She was one of the few on the council who wasn’t one of Zeus’s. She was wary of him, like any good god would be, but only of the terror of a king. Not the blood gifted fear of a father passed down in their bloodline. Ares sighs, looks up towards the skies and makes a decision, “Yeah, no, I expected that.” The thunder could be heard clearly even with her magic muffling the outside noise. A few of her brats stir but are easily put to rest with a couple of whispers. “My daughter was taken, I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for more of my kids to be stolen either. They’re strong, but not enough to protect themselves. None of the others are happy either.” It’s not something he has to point out, not when both of them can pin down a few tracks of the other gods lurking inside camp borders. 

Love hums, the sound further soothing any distress, “So? What did you come here for?” 

“Split off and come back to Olympus for now, we are having another meeting about the kidnappings. It’s bad enough that Hades was allowed to come up to explain himself. Afterwards, we’re planning to have a meeting about the kids if he won’t do anything more about it.”

Pink, no brown, eyes squint as she weighs her decision. They close as her smaller domains collect to form a secondary avatar. Her main domain love, filled to the brim with both romantic and platonic love, stays huddled over her children. While her other self gets up to follow him, her hands slot into his arm like second nature. In the next blink, they’re both facing down the golden doors of the council. Lightning crackles and bells slam as the doors open, the cry of an eagle and squawk of a peahen following soon after. Hera snarls viciously, a surprising sight from the usually composed goddess. Her form was shifting, from Hera to Juno then back to Hera again, yet her expression remains the same.

Zeus’s thunderous anger was nothing new though, the crackling static running through the floor makes it clear. Even as he shifts between Zeus and Juitper. Aphrodite frowns, wings opening to hover above the crackling floor. Ares was never one to run, and for one of his father’s moods, this wasn’t terrible. The rest of the council stared on, either interested or distracted as they split between multiple avatars. Poseidon didn’t even show up, instead Hades hovered in the corner. 

In short, it’s a mess. A slap echoes through the chamber, Hera’s hand still in the air as the council watches, “Your own son, my champion, was stolen from his final resting place yet you still refuse to pay attention!”

The scent of ozone spikes as electric gold eyes glare down at her. Not even coming up to wipe off the small scuff. He prowls forward, his shadow covering her. For second, Ares nearly steps forward to protect his mother. But the light pressure from Aphrodite stops him from taking his father’s ire on himself once more. “Not pay attention!? I have brought Hades here for questioning have I not? Have I not overlooked the others’ frolicking around the camp? Dionysus and Poseidon’s interrogation? Aphrodite’s strike? Hermes’s check ins on his traitorous bastard? Most of them aren’t even entirely here!”

At the mention of Hades, the council’s attention shifts to the brooding god. Shadow coiling into themselves as he’s put on the spot. Hermes flutters over from his throne, anxious as he questions, “Uncle, is Elysium truly unsafe? Has this thing breached the home of the heroes?”

The cold mist of death flows from the king of the dead’s mouth as he sighs, “Yes, two children, one fallen from the war with Time,” Aphrodite’s hands tighten their grip around his arm, “and one of the fallen from the war with the old emperors. I felt a presence within, right before they were gone, unnatural and unbound. A mocking of destiny, of a necessity that did not follow the universe’s rules.”

That got Athena’s attention, “Destiny? Are you saying that the Fates are helping this?”

Black eyes flick towards her, “That was no god Wisdom, but something much grander and older. Think higher, a primordial even.” Murmurs start up in the room, anxious scraping of different animals’ feet underneath them. The scent of roses freezes, nails digging into his arms. Ares welcomes the pain, something grounding in this upturned reality. Primordials don’t get involved. Not with war, not with destiny, and certainly not with demigods. Their era has passed and they’ve been reduced to nothing but observers. Sure, they attempted something every millennium or so, but that’s always been through their godly children. Necessity? Ananke, the most powerful dictator of fate? Even them, the Olympians who’ve lived thousands of years, rarely get a glimpse of the Fates. Nevermind the being representing it. 

Zeus is startled by this, the electricity dancing on the floor spiking another couple voltage up, “A primordial? Well, it seems like something bigger is upon us yet again. If they were needed by a being made of Fate itself then who are we to interfere, this meeting is dismissed."

The court is stunned into silence at the quick dismissal. Aphrodite’s smell of roses wilt as Lightning flashes away. Hades lets out a disbelieving scoff, “Poseidon was right, this meeting was practically useless.” Shadows warps in the next second, slinking away with the scent of sea salt leading it away. Wedding bells clatter to the ground as Hera growls and teleports away. The other Kronides follow soon after, scattering at the mention of a primordial.

The younger generation of gods and Aphrodite are left standing in the now silent council room. Ares’s eyes flick around, watching the others. Athena inclines her head towards her library, eyes narrowing like a bird who caught sight of prey. They’ll be meeting there then, whoever is interested at least. 

Hermes flits away, probably both busy and checking in on his little traitor. Hephaestus watches them, knowing what they’re planning, yet leaves within a hammer’s strike. Dionysus, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, and himself are left. With a quick glance to each of them, it’s obvious that they’re the participants of this informal meeting. In the next blink, neverending shelves that reach for the skies surround them. 

The deepest parts of Wisdom’s library, a mortal could go insane if left unprepared here. Wandering the lines of scrolls to books, of eras recorded away from mortal eyes. Most of them lost a child. Except for Artemis, who had none but had Zeus’s favorite, if by default, mortal child, and Dionysus, who only had a singular remaining child left.

All of them have a stake in this, none of them were benevolent enough to offer help without cause after all. Behind Athena, he could see the two items left behind, the sword and cap tucked into her side. She sighs, eyes darting around, “A primordial. Ananke, great being of fate and primordial of necessity, required our children. I’m assuming no one has had any previous encounters with her?” None of them move to refute the goddess. She continues, “Favorite children, particularly those who are older, are being targeted. Whether dead or alive, there is no magical trace we can follow afterwards. Moreover, those who’ve been kidnapped, minus Love’s, are on the path of ascension.”

Dove talons dig into his shoulder, ever changing eyes narrowing, “Would they take more than one from each? If it was required for whatever purpose they hold?”

Athena, never one to hold back, “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t.” A worried murmur floats between them all, yet she stands uncaring. Not much of a surprise for a goddess who only had children to retrieve her statue after all. Except for that girl who brought it back, the rest are purposeless tools for her. 

The soft constant light surrounding Apollo brightens as he steps forward, “This doesn’t make sense, I haven’t foreseen this in any of the possible fates. Not of this world, nor of any of the demigods.” Out of the council, he was the one with the most connection to fate. The domain of prophecy lets him peer into the different possibilities of the weave. If he hasn’t seen anything, then they were truly blind this time.

Artemis frowns, “Perhaps the fates did not account for this? If this primordial was above them, then who’s to say that they could foresee this?”

Wisdom plucks a scroll off one of the shelves, dusty yet perfectly preserved. It unrolls to reveal a massive painting of a yarn basket jealousy guarded by 3 cloaked figures, “Even if it was their mother, the Fates have always been possessive of the strings in their basket. Everything has a time and a place after all, to lose an entire skein would usually mean scrapping the work itself.“

Dionysus scoffs, “So what? They can’t target their dearest mother, that means they’re incapable of bringing our children back anyway. Even if they could do anything, how would we even contact them? If they still haven’t revealed themselves now, then they’re not planning to.” The room drops back into silence at that. If their only lead on fate is blind and the Fates refuse to communicate… What could they do? Ares feels a nagging sensation that he’s forgotten something, what did want to discuss with Athena before? A bar, a fight, and the creeping sensation of a curse gone wrong. A curse. A use of magic. More importantly, it was a trace.

He snaps upright, like a soldier snapping to attention, “I may have a lead.” Inhuman eyes snap to him, gloating him on to continue. The god places his hand out, retching up the memory of that wrongness from the depths of his memory. As a mimic of the curse forms, he shows it off to the group, “Someone tried to curse me, just before my daughter was taken. From what I remember, it was old and something was deeply wrong with it. I didn’t think it was unnatural and unbound at first, but it does fit Hades’s explanation of whatever that presence was.”

Even if it wasn’t the real thing, the feeling of something out of place remained. A wrong stitch in the weave, a bending of fate, or something trying so hard to blend in yet fundamentally wrong. Athena recoils when she spots it, never a good sign from one of the more proficient sorceresses on Olympus. He could hear the panicked takeoff of an owl in the distance as she snapped at it, “That’s- that’s not ours.”

Apollo nodded even if he looked unsettled, “Yeah, it’s very similar to our pantheon but it’s not ours so to say. Mmm, it’s giving a similar effect to the uncanny valley feeling that humans get around human-like creatures. Is another pantheon trying to trick us?”

Several different bird-like clicks resound out at that, the idea of another pantheon stealing children was absurd. None of the pantheons may act like it, they definitely don’t, but taking a vessel or child of a god is one of the highest offenses someone could do. It’s why, despite being technically able to claim other children whether accidentally or on purpose, there has not been any cases in the many millennia their pantheon has existed.

They always make sure to check the ichor or claim around a child before claiming. To do so is a sign of war. The original god would have to fight the other god to prove they are still the rightful owner of the vessel or better parent of the child. If the original parent won, then they would have a right to claim a prize for the challenge. One of the other god’s own children. On the rare occasion that someone challenges for a child, it always leads to a back and forth as each of them tries to regain their children. 

Challenges aren’t just a simple claim either, it rewrites the godly blood in their veins. A full takeover. If another pantheon was taking their children, their favored children even, without giving them a chance to prove their worthiness? They’ve already decided that they are unfit as a parent. A snarl falls out of him, around the new tusks in his mouth. They took Clarisse, one of his daughters, and expected him to roll over? To let another’s blood run through her veins without a fight?

Over his dead body, he growls as his form shifts more inhuman. Hooves scraping against the floor and talons sliding over his fingers. Looking around shows the others, minus Artemis and Dionysus, in a similar state. Feathers, claws, fur, and talons sprout miscellaneously across the 4 of them. 

Athena’s familiar owl eyes laser in on the only trace of this unknown magic, “Let’s find which pantheon would dare be so bold.”

3 figures draped in cloaks hover in an endless void. Before them lay a handful of strings leading off into the distance. The Fates look on at their stolen strings, ones that've been taken to a different basket. Yet despite the transgression against them, they smile. They’ve finally tracked down where their wayward strings have been stolen too. When that different version of their mother appeared, it was no issue. Unbeknownst to most of the inhabitants of this universe, visits from beings of different universes weren’t all that uncommon.

Normally, visitors couldn’t interfere with their universe. They were here as observers after all. But primordials were always stronger than most, much less than the physical representation of fate itself. So they were taken by surprise when a hand plunged into their basket, ripping out their shiniest gray string. That’s when they started tracking where that version of Ananke came from. 

They watched as the gorgeous sea green string with golden flakes soon joined his soulmate. Unsurprising but a disappointment, no matter they would get both of them back eventually. Then blood red, a purple so dark it was nearly black, shining yellow, glittery pink, and finally electric blue. But each string gave them another glimpse into this attacking universe. Until they arrived here. 

Looking at the sorry state of the weave surrounding this universe, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity. So many dull colors, so little time, and no colorful demigods at all. They might not be able to interfere, not like Ananke could, but they could match them. Together they circle up, compressing destiny into a mirror, and place it right on top of the strings leading out of the universe. The magic poking holes in their weave now reflects back, already opening gaps in the loose one of this universe. Perfect. It won’t be long until they collect all of their strings back.

Chapter Text

Pollux nudges the food on his plate around, not really feeling like eating. His gaze is drawn back to the empty Aphrodite table. Even after Ares went in, none of the Aphrodite children came back out. And, his fork pauses, the glimpse he caught as the door closed wasn’t good. Not with the bed frames pushed to the side to make room for some kind of nest. 

It was weird, more so with the campers he could see were sprawled out inside. Hazy, limp, and unaware. He didn’t spot Piper but he’d bet his next slice of apple pie that she was in the same situation. She would’ve been kicking up a fuss if she wasn’t. Sure, she had a more neutral relationship than Annabeth, but he knows she never forgave her for dragging her father into this mess. Even if it resulted in her existence.

Well, maybe being unaware would be better than their situation right now. He looks at the other empty seats of the head counselors. Clarisse, Nico, and Will were taken. Chris has been locked in the Hermes cabin since then, despite Connor and Travis’s attempts at pulling him out. The mood and morale of the camp has been low. Taking Annabeth and Percy was no different than them going on a quest, they’ve bounced the camp back from that countless times. But taking Clarisse? Their camp appointed leader? The one that the pair of heroes trusted to take care of the camp personally? That’s a new low. Not to mention that the camp’s second OTP has been stolen too. He doesn’t have to be an Athena kid to know whoever is doing this is targeting the leaders.

They know who the leaders are, do they have another spy? Gods, he doesn’t want this to be a repeat of the Kronos war. He pushes his plate away once the ending bell of dinner rings out, not having eaten a single thing. With that he trudges away from the dining hall, back to his silent empty cabin. Soon, they’ll be able to do something. Both the Hunters and Grover should be arriving in the next 10 minutes.

Pushing open the door, he was unprepared for his father to be sitting inside, a familiar horse plush in his hands. Wine colored eyes meet wine colored eyes, the same exhaustion reflected back to each other. Pollux does a polite nod, “Dad, what do you want?”

“Pollux, you need to know this. It wasn’t just Clarisse, Nico, and Will who were taken. Elysium was infiltrated.”

His hand freezes in midair as the name Castor flashes in his mind. His twin. The only other child of the god in front of him. Who was dead and in Elysium. He can barely hear himself ask the dreaded question in a trembling whisper, “They didn’t take my brother right?” His father promised to protect them, and failed. He, himself, promised to take care of Castor, and he died. Did they both fail his twin once again? Pollux knows better than to beg the gods for anything, especially after the wars. Yet he still can’t help but silently beg the god in front of him, not the mask of his father for he would never answer his prayers, for a mercy he’s never been granted.

The god’s face crumpled, before granting it, “No, he wasn’t one of the two who was taken.” He slumps, relief coursing through his veins as he finally breathes. A hand benefiting a gambler rests lightly on his shoulder, a semblance of comfort. He closes his eyes, letting the last remnants of terror drain from his body.

Then he breathes in, taking a second to compose himself. He slips on the mask of responsible leader again, he was a child of theater after all, “Two? Who was taken? Demigods still or the few mortal heroes inside?”

His father looks worried for him, but backs off for now since they have more pressing issues, “The old Aphrodite headcounselor, Silena, and Hera’s champion, Jason.”

Pollux frowns, their generation and their leaders again. It’s not even a question anymore, whoever was doing this was gunning for them. Headcounselors for the Greeks and one former praetor for the Romans. He looks up to his father, seeing past the mask of camp director and the one of his father. He watches the shifting madness in them and reads them in the way only a son could, there’s still more information. But by the thinness of his mouth, he’s not sharing it yet.

The blaring of hunting horn echoes distantly from the entrance of the camp, a sign that their guests have arrived. Dionysus, the mask of camp director specifically, inclines his head towards the noise. Pollux nods as wine colored eyes drift towards him, letting his father go without much fuss. He steps out of his cabin, watching as the forest around the camp starts to glow as the lord of the wild nears. 

Further upwards, he can spot the Hunters milling around the campfire. Some of the newer campers stared at them in wonder as they introduced themselves. Thalia stands cross-armed off to the side with Grover nervously rocking side to side as some of the other headcounselors catch them up to what’s been going on. He can’t spot Artemis anywhere, which is probably why his father had to leave. It’s a short jog before he groups up with the rest, catching the tail end of Katie’s sentence, “-some of the gods have been hovering at camp too. Aphrodite just kidnapped her entire cabin and we’ve haven’t seen any of them since, while some of the Apollo kids have been waking up to gift baskets on their beds.”

He steps forward, “My dad has been visiting my cabin more often too, I just got back from talking to him. And… Clarisse, Nico, and Will weren’t the only ones taken either.” Several exclamation of alarm runs through them, no doubt thinking of an unaccounted young child who was stolen this time. Pollux runs a hand through his hair, “Elysium was broken into, Jason and Silena were taken.”

Grover bleats, hoof dragging against the ground, “Elysium! Oh no, no, no! How has it escalated this much already? It’s only been a few days since the first victim and they’ve already managed to reach the underworld?”

Thalia growls while starting to pace, thunder rumbling lightly above her. There was something devastated in her eyes, something he could sympathize with. The feeling of failing a sibling yet again. But like the rest of them, she was a leader. And leaders cannot falter lest the others follow. So he watches as she visibly steels herself, wearing the mask of lieutenant once more. She focuses on the other issues of his statement, “How can we be sure that it’s the same being? It could be something else that’s taking advantage of the chaos. Silena was a spy for Kronos was she not?” 

He shrugs, “My father himself told me this information, he didn’t confirm that it was the same person however, just that both of them were gone.” Most of the others were unsettled at this realization, that more than one thing could be targeting them. 

Travis groans, his hands coming up to cover his face, “Why is it always us? I swear not even the old myths had this much going on. Let’s head over to somewhere more private, we’ve got to call the Romans to tell them that Jason was taken out of Elysium somehow.” There’s a couple more grumbles, even a few who called out ‘not it’ for telling the praetors and former praetor. 

Their little group shuffles out of the crowd that formed to meet and greet the hunters. Some of the kids were even holding a hunter’s bow, pretending to shoot arrows from it. The wolves that always accompanied the Hunt laid down around the ground, letting some of the younger ones climb on top of them. In short, it was a scene of domesticity and childhood innocence. A reminder of what all of them were fighting to protect, to give the next generation a chance at the life they never got. A few kids come running up to them, showing off what they’ve learned to their respective counselor. 

Pollux watches, no siblings of his own to care for not anymore at least, as Travis raises one of them in the air while grinning excitedly as they waved a bow around. A memory drifts to the edge of his mind, of a younger Travis being carried by Luke. Who was in Elysium. Oh damn it, he’s got to watch out for him too.

Eventually, they’re able to separate from the hoard of overly excited campers, disappearing into the forest to Iris call. Grass grows under each of Grover’s steps, little wild flowers springing into existence as he lifts his hoof. A small waterfall appears between the trees, water vapor and sunlight abundant in the air. Malcolm tosses a drachma just above the flowing water, “O' Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and show me the Roman leaders.” The coin disappears into the mist, rippling it to reveal a familiar living room. Reyna sits at her desk, writing away on a mountain of paperwork. Frank and Hazel were frowning on her couch in her office, eyes swinging between at least a dozen papers. 

3 sets of eyes with bags hanging underneath snap towards them, their actions halting as they spot the Hunt’s Lieutenant and the Lord of the Wild. Reyna drops her pencil, dusting off her shirt while stepping around the desk. The other two join her soon after, frowning as they catch five missing headcounselors. 

Katie’s eyes follow their sightlines, to the gaps in their line, “Clarisse is still missing while Chris locked himself up in the Hermes cabin because of it. Nico and Will were taken after we told you. Aphrodite kidnapped Piper, locking her up in their cabin. And…” Her eyes flick away from the rainbow, not wanting to break the news.

Pollux sighs, stepping forward, “Elysium was broken into, one of our dead counselors and Jason was taken. My father confirmed it himself, yet not if it was the same being. It seems likely that it was.” Hazel’s hands cover her mouth, horror etched on her face. Frank steps backwards in surprise, sadness crumpling up his expression. While Reyna simply frowns and looks away with a hint of grief. 

Travis runs a hand through his hair, “Another thing is that Clarisse was suspicious of a camper. Before she was taken, she came running up to Malcolm, Katie, and I. It was right after her class, and she said that the newest camper wasn’t a demigod. She said they were some kind of god or monster in disguise. I’m inclined to agree with her too. There’s just something wrong with their eyes, too knowing, too observant.”

Pollux frowns, recalling the new kid with void-like eyes and hair. How he feels eyes on him more often than not nowadays. He’s not blind, he wouldn’t have made it this far if he was. He looks around and can see some of the others nodding as well. Thalia and Grover look at each other, unknowing which kid they were talking about. While the Romans just looked plain confused. The hunter waves her hand, “So what? Do we interrogate them? Isolate them from the rest? We can’t just keep waiting for things to happen or we’re practically begging to be taken. Could we even do that without endangering the camp if they’re already inside?”

Katie shakes her head, “No, you didn’t see how Clarisse looked when she came to us. She was… scared, terrified even. Maybe not visibly, but her eyes kept surveying her surroundings. Even if camp was supposed to be a safe place. Whatever that thing did to her inside that arena, she hated it. Enough to tell us to keep it on the downlow for now.”

Connor groans, hands messing up hair as he tries to think, “So we have a spy within the camp, who’s some kind of powerful being, and we can’t do anything about it? And on the off chance that this is some kind of third being messing with us, then we’d have to find the others?”

The son of Athena paces, “If they went after Clarisse however, that means they’re still targeting us. Has anyone seen them near the other two at some point? If so, we could use that to keep the younger kids safe. Although, we’d be risking being taken next. Placing ourselves in isolated places alone could lure them away from the rest, especially if they’re disguised as one of the younger campers.”

Hazel speaks up from within the rainbow projection, “Wait, what does this spy look like? We haven’t been able to check up on new recruits due to dealing with all of this.”

“They look around 7 years old, have black eyes and hair. But like, too dark, almost like the empty vastness of the night sky. They also have a weird feeling to them, like they have something wrong with them fundamentally. Nanake, I think their name is?” Travis marks off facts on his fingers, like he’s counting off sheep. Hazel writes all of it down on a notepad, setting it to the side once she’s done.

The silence continues for a beat as they all take in what’s going on, they’re back to playing the role of soldier again. A role that Pollux was sick and tired of. Their entire life is starting to sound like a play that’s being dragged on way past where it should’ve been ended. Another act after where it should’ve ended. But as any good actor does, the show must continue on, “Grover, have you seen anything from your empathy link with Percy? You guys can share dreams right?”

The satyr jolts, hoof stamping down in surprise. Before slowly nodding his head, brown curls shifting around his horns, “I’ve caught a few things. Things he’s seeing, noises, and maybe even a voice or two.”

He prods for more, “And? What are these glimpses? Could you get a clear location?”

“Luckily, I think I did spot Annabeth with him, so they’re at least together. The nature there… It’s untouched, as if Pan had still roamed there. But it stretched on for miles, there’s nothing on this planet that could be it, trust me, I’ve tried finding a place just like that. Any untouched wilderness here is small and isolated, not the flourishing and sprawling forest I saw. Different plants, enough so that he could be outside of America. The river I saw was unpolluted, but if he did find a river then he would’ve been able to come back already. He wasn’t tied down or anything, not if he was moving around that much. But with his perfect bearings in the sea, he would’ve followed it until he could find his way back. Yet he didn’t, like he knew it would’ve been fruitless in the end. I feel like there’s something else going on over there, something we’re missing.”

All of them shifted nervously, another dead end and more questions. Percy wasn’t anywhere they knew of, and contrary to their expectations, neither of them were locked up somewhere. Then why haven’t they come home yet? Unknown place, inescapable too if they haven’t tried to run yet, or… Pollux thinks back to Chris, when they found him within the labyrinth. Delirious and trapped in his own mind. To his father, coaxing sanity to the maze formed out of his mind. 

Or to when Percy was taken for the first time, to his stolen memories. Which he only got back from gorgon blood, while Jason didn’t get them back at all. Gods could mess with their minds, in cruel ways that could permanently change them for good or bad. If Clarisse thought that kid was a god or something close to it… Then he can’t rule out mind manipulation. 

Madness… His least favorite of his father’s domains, despite his affinity for it. But how can he like it when he can see the wisps of it clinging to his friends, to his family. Even now, his eyes drift to the air around them, finally acknowledging the sickly purple mist trails following them all. It wasn’t always the cloying cloud clinging to the camp, to the older campers. 

But it was always there. Before the kidnappings, before the Gaia war, and even before the Kronos war. From the need to be noticed, the lingering trauma of being inherently different, or worse, demigods always had the horrible luck after all. 

Thalia hums, snapping him out of his thoughts, “I don’t think any of the hunters have seen something like that either. Like he said, untouched wilderness is small. Nevermind an unpolluted river as well. Once we set off again, I could look for it while hunting.”

A purple cloak flares behind Reyna as she steps forward, “So we’ve got our goals for now. We’ll check if we’ve been infiltrated in our camp and we’ll look around our area for something that sounds like that. The hunters will rest up before exploring further inland for them. If we can’t find them in America, then we’ll send a team to Alaska to check. You guys will keep an eye on the being, but prioritize your own safety over information. Also try regaining your trapped campers and pulling Chris out of his funk.” The group nods, several voicing agreements before they end the call. 

Once the rainbow fades, Pollux raises his hand, “I’ll volunteer for the first watch, I don’t have any classes soon nor any siblings to pull away from the hunters.” With that matter settled, the group quickly disperses to their respective jobs. In a few minutes, he stands near the edges of the pavilion. Watching the small figure lingering at the edges, their void like eyes tracking the silver marked huntresses moving about. 

A shiver runs down his spine as he follows their line of sight, landing on the daughter of Zeus who was gathering her Hunt up. Leader, demigod, war veteran. Thalia fits all of the commonalities with the kidnapped, just like the rest of them. Another target, especially if they’ve already taken most of the big 3 kids. 

Despite it leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, he thanks the gods. If they’re focused on the Lieutenant, then he’ll go unnoticed. He turns to look back to the being, only to find them gone. He straightens up, eyes darting around to catch sight of pitch black hair. Nothing. Shit.

A small hand curls into the back of his shirt, bringing a sense of coldness to his entire body. Wide purple eyes swing backwards, catching sight of the very thing he was trying to find. This close up, he can feel the unnaturalness of them. More than that, he can sense the anger wafting off of them. Under their breath, he can hear them muttering, “Can’t believe I was found out this fast. And I still haven’t gotten all of these miracles yet. I’ll have to be a little more proactive then.”

His elbow swings towards them, an attempt to get away. It doesn’t work, not when his eyelid feels so heavy. Before Pollux can even shout for help, the world drifts into darkness.

Castor fiddles with the end of his camp half blood shirt. The perfect temperature of Elysium soothing his goosebumps. Something was wrong. Even his death-dulled instincts can tell. It urges him to run, towards or away he can’t tell. 

His wine colored eyes flicker back and forth between the replica of his camp’s forest. The false shadows looked deeper and darker than before. His ear perks up. Nothing. Not even the constant steady stream of bird song.

He stands, stepping away from looming shadows of the trees. His mind whirls, settling onto the whispers from before. Of something breaking into the home of heroes. That being is the reason why Silena and Jason were gone. Charlie has been distraught since, wandering around to try and find them. With that in mind, he turns and runs. Weaving through the trees and the reminders of his living life.

But the shadows stop him. A child like hand curling into his shirt. He opens his mouth to scream but nothing comes out. The last moments he remembers is a voice promising that they could at least pair him with his brother.