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Percy lingers at the brazier at dinner two days after they get back from the quest to return the lightning bolt. But his mind isn’t really on dinner or even the quest. But the ceremonies the night he had come back from Olympus.
He had laughed off the issue of the shroud he had been given at the time. Because that’s what he always did, even when something really upset him. Because he didn’t want to ruin the actual mood with how he had really felt when seeing it.
They were supposed to be celebrating the end of the quest. Not bringing attention to the ‘shroud’ that Ares had made for him. Which he was pretty sure had been thrown together in around 5 minutes, and maybe one thought to him.
Hiding the pain of it being thrown together last minute. Because that was all he was worth, apparently. Not even the Hermes cabin that he had spent several days with before he was claimed could be bothered to actually do something.
It was another reminder that no one else at camp really wanted him around.
That the only people who could be bothered to even do something for him were a cabin full of people who clearly hated him for just trying to defend himself.
It felt like he didn’t really belong anywhere.
Sure, he had his Mom, but he never really had a place in their apartment. It had always belonged to Gabe. Or before that, the apartment had been too small to have his own proper room.
Which he hadn’t minded. He loved his Mom, and he knew she struggled. But it was just another reminder of how he never really had his own space. Even now in the one place he was supposed to belong.
People hated him so much that no one had been willing to make a shroud?
And for what? Just existing?
He knows his Dad thinks of him as a mistake. A wrongdoing in his own words. But what had he ever done here besides just defend himself to earn this?
Was he really that bad of a person?
It’s only after a minute that he realizes he’s still standing there with the plate full of food in one hand at the brazier. At this point he’s lost almost all of his appetite because of his thoughts. So he ends up dumping more into it than he would have normally. Just keeping what he thinks he can stomach at the moment.
Percy blinks in surprise as almost as quickly as the last bit of food hits the fire. There is a sudden surge in the strong scent of sea salt. Followed by a drastic drop in air pressure like before a huge storm.
He hears his Dad before he actually sees him coming up the beach. “Chiron. What is this I hear about my child not having been made a proper funeral shroud?”
His Dad was angry for him over what happened.
This was an entirely novel concept to Percy. He was used to being the target of their anger. He couldn’t remember the last time someone got angry for him. His Mom never got angry, not at him, not at Gabe. Not at the teachers that caused him problems.
(Sometimes he wished she did. Sometimes it felt like she never got angry because he wasn’t worth the effort and the energy. He would never tell her that, though.
He loved his Mom. She did so much for him. But on the bad days, sometimes he wished she did a little bit more. Because sometimes it made him feel like he wasn’t worth her doing more.)
And it also confuses him. Because his Dad just called him a mistake a few days ago. So while he appreciates the anger over what happened. He doesn’t understand why he is this upset over a mistake.
But he doesn’t stop him. Because it’s nice to have some vindication that he wasn’t wrong about feeling upset about the shroud situation. Even if he had underestimated just how wrong those actions were.
“A bedsheet, Chiron. Not only is that an insult to my son in not giving him proper rites if he had died. But you would have allowed him to walk around Elysium for all eternity in a chiton made of a bedsheet.”
His Dad’s roaring, but strangely it doesn’t scare him like when Gabe would get angry. He still doesn’t like it, but he knows his Dad is angry for him. Not at him. And he can’t remember the last time someone was.
“What is it about the realm of the dead that you refuse to speak about it so much that you are willing to let dangerous falsehoods be spread around? How would this have looked for the judges if he hadn’t survived the quest?”
Percy spares a glance over at Clarisse, who has been quiet this whole time. Who he is guessing by how pale she’s gone staring at her cabin’s table. She definitely didn’t know how the chitons work in Elysium.
That doesn’t make up for what happened with the shroud. But it’s something at least.
“I would have intervened if something had actually-”
Percy doesn’t hear the rest of what Chiron says before he snorts in disbelief. Because, yeah, right. Like he had done anything about the rest of camp ignoring him after his Dad had claimed him. That smelled like crap if he had ever heard it.
“Not the entire camp-” Whoops, he must have said that out loud without meaning to. “Luke of the Hermes Cabin and Annabeth of Athena were around.”
Yeah cause two people made such a difference. One of whom had hated him until the quest.
There’s a comment from one of the other cabins. He doesn’t look back to see who just commented. “Not sure how much being around counts considering she was constantly making comments about the Sea King to anyone who would listen.”
That just confused him. Because if they had noticed…then why hadn’t someone said something? He’s used to being passed over for other kids. But it being done in a camp he’s supposed to fit in hurts worse.
His Dad’s looking over his shoulder at whoever made the comment. “There are multiple issues here. But let's start with, despite that, he still chose her on the quest despite the definite issues there. Because for some reason that I will get to the bottom of eventually. In a place that my child is supposed to be welcomed. The first thing that happens from what I am hearing is that he is ostracized.”
“He’s the child of a broken oath.”
By this point he’s now facing the pavilion again. But he’s not sure who said that, other than it seemed to have come from one of the more crowded tables.
Great, so they really were treating him like some contagious disease. It’s not like he asked for any of this. “It’s not like I asked to be born.”
That seemed to have hit a sore spot, if the winces he sees in the other kids are anything to go by. Guess he’s not the only one who felt like their parent didn’t want them. And he just reminded them of that.
He’s not taking it back. Not when he means it. He didn’t ask for his Dad to break some 60-year-old oath. He just wanted to be a kid with a Mom who loved him and Gabe nowhere to be found. He wanted to be able to make friends without people making judgments about him that he had no control over.
But he never got what he wanted.
He’s surprised to feel his Dad’s hand on his shoulder. But doesn’t remove it. Despite everything, there is something weirdly comforting. Even after being called a mistake by him the last time.
“Being a child of a broken oath has only an impact on the child if the parent does not take the punishment for the broken oath. Which I chose to do after my son's birth.”
Oh.
Huh.
That was definitely not something he had been told about. He hadn’t even known that was actually a thing despite Annabeth’s attempts at teaching him things.
(Though really they hadn’t done much other than try to read the Odyssey.)
His Dad whirls back around to Chiron. “Something I made sure I told you after I claimed him. Because I did not want assumptions being made. And yet here we are with you disrespecting not only my son but myself-”
“My lord-”
“Do not even try to argue that, hero trainer.” Percy never knew two words could sound like such a slur. But something about the way his Dad had said it made it sure sound like one. “We would not be in this situation if you had done what I told you from the beginning. So just what have you been teaching these children that they have started sprouting these beliefs and actions?”
Percy catches something that sounds suspiciously like nothing from Mr. D., but it's half-mumbled into the Coke can he’s currently drinking, so he can’t be sure.
“And speaking of your nephew. Just what have you been doing about this?”
Percy frowns. He doesn’t exactly like Mr. D., but in this case, well... He pulls on the sleeve of his Dad’s shirt to make sure he has his attention before he says. “Dad, he wasn’t even there for the shroud burning. I don’t think he knew what the other campers had done.”
There was maybe a point to be made about everything else he guessed. But he also was more than used to adults not doing anything. It honestly had hurt more that Chiron knew better and still decided not to do anything about it.
Chiron had been one of the few teachers to treat him well, period. Let alone when he was back at Yancy. But apparently the minute they’re in camp, that ended.
That wasn’t something he exactly expected from the God based on the few encounters he had with him.
“Your kid is right. I didn’t realize how lax Chiron had become in that responsibility. Otherwise I would have checked.” Mr. D. switches to a language he doesn’t recognize to make a comment Percy doesn’t understand.
But it must have been something that satisfied his Dad. Because he relaxed for a moment before turning his full attention back to Chiron.
“I am taking my son to Atlantis to be looked over. Since it's apparent you can’t do most of what your job actually entails. And then I will be coming to have a long talk with you after I am done.”
Atlantis is beautiful. Though admittedly he doesn’t get a chance to see most of it. Before his dad whisked him away to the palace infirmary to be examined by one of their healers. Who he had insisted on him being given a full body examination.
(His Dad promises that he will have time to see more of it after they’re done. But Percy has his doubts that he won’t just be dropped straight back off at camp.
He’s not even entirely sure what going to Atlantis will do at this point. The issue with what Clarisse did wasn’t anything that a healer can fix. Or at least not this issue anyway.
Since the shroud had nothing to do with the fight during Capture the Flag.)
Which inevitably led to them finding out about Gabe. Because even though those injuries had healed a long time ago.
(Months to years depending on when Gabe had been handsy.)
It was still in the report.
It makes his stomach turn in nervousness. No one was supposed to know about their whole guy secret. And he guesses he doesn’t matter really since, well, Gabe was dead now and couldn’t hurt anyone, let alone his Mom. But he had so trained it into him that no one was supposed to know.
That the idea of anyone finding out made him nervous. Because he had only ever had his mother who cared for him. Everyone else…was distant at best. And that trend carried over into camp.
Because he was afraid that it might mean losing her. And his Mom, as far as he could tell, was the only person who had ever really cared about him.
Gabe had constantly called him a mistake. Something or someone that shouldn’t exist. Had told him multiple times his mother should never have had him. So hearing it from his Dad wasn’t anything new. No matter how much it had still hurt.
But his Dad had shown up at camp when he had found out about the shroud. Had yelled at Chiron for allowing the other campers’ behavior towards him. And then had insisted he get looked at by a healer.
None of that sounded like someone who didn’t care.
It just confused him so much.
He might regret this later, but he still needs to ask why he is even angry. After the comment, he kinda assumed that his Dad's protective anger was a thing of the past. This suggested otherwise, but if that was the case...then why had he said that at all?
“I thought you thought I was a mistake? You said you admitted to it when we met with Uncle.”
He watches his Dad’s face flicker through several emotions rather quickly. First beginning with confusion before settling on some kind of understanding. “I must apologize, Perseus, for letting you think that. For that is not what I meant.”
Percy’s face scrunched up in confusion. That was nice enough to hear, but he just wasn’t going to believe it automatically. “But then what did you mean?”
“That I never should have taken the oath in the first place. We were just postponing something that would come eventually no matter how much my brother wanted to deny it. And all taking the oath did was cause more problems than it would solve in the long run.”
“And you don’t regret dealing with those problems?”
Since he still doesn’t know what the punishment for a God is for breaking an oath. But considering how big of a deal the oaths are supposed to be, he can’t imagine it's a minor punishment.
“No.” His Dad said firmly. “I will admit to having made many mistakes throughout my existence. But the choice to have you in spite of the oath and deal with the punishment was one I made willingly. This is something my family knows and supported the choice in. This was something that Chiron was told to avoid what happened to you.”
Percy has his doubts about the supported thing. Especially without knowing exactly what it was his Dad had done to make sure he didn’t deal with the punishment. But for the moment keeps quiet. Since it's nice to think maybe they don’t hate him for being born.
Even if he’s fairly confident in thinking that will end up being a lie.
“We’ll talk about that more at a later time. For the moment, I am more concerned about the other damage that Althia found.”
Right, the damage he had sustained during capture the flag. Some of which he had already been kinda aware of. Apparently just not the full extent of it before now.
Part of him had known something wasn’t entirely right. He just hadn’t really wanted to admit it.
He had been sleeping more in the aftermath (well, when he could on the quest). He had excused it as just from the extra training. His chest had felt a bit weird, though he had just assumed it was because of the new scars.
He hadn’t thought there might be more serious problems.
It makes sense, of course.
The spear obviously hadn’t been able to pierce the armor. Or else they definitely wouldn’t have been having this conversation right now. He doesn’t really think it helped the situation. But he’s pretty sure that if he hadn’t been wearing it at all. He would be dead.
But that still doesn’t make it any less difficult to think about what happened. What could have happened.
He’s used to people not liking him. But outside of the Mrs. Dodds incident, he can honestly say, as far as he can remember, that’s never ended in his near-death before.
And yet-his hand goes to where the scarring on his chest was-five people had hated him enough to attack him. And someone else had left him to fight them alone. Ending with him having permanent damage to his body because you send that much electricity through your body, it will cause problems.
He had come to care for Annabeth during the quest. But the fact she had been willing to do that at all still hurt.
“Perseus.” He looked up at his Dad. Surprised to see some concern in his eyes. For someone that had said he was a mistake. He sure seemed to care about his mistake more than Percy would have thought. “Are you okay?”
“It’s fine; the scars stopped hurting a while ago now.” At most, they just felt weird at times.
“But they did hurt once upon a time?”
Percy gave a small head nod at it. “It’s not really a big deal. All new scars hurt in the beginning. It fades with time.”
The bigger they were, the deeper they were, the longer it took to get used to them. He had never really had scarring like this before. Most scars from Gabe he had kept small because otherwise his Mom would notice.
And he knew probably the infirmary had something to help with it. But considering how camp had been treating him. He had been weary of asking for help.
So he just dealt with it by soaking in the cabin’s pool in the evenings. And then just ignoring it on the quest. Definitely not the right way to go about things. But what else could he do?
He didn’t have any siblings to turn to. His Mom was stuck in the Underworld. (Not that he probably would have told her anyway. He’s enough of a problem child without her knowing about this.) So he had just learned to manage it. Even if it had been a hard time during the quest.
And since he had gone so long just managing everything else that Gabe had caused on his own. He had just thought he needed to manage it on his own. That it was something he could manage on his own, like everything else.
Not that Clarisse had caused permanent damage beyond the scars that were now riddling his skin.
Okay, so maybe there had been signs beyond the scars that something was wrong. But with most of camp ignoring him, he hadn’t felt like he could turn to anyone just about what Annabeth was saying. Let alone about what else was going on.
He could have told Luke, he guessed. But Luke had a huge cabin of campers to deal with. And was taking time out of his day to train him in spite of that.
“I would rather you never have learned that, let alone at your young age.”
“Yeah, well, you can thank Gabe for me knowing that.”
His Dad’s eyes flashed at that. “Yes, and I will be planning to address that.”
His Dad takes him to family quarters. Telling him to rest up and they will talk later. Since he has more talking to do with Chiron and Mr. D. about what they had discovered.
AKA definitely more talks about what Clarisse had been doing. Since she was now at the center of two controversies involving him. And Percy honestly couldn’t answer the question of what had happened in response to that.
If anything had happened at all.
(Part of him thinks the answer to that question is no. Because if she had, there’s a good chance none of this would have happened.)
He hadn’t met any of his siblings yet. But he had met Amphitrite before he had crashed and slept for several hours. She was a lot nicer than he was expecting for being an affair child. And apparently taking his Dad away for close to a decade because he broke an oath.
(Since eventually he had gotten the details of what the actual punishment for breaking an oath was. Apparently spend a year in a coma and then no contact with the Godly world for the next several years.
He has a hard time wrapping his head around how his Dad’s family doesn’t hate him for that. No matter how much his Dad had said it was a decision he had made consciously to have him and then take the punishment.
And that the rest of the family had supported the choice.
It just doesn’t make sense.
He’s had people hate him for less. He had camp avoiding him for just being claimed. And the sea lost their king because of him being born to a broken oath.
So how could they not have a problem with him?)
Breakfast started quietly, at least even if it didn’t stay that way. When a God he doesn't recognize joins them and starts having a conversation in Amphitrite in a language he doesn't recognize.
It takes him a minute to know who it is, but then he sees it. Twin tails.
Well, he didn’t really know a lot about Greek sea mythology. His Mom had always discouraged him from reading that especially. And he only knew what he had really learned from Chiron in the last year.
But he does remember that the twin tails thing was specific to one God in particular. His Dad’s eldest son, Triton.
He pulls at the edge of the shirt he had been given nervously. Amphitrite, he had kind of known what to expect. Because he knew what to expect from stepparents.
(Pain. Lots and lots of pain and empty stomachs.)
Triton though? He never had a sibling before, let alone a half-brother. Let alone knew what they could be like. And that, to be honest, kind of terrified him.
Especially when it became clear over the course of breakfast. That something was agitating Triton. But since Percy couldn’t understand the language either of them was speaking. He had no clue what was being said.
Other than suspecting it was about him.
Triton apparently asked some kind of question to Amphitrite, who replied. And whatever she said was apparently shocking enough to switch to English. “They did what?”
Oh, so they were probably talking about the shroud then.
“I didn’t see the shroud. But from what your father said, it was subpar at best.”
“I don’t think it even technically was even a shroud.” He admitted. Earning him a confused look from the two Gods. “They just used some bedsheet, drew all over it, and called it a day.”
He had tried not to be jealous of the one Annabeth had got. She had been at camp longer, so of course she would have people to put the effort in. But to just use someone’s bedsheets…the more he thought about it, the more it hurt.
“And I am going to guess that when you say they drew all over it. You don’t mean that in a nice fashion?”
“No, it was obvious they only took it because no one else wanted to make one for me. Not something I’m not used to.” How many group projects had no one wanted to be his partner in? This was this all over again. “But it still stung.”
The loser thing had probably hit home harder than he guessed Cabin 5 actually meant. Considering the fact that no one else could be bothered to make his shroud. And the ones who did hadn’t even half-assed it.
Triton tilts his head in confusion before asking. “What do you mean that you are ‘used to it?’”
Percy just shrugs as he answers. “I mean I was never the popular kid back at school anyway. This is just that all over again. I was hoping maybe things would be different because we all had to have a hard time at school and know what that’s like.”
He tries to wipe away some tears using the side of his hand. It feels silly to get this upset over this. Especially when it's not the first time he’s gone through something like this.
But he really had thought this time would be different.
He thought he was finally going to make some friends. Find a place that he really belonged.
Not end up on the forest floor. Scared for his life as a much more trained older girl had nearly skewered her with her spear.
Camp was supposed to be different. So why did it feel like more of the same all over again?
Poseidon had barely waited for breakfast to conclude. Before he had been dragging Chiron and Dionysus back to the Big House to have a talk about what he was doing.
Or rather, it seemed in this case. Not doing.
As far as he could tell, despite being a God and being at camp. Dionysus was not the main source of their problem. He arguably hadn’t helped the problem from what he could tell, but he hadn’t actively made it worse.
(Which was arguably its own problem since apparently he had missed that there was an issue with funeral rites. But for the moment he wasn’t the focus of his anger.
That would come later.)
But Chiron was the one that was supposed to be teaching the children. And communicating things to the camp at large (like how he had taken the punishment for the oath.) And instead was being very selective on what he was actually communicating.
Poseidon was honestly done with the centaur’s logic before they had started talking in the morning. Just based on what he had found out last night, he wasn’t sure where the centaur’s thoughts were coming from. But he did know none of it seemed to be protecting his child.
And actually, his lack of action was arguably what had nearly gotten his son killed. Since he had never truly punished the ones involved in the Capture the Flag incident. What was to stop any of the children involved from doing any of that again just with a different child?
None of his choices made sense outside of applying to a few people in the camp that he had chosen to favor for some reason.
He had to have known this would eventually come back to be a problem. And yet this entire conversation felt like a novel concept to him. Poseidon knows his other council members are lax in parenting.
But surely he wouldn’t be the only one who would have been angered if their child was killed. And then they had their death disrespected by the camp that was supposed to be such a part of them?
So why did Chiron seem shocked by his anger?
Had he become that out of touch with how Poseidon would handle his own children?
He knew he had calmed down some in recent times. But he still had a right to get angry if one of his children was hurt and mistreated like this. No matter what the centaur’s memory might say otherwise.
Was he trying to sentence half the camp to death with his irresponsibility? Since it certainly seemed like it.
(And all of this had begun. Because he was angry that Chiron could not be bothered to teach the children the proper aspects of their culture they belonged to.)
“My son is permanently scarred and experiencing heart problems.” Just because his healer said they would be able to treat him. Did not mean he wasn’t angry over it. His son had gone on a quest with this because of him. “Because you decided to take the hands-off approach with children you didn’t care about. And you somehow think that is not a problem.”
Perseus wouldn’t be returning to camp or to the surface for that matter for months if he had it his way. They would figure out another way to see his mother.
(Though he had his own thoughts for Sally. He hadn’t had a chance to truly talk to Perseus about the signs of abuse during the scan. But he fully planned to later.)
And if he did return, he would not be coming back alone.
Not after the insult that was the ‘shroud’.
Not after no one was held responsible for trying to kill his youngest mortal child.
“I thought Clarisse was responsible enough-”
“Several thousand volts of electricity in a weapon being wielded by someone described by others as a bully.” Just because not all of the children interacted with the naiads did not mean they weren’t observant of what was going on at camp. “And you never once thought that this might become a problem?”
When had the centaur apparently lost his grip on reality? He should know the dangers of the children that were under his care. And yet, based on what he had been able to get from the naiads.
He had been extremely selective on what children he was teaching. To the point he had to wonder if he actually knew what some of the children could do.
Irregardless, it was dangerous to be ignoring a child with such a weapon. Or at the very least not holding them responsible. And yet as far as he knew, no one had been properly punished.
And if the rumors about the supposed punishment were true. Then that was even more ridiculous.
“That weapon needs to be destroyed.”
And he fully planned on making sure it was. Ares had now wronged them multiple times in the course of under a few months. First with the theft. Then with his child being attacked by Ares’ children for defending himself. And now with the shroud.
Enough was enough.
He was well past due for compensation for what Ares had done to him. An overly powerful weapon that his daughter obviously did not know how to wield destruction would not fix all of what had happened.
But it would appease him.
“That girl can work with simple spears until she can learn not to be a danger to others.”
Which, knowing how some of Ares' children could behave, would take a while. And she definitely seemed to fit the criteria of the ones that would need more time.
(Not all bullies were Ares children. And not every bully was an Ares child. But there was a lot of crossover in the two from what he remembered. And that seemed to not have changed in the past 60 years.)
“My lord, that seems-”
Whatever Chiron was going to say was cut off. By what he suspects is a kick in the leg from Dionysus. Since if he was being foolish enough to suggest that they do not remove the weapon from the girl's possession, then he would really not like his reaction.
“Ares might not like that.” Dionysus points out. Though he has a feeling it's less of a protest. And more ‘might need to watch out for it’.
“Ares still owes me penance for the sheer fact alone that he helped orchestrate my being blamed for the theft of the bolt and helm. And let's not forget that the shroud incident, while not a full-on crime, is a front to myself. Ares has no room to stand on to complain at the moment.”
Asking that spear to be destroyed until the girl could be responsible. Is honestly the least he could demand of the situation that was the last few months.
“He was foolish enough to go against me involving one of my children. He can deal with the consequences.”
“The spear’s gone?!”
To be honest, when his Dad had first found out about what had happened with Clarisse. He hadn’t the highest hopes that anything would actually be done about it. Even if his Dad did seem to care about what had happened.
Even when his Mom cared about what happened. She tended to run up against problems with school officials. And usually nothing really happened.
So to learn that his Dad had actually managed to get the spear that had hurt him destroyed. Was- well, maybe not an entirely new concept to him. Mom had been successful a couple of times. But it was a rare concept at least.
“It’s one of several changes I am insisting that the centaur is implementing as a result of what happened.”
He had kind of wondered about the lack of water activities when he had first arrived at camp. But he had just attributed it to the fact that there hadn’t been any Poseidon kids at camp in a while. And he didn’t know how many minor sea gods sent their kids to camp.
And also maybe there was another option for sea kids that he didn’t have access to because he was a forbidden child.
(Which he would later learn was half true. There was another camp he didn’t have access to. But that had nothing to do with the fact he was a forbidden child.
And it had everything to do with the fact Triton had somehow gotten the family banned from attending the camp.
Which, as he later got to know his half-brother, knowing how Triton was usually. Was hard to think of Triton managing to get himself banned from anything. But Triton never told him what happened the few times he tried to bother his older brother.)
“It might not be traitorous to Olympus. But it is definitely to us. The sheer lack of respect-”
“Breathe, husband, before you send California an earthquake they didn’t earn.”
“It just astounds me that he really thought that I wouldn’t notice eventually. Just because I had no child for sixty years.”
Well, it had taken them sixty years to notice Percy almost wanted to point out. But considering how their relationship was so rocky right now, he kept his mouth shut for the moment.
“So am I going to be going back to camp after this?”
He would really like to, even with the mess-ups. And maybe it wasn’t the safest to have a friendship with someone who had orchestrated his near-death. But he and Annabeth had moved past that.
“Yes, because my brother will get even more paranoid if he doesn’t see you are training there to some extent. But someone will be going back with you that I can trust to make sure Chiron is actually doing his job. I just haven’t decided who is coming with you.”
Well, that was something at least.
He wasn’t entirely sure if that would change things with other campers. But at least things would be less lonely. And maybe this way something like the shroud wouldn’t happen again.
But hopefully, maybe things would be okay with someone that wasn't his Mom for once.