Archive of Our Own

Percy had forgotten what taking an electric spear to the chest felt like. Intentionally, he had pushed away, trying to remember what that had felt like. Because it was not a fun sensation to deal with. Or, in this case, sensations. 

And this was definitely worse, even if he didn’t want to admit it. Because Clarisse hadn’t actually been channeling lightning through her spear. Just very powerful electricity.

This time though? Well, Thalia hadn’t exactly called Zeus’ name or anything, but it was very obvious she had been channeling her father’s domain in that moment.

And boy was he feeling that after.

Especially since he and Grover had been designated to return the Oracle back to the attic. Which definitely wasn't something his body agreed with. 

“Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” He really wasn’t. His heart kept doing flip-flops, and the only thing currently keeping him from throwing up was concentrating on moving the oracle’s body. But he didn’t actually want to worry Grover.

Probably, in hindsight, he should have said no when the others insisted he return the Oracle's body. Because what were they going to do if he said no? Leave the Oracle’s body in the forest? He doubted that they would actually do that. 

But he just hadn’t had the energy to start up an argument with anyone. So he had rolled over when, in hindsight, he really shouldn’t have.

“You really don’t look that good,” Grover said as he put down the oracle’s body. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Really, I’m fine, I promise.”

In actuality he probably wasn’t but considering how much camp preferred Thalia. And how angry they are over capture the flag. He doesn’t think saying anything will actually make a difference.

The Apollo campers hadn’t treated him well before when he had a problem. He doesn’t expect this time to be any different. He would just take a dip in the fountain after everything was done and then everything would eventually be fine.

That’s how it always worked.

Grover however apparently decides he disagrees with this. And instead starts heading back down the stairs. “Stay here. I am going to get Lee.”

“Grover-” He calls after his friend. But he’s already halfway down the trapdoor steps. Before he can even say his name. He sighs. 

If experience was any indicator, Grover going to get Lee won’t matter.

He’s used to carrying for himself at this point. Even after arriving at camp, some things had just stayed the same. People assumed he was fine because he could heal in water. No one ever asked if he was okay. 

The most attention he had gotten was when the pit scorpion had nearly killed him. And he was pretty sure that was only because he almost died, according to Annabeth.

(But even then, nearly dying hadn’t exactly stopped being ignored before. He had been nearly mauled to death by a hellhound in his first week at camp. And rather than maybe a single ounce of help.

He had been met with cold shoulders.

He didn’t actually need any help, of course, after that attack. But it would have been nice to see that someone actually cared. Since the only person who seemed to care turned out to be a traitor in the end.)

He had wanted to go see a healer after what happened. But when it became obvious just how much the camp didn’t want to do with him. He decided it was just easier to avoid the infirmary. Since he wasn’t sure how much they would actually help.

So he had just squared his shoulders. Dealt with whatever problems came after that night. And eventually they had all gone away, thankfully. 

Until he got into that fight with Thalia.

And he’s not really expecting this to be any different. Even if it would be nice if someone actually cared about what happened, just once.

Percy honestly wasn’t expecting Grover to be successful. He was half expecting the satyr to be returning without anyone. Because that would be par for the course for how his life seemed to go.

But somehow Grover managed to perform a miracle. And so here he was at the bottom of the attic stairs with an annoyed Lee Fletcher. Because apparently there was something wrong he shouldn’t be ignoring.

“Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

Oh.

So now they cared.

Some people probably would have told Percy he should be happy he’s finally getting treated. Percy thought that idea was dumb after everything that had been going on at camp, in his opinion. So instead of being receptive to Lee. Percy just finally loses his temper.

Why did it take until now for someone to notice, "Hey, maybe someone should take a look at him"?

Why had it taken Grover saying something for anything to be done?

Not during the first summer when Clarisse and four of her siblings had teamed up on him for defending himself. Or, arguably, after the hellhound attack that followed. Or any of the other times he really could have used someone to notice he probably was having a problem.

No, he had just been expected to deal with it on his own. Because he had healing powers, so he must be fine dealing with it on his own, right?

(Never mind the amount of issues he had had after the pit scorpion sting. Because he wasn’t a healer and didn’t know how to treat that kind of thing. Honestly, in hindsight, it was a miracle that hadn’t somehow killed him just because he didn’t know how to treat it and his water healing powers didn’t exactly work on it.

Chiron had just let him assume everything was fine. When maybe he really shouldn't have.)

No, it wasn’t until Grover had noticed something was wrong. And he dragged Lee up into this so someone could take a look at him, and they finally realized there was a problem. 

“Well, I mean, you didn’t do anything before when I was having problems. So pardon me for thinking that you might not do anything now.”

Lee at least seemed to realize they had made some kind of gigantic mistake. If the face he was making was any indication. “We assumed that the water-”

“Water doesn’t fix everything.” At this point, he’s not holding back his temper. Everything hurts, he’s nauseous, he doesn’t know where the Apollo kids got the idea that his powers were a magic cure-all. But he can’t handle it right now. “Or did you forget about the fact I nearly died from a pit scorpion?”

Lee goes a rather pasty white at that. “That’s what stung you?”

Okay, just going to ignore it; apparently no one in camp knew about that, going by the several pale faces he sees at that particular revelation. That’s a problem for later, him. 

Percy just ignores him, though, and continues ranting. “Putting my hand in the water is the first thing I did. I only survived because of the dryads because, again, my healing ability fixes a lot but not everything. I probably should have lost my hand after, in hindsight, because I didn’t have the first idea on how to take care of it.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why would I? The minute I got claimed, I got avoided like I was some kind of pariah over something I had no control over. And that only marginally improved after I succeeded at camp. I shouldn’t have to ask for help because someone summoned a hellhound. I shouldn’t have even had to deal with someone accusing me of summoning it when I hadn’t even known about the world for a week. But camp and everyone else likes to blame me for things I don't have control over for some reason.”

Because he had never really forgotten Clarisse’s ridiculous claims. That him, the kid who didn’t even know how to control his own powers at that point, had summoned a freaking hellhound. 

“Instead of being met with any kind of support or help. I was met with cold shoulders from anyone other than Luke and Grover. And technically Annabeth, but at that point she also didn’t like me because of who my parent was. So I don’t know if that counts.”

Luke had been there, but he hadn’t been a constant presence. He had a whole other cabin full of people to take care of. 

“I was supported for four days. Four days and then it all came crumbling down. And then after that no one wanted anything to do with me. Over something I didn’t have control over. Do you know what it's like to be attacked by a hellhound and feel like you have no one to go to for any kind of support?”

Lee had at least the decency to flinch back at that. Seeming to realize just how bad it looked on them. But Percy was still going.

“Do you know what it's like to keep getting blamed for things no matter what you do?”

Because, oh boy, no one had ever said the words that they felt he was responsible for the attack on Thalia’s tree last summer. But he had definitely felt like people blamed him for it for one reason or another.

“No. Because everyone else in this camp has someone. But for pretty much as long as I’ve been here, I’ve been blamed and ostracized and hated for something I have no control over.”

At this point, he was running out of energy. His body really wasn’t liking the rant he had gone on, but he was so far from being done. It was like this whole thing had been a dam-breaking moment.

He couldn’t keep quiet about this anymore. He couldn’t keep quiet about being essentially blamed for something that should never have been his responsibility to begin with.

“Hate seems like a-”

“You all gave the task of making my shroud to the Ares cabin after my first quest.” He interrupts. “Do you know what those shrouds do?”

“...no? I mean, it's not like Chiron doesn’t tend to talk about what happens in the Underworld very much.”

Yeah, he knows. Well, at least he couldn’t blame all the campers for that, he guessed. Though that wasn’t much. He had only found out by accident later, and with how he feels right now.

“If we get into Elysium, our shrouds become our chiton.” He had found that out by accident on a slow day when looking at something in one of the books in Ancient Greek. That had turned what he found was funny at the beginning to a thing that made him sick.

Well, at least with the way Lee went pale, he definitely hadn’t known that.

“Do you know what it's like to realize that apparently people hate you so much that they would rather the cabin that tried to kill you make a shroud than do anything else? Because I sure do.”

There’s a flash of confusion in Lee’s eyes. “What do you mean the Ares cabin tried to kill you?”

Oh, so he guessed that whole incident had been covered up. Or at least part of camp hadn’t been told. Or maybe Luke had lied about the training thing; he honestly doesn’t know which at this point.

“After I protected myself with water by accident.” He was not leaving any room for possible miscommunication about why that happened at this point. “Clarisse and four of her siblings attacked me during capture the flag. Let’s just say today wasn’t the first time I’ve taken an electric spear straight to the chest.”

“That was definitely not the story that got passed around after.”

Yeah, that doesn’t shock him at this point. Though now he wonders just what did get passed around instead. He has a few guesses, knowing Luke and what Annabeth was like with him back then.

But at this point he’s completely run out of steam. He has no energy to even ask what they might mean. That’s a problem for future him that doesn’t feel like absolute crap.

“I’m going back to my cabin. If you actually care about this. Then you can meet me there later.” He said, spinning around to head out of the Big House. He knows technically he is supposed to go to the meeting about the quest. And part of him wants to because they need to save Annabeth.

But also he feels like crap. And doesn’t really feel like being given even more crap from the other campers.

Oh, that quick spin was definitely a mistake. As a huge dizzy spell hit in response to him. And before he fully realized it, he apparently was on the floor.

Crap.

These spells were never really this bad or lasted this long. But then again, Clarisse hadn’t called down literal lightning on him.

Lee dropped down beside him. Putting two fingers on his pulse point. “I think we really do have to take you to the infirmary at this point.”

“Not the infirmary.”

“Percy-”

“It’s full of Ares campers. I don’t want to deal with them.” 

Just because he got along better with Clarisse after last summer’s quest. Didn’t mean he got along with the rest of the cabin. And after being reminded of everything he had dealt with them.

He really didn’t want to deal with them.

Lee sighs. “Fine. I’ll go grab what I think we need and then we’ll move to your cabin.”

Well, he would rather avoid the other camper. But at least he’s not being taken to the infirmary anymore. So he’ll take it.

Lee was furious.

And for once in Percy’s life it felt like the fury wasn’t being directed at him. But rather the people who had caused all of this.

(Which felt like a miracle considering the fact that camp had definitely taken a preference for Thalia after she had been returned from the tree. The difference in the way camp tended to handle her versus him…

Like he was glad she didn’t have to go through the same pain. But it hurt that he still had to deal with that pain at all.)

He’s honestly not sure how to feel about the fury being this late in the game. Nearly a year and a half after the first thing happened. And only because of what happened with Thalia.

But it is nice to have a change for once, he guesses.

“How did this even happen?”

Percy just shrugs at the question. “Clarisse’s spear is electric and she wasn’t exactly holding back during that first fight between us my first summer.”

He honestly doesn’t even remember how many times she shocked him during that fight at this point. He just knows that it wasn’t zero; that was for sure.

Lee frowned at that. “She wasn’t supposed to be going all out with that on campers.”

Percy couldn’t help the laugh at that. Because of course she wasn’t, but she hadn’t listened at the time. “Tell that to my arms that both went numb during the fight when she hit my shield. Or when she tried to run me through with said spear but was only stopped by the armor that really didn’t fit me.”

Apparently, being accused of lying about what Clarisse did was enough to jog his memory of what had happened. 

“Just how did we miss all of this? Head counselors are supposed to be-” 

He’s guessing the rant is more out of habit. Because they literally just talked twenty minutes ago, maybe about the fact he had no one to turn to. “Again, no siblings. I was the head counselor and only resident until Tyson came the next summer.”

Just how much of this had apparently been a result of him being in a cabin alone by himself. And no one apparently thinking that the new kid who just got claimed might need some help?

“At least Clarisse backed off after my claiming.”

“Well, that’s something at least,” Lee said.

Percy shrugged, not entirely sure if he agreed. “I mean, I don’t think you guys really understand just how absolutely lonely I was feeling after I got claimed. I would have picked a fight with her if she had come anywhere near me at the time. I was that desperate.”

Lee at least seemed to understand the impact of his statement. Clarisse had tried to kill him, and he was so desperate for some kind of attention. He had been willing to put up with her.

In hindsight, much like a lot of that summer, he just hadn’t been in a good place. And it showed with that.

And camp had been more than a bit culpable in this whole mess.

“Oh,” Lee said. “Why would you go after someone that tried to kill you?”

“Because when you’re that desperate for attention. You’ll take any kind of attention, even if it ends in pain. Not saying it's a good thing. But you don’t understand how desperate I was at the time.”

Also, losing his Mom hadn’t helped with matters. He wasn’t in a good mental space at that point. He would have taken any interaction, even a negative one.

“I had no one when I arrived at camp. My Mom had just died. And Dad’s claiming…made me lose everything I had managed to gain in a few days. I was already not in a good headspace, and then everyone decided to treat me like I had some contagious disease.”

When he had needed someone the most. When he had needed just a tiny bit of support. All of it had vanished. So of course, when he goes on the quest for his mom, he’s desperate to get her back.

Since, as far as he can tell, she’s the only one who cares about what happens to him. Luke might have once upon a time before the quest, but it was hard to tell with how busy he was most of the time before he had left.

And after…well, he definitely didn’t care, going by the number of times he had already tried to kill him so far.

And at the start of the quest, Annabeth had admitted she couldn’t care less if he died to his face. Which, as much as she loved her…that had definitely not helped with his mental headspace.

One ambrosia a day and this should go away. Eventually. Or at least that was what Lee said.

In the meantime, he did like he always did. He adjusted to the issues and learned to fight with them and hide them to the best of his ability from everyone that wasn’t Grover after he managed to sneak on the quest despite certain disapproval from others.

(Since the one time he had managed to have a conversation with Chiron after everything with Lee. He made it clear, without saying it, that he didn't approve of him going on it. And blamed him for the creek incident.

If Percy had had more energy at that point. He probably would have crashed out a second time at Chiron. Because it takes two people to cause a problem. And Thalia had also been involved in the incident.

But sure, let's put all the blame on him.

Again.

Not like that wasn't the story of his life.)

They still needed five questers. And Percy ended up being the fifth person. Really, by a set of circumstances that most people wouldn't have picked, but it's not like he entirely picked anything within the last week or so.

(Though him not really talking about what was going on wasn’t without its own issues.

Since he had Zoe questioning just why he was eating the ambrosia after he managed to join the quest. And he wasn’t entirely sure if she kept questioning it out of actual concern for his health, considering how badly things had started between the two of them.

Or if she was concerned about losing a quest member from eating too much ambrosia.

She eventually dropped it when he finally convinced her. That yes, this was what the Apollo cabin told him to do. No, she didn’t need to worry about him eating too much.

He's not even entirely sure why she cares, considering how things had been going previously. But at this point he's just not going to question it. They had bigger problems.)

It’s a couple of days into the quest that Bianca approaches him. Saying she wanted to talk to him about something. And considering how new she was to their world. He already had a guess as to what it was.

“You heard my little crashout at the Apollo campers?”

“Most of camp heard it, I’m pretty sure. Even with it being in the house, it still carried.” She admitted. “Do you think they’ll treat Nico the same way?”

Percy hesitated; he wanted to tell her no. That Nico would be fine, but also at the same time he couldn’t. “I don’t know. Not without knowing who your Godly parent is. A lot of my issues at camp go back to Poseidon being my Dad.”

"Why would your Dad make any difference in this?"

Oh right, no one had probably explained the broken oath thing. And how he technically was never supposed to have been born.

Though with the recent show with the spartoi…Even if Bianca and Nico’s parent wasn’t one of his Uncles (though he had suspicions otherwise). Considering how much camp had problems with Underworld Gods. They might have a problem.

"Short version? About 60 years ago, three of the Gods made a promise to never have kids again. My Dad and Uncle both broke that promise."

"And they hate you for being a reminder of a broken promise?" Bianca asked, scrunching her face up.

"Kinda? Big 3 kids are known for having big powers. And since it had been so long since camp had any of us. I think it freaked more than a few of them out, which led to my whole situation."

"That's messed up."

"Yeah, well, that seems to be the story of my life." He admitted.

Bianca's shoulders slouched slightly as he could see some guilt in her expression. “I was just tired of having to be the parent. I didn’t want to make Nico feel abandoned. I don't want him to get hurt. But I just couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe I should have done something else, but I didn't know what to do, and then there was Zoe offering the hunters. And in hindsight, it was probably too good to be true. But I really thought it would work.”

Yeah, that wasn’t something he could exactly relate to. Since the only sibling he had ever had was Tyson. But he could relate to being tired of something, at least.

“If something happens, can you please make sure to look out for him?”

“I can definitely do my best. Our world’s not an easy one to exist in. As you probably got the impression of when I went off on Lee.”

“Yeah.” Bianca agreed, making a face. 

“You okay?”

“Kinda having second thoughts about this.”

“The quest or…”

Bianca doesn’t answer the question. But with the way she side-eyes over at Zoe, he has his answer. 

“I didn’t want to be still in that role. I just wanted to be a normal kid.” Percy’s not entirely sure how normal being a hunter of Artemis can be. But he decides to just skip past that since there really wasn’t anything normal about being a demigod. “And without knowing who our father is. It felt like the only way to get that was with the Hunters.”

A couple of months ago, he would have maybe suggested they come to be with him and his Mom to maybe get a chance to be normal. That would definitely give them a more normal demigod experience. But after crashing the Iris Message with Mom’s new boyfriend, he wasn’t so sure. Since it seemed like his Mom had more going on than he had even realized.

“I want freedom, but at the same time now I’m worried about Nico.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how to solve that.” He admitted. “I will say though if it helps as much as I was upset over with what happened. A lot of it was because I didn’t have any siblings to look out for me. The closest I had to that was Luke, and he tried to kill me during my first summer.”

Which, now that said, definitely wouldn’t help Bianca with her choice. Since she had been told Nico would be looked after. Which he might be, depending on who their parents were.

But the reality was that wasn’t a guarantee.

“I don’t know what to do.”

"As I said, I wish I could help. But I've never been in this kind of position. So I can't really help give any advice." 

He had Tyson, of course. And he had to look out for him when they were at Merriweather. But he doesn't feel like it's a fair comparison to draw. Especially since Bianca and Nico only had each other.

"Nico's a great kid, a great brother. But I was so tired of having to be the parent. Since our mother is gone, as far as I know. And of course with our father-"

"He can't exactly be around."

"No, and none of this is Nico's fault. I just wish I knew more and had more time to process things. But I already took the oath, so I don't know what I can do, if I can do anything at this point. Do people ever leave the hunters?"

"Yeah, you're asking the wrong person here."

"I know, but thanks for listening. Might not have solved my problem, but it's still good to talk to someone who's more upfront about what camp is like."

Yeah, he's not sure if that's entirely correct considering it had taken him two and a half years to say something. But he guessed since he had been the one to say something that Bianca had heard. That was what counted here.

Bianca never ends up getting to make that choice of whether remaining in the hunters is the right one. Since not even a day later she vanishes in the junkyard. Leaving Percy behind with only his guilt to deal with.

Things mostly go okay for the rest of the quest. Or as okay as they can go when you’re talking about a quest to save a Goddess.

It’s on the mountain that things go sideways again.

Someone has to take the burden from Artemis so she can fight Atlas. He already failed once with Riptide because of Ares’ curse. And Thalia is too busy fighting Luke to be able to do it.

So he has to do it.

He’s been doing better since Lee started him on the regimen after Thalia’s shock. So he should be fine taking the sky for what, 15 minutes, tops, right?

It wasn’t like he had much of a choice otherwise. He had to take the burden. Even if he’s definitely suspicious that this won’t end well for him.

And yet somehow he survives it.

His chest hurts and feels weird. And he knows everything is going to hurt tomorrow. But he manages to live long enough for Artemis to force Atlas back under the sky.

He is definitely going to probably need some extra ambrosia after this, though.

He notices Thalia staring at him. “What?”

“What’s wrong with you? You look as pale as a sheet.”

Oh, right, Grover was the only one who actually knew what happened. Because he had stayed during his entire crashout with Lee and follow up. And while people knew he had crashed out, as seen by the conversation with Bianca.

They didn’t know what had caused it, really.

“I mean, there are multiple answers to that question.” He decides to just dodge the question for the moment. He and Thalia had just started getting along; no need to bring up what had happened a few days ago.

He just needs to keep himself together long enough for everything for the winter solstice to be over. That shouldn’t be too hard. A block of ambrosia and faking it, and he would be fine.

It’s not like he hasn’t done something like this before. He’s skilled at hiding what he actually feels like.

(Even if it's a bit harder to hide it when someone’s already noticed something is wrong. Like Thalia already had, apparently.)

Thalia gave him a deadpan look. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean he wants to answer the question.

“I promise it’s nothing to worry about.” Not like he hadn’t been through multiple episodes of this at this point. And had come out of it fine. 

(Never mind Lee had been concerned this entire situation might be a ticking time bomb. If he came up against a big enough stressor. And he probably had gotten really lucky with holding the sky that it hadn’t killed him.)

“Percy-” This time it’s Grover that starts to protest.

“It will be fine. Worse comes to it, I just have Lee look me over when we get back to camp.”

And then Artemis decides to put her two cents in. “Honestly, you appear to need a look at by my brother before then, since that will be several hours.”

Oh wonderful.

Now the Goddess that notoriously doesn’t like guys. Is saying that he needs to be looked at.

So he definitely wasn’t getting out of it at this point.

Like it was nice that people were actually noticing he’ll admit this time. Instead of the usual ignorance that tended to play out when it came to him needing medical attention.

“We already lost one hero in this fight tonight. And while I don't know if this is dangerous enough to be critical, I would prefer not to lose a second out of ignorance.”

Yeah, definitely wasn’t getting out of this one. Or at least not easily.

Of course, things are never that simple after getting to Olympus. Find out what was now going on and get looked over by Apollo. Which his Dad had immediately joined Artemis in insisting was a thing that happened.

But instead of going and doing that, they were caught up in another issue that Athena and Ares were trying to do. Which was to call for a vote to decide if he and Thalia should die since they were the prophecy children.

Great.

Wonderful.

Not like he hadn't already saved Olympus before now. And had literally just saved another Goddess.

No, let's just focus on the prophecy that says he might destroy Olympus. Instead of all the things he had done to help it at every turn, arguably.

Well, he guessed they were children of Zeus. And Zeus' paranoia had never really made much sense to him. So them inheriting the idea of making decisions that made no sense because the prophecy was going to happen with or without him did make some sense.

(Though part of him wonders if this is because of his friendship with Annabeth. When both of their families notoriously get along. Even though his Dad never had said anything about it the rare times they had talked.

And still wasn't saying anything about it now, actually.

Though admittedly that only explained Athena. Ares, he's guessing, has something to do with still being petty over losing the fight on the beach.

Since really one would think a wisdom Goddess would be less susceptible to paranoia. Or at least put more logic behind it. But apparently no.)

Arguably, if he had wanted Olympus destroyed. He wouldn't have gone after the bolt and the helm, even when the deadline had passed. But no, despite his issues with the Gods, that hadn't been what he wanted.

But Athena and Ares seemed to be conveniently ignoring that.

Athena started to get up from her throne. “You seriously can not be thinking about taking him away from this room while-”

So far, the conversation had been going in circles. And Percy was just tired and wanted to curl up and take a nap. But that was definitely not going to happen while any of this was going down.

To his Dad's credit, he apparently wasn't really in the mood to entertain the death vote. If the conversation so far was anything to go by. And going by what he was saying now, he was done with Athena’s games.

"You can't be seriously thinking of taking him away from the council meeting-"

His Dad outright hisses at Athena. “Yes, I am, because there is no point in continuing this conversation. This conversation had never even begun to begin with. The war was on their doorstep, which means the prophecy is happening regardless of our next choices. So what are you trying to do other than possibly doom us all by driving the children away?"

“I am trying to save us. That boy is a danger to us-”

“Ah yes, the child that nearly killed himself trying to help save the world by taking the sky from Artemis. The child who turned over the Opheatorous for his safety rather than kill him and burn his entrails. Despite having multiple attempts to do so. That child, Athena?”

Poseidon isn’t sure when his niece had lost all common sense when it came to this topic. But it was apparent that she had some kind of vendetta against his son.

Since why else would she be saying that he was not loyal to Olympus? Despite multiple shows of the exact opposite.

“The same child that fought Ares to stop a war. The same child who fought father’s right-hand man to give his quest leader more time to return the fleece? That child Athena?”

Athena had at least gone quiet at this point. Seeming to have realized just how foolish she was sounding in accusing his son of being a danger to Olympus. The only person his son was dangerous to in this war was to the enemy.

And he had shown that more than a couple of times now. And Athena would realize that if she wasn’t so angry about the fact that their children had a friendship.

“Wake up. My son is loyal, but he is loyal to Olympus. And only a fool would think that he has any loyalty to the enemy.”

“And you.” He turns to Ares. “I have kept quiet to keep the peace because I had better things to deal with during his first summer and after. But where do you come off suggesting killing my child when you still owe me penance for framing me for a theft? Amongst several other actions I heard about the camp naiads?”

Athena was just flat-out foolish for thinking his son’s loyalty was not to Olympus. He has a few ideas where the fit might be coming from. Though he can't say for sure which one might be correct.

Ares, on the other hand? Was just bitter and angry over being beaten in a duel. And considering what he had been told about the capture the flag incident during the first summer…he really had no grounds to stand on.

He had honestly been waiting for an excuse to hold Ares accountable for him and what his children had done. And this was a free excuse to do so if he thought he would allow a death vote to go through.

And his brother was a fool for even entertaining all of this.

He turns his attention back to Zeus. “If you continue pushing this, you will have a second war on your hands. Because I will not tolerate this anymore. She still owes me for what happened to my granddaughter. And the amount of things Ares owes me in the past year could be its own discussion. They have no grounds to be calling for a death vote for my own child. And you know that.”

He was done with letting things slide. Athena had never really truly apologized for what had happened with Pallas. And yet she thought she had any grounds to be going after his youngest?

It was delusional at best.

And he wasn't willing to play games with Zeus and let them keep entertaining this idea. He was going to protect his child.

Something apparently Zeus finally realized as he waved a hand in dismissal. "Let them go."

That earned him dual protests from Ares and Athena. "Father, you can't be serious-"

Even if, in his ridiculous paranoia, he might fear what Perseus could do. He knows that Poseidon is not bluffing about a second war. Not when things had been tense between the two of them long before the theft.

And killing his child could be the final strike to losing the support of the sea. When they needed it the most.

He would forever deny it if asked how much they still needed the sea to win the war. But they all knew it. Olympus would be razed if it lost Atlantis' support.

Apollo finding out just the full extent of what he had been dealing with was interesting and a bit of a surprise. He had kinda suspected that Chiron hadn't exactly been really telling everyone everything that was going on at camp after the whole thing with Lee. But he also had been told a lot that Gods don't really care what happened to them. And Apollo's reaction wasn't entirely matching with that?

Like, he got being upset. He had gotten upset just a few days ago. But after being ignored for so long, he only got a reaction when he called things out. He hadn't really expected a reaction, just more of what he had grown used to.

But there was also confusion, because at the very least he remembered Chiron saying he would tell the council about the pit scorpion. He doesn't remember a lot about those 24 hours after Luke had attacked him. But he does remember him saying that before he had left him and Annabeth alone.

But if Apollo hadn't even known about that. Then that suggests Chiron hadn't told them about anything at camp, even when he said he would. Why? What was there to gain?

Maybe trying to protect camp from his Dad's wrath? Since his Dad was known for that kinda thing in the myths, even if this solstice was the first time Percy had actually gotten to see it in modern day.

(But then again it was kinda hard to see the wrath. When you barely saw your Godly parent to begin with. All you had to go off of was the one encounter he had had before. And that…really wasn't any indicator that his old behavior had transferred to the modern day. Not with the commentary his Dad had given during that meeting anyway.)

That would make some sense. But he kinda wonders if delaying it might end up causing more problems. Especially since it might have compounded certain things.

Like what happened with Clarisse and Thalia.

Though maybe he had kinda succeeded. Considering this was just now coming out in the middle of winter, when there were fewer campers who might get caught up in his Dad's anger towards Chiron and what was going on there.

(Like he still didn't want campers to die. Just because he had been mad at Lee and most of the others for just ignoring him whenever it was convenient.

Didn't mean that he wanted them dead. As difficult as camp could get at times. There was still a weird sense of belonging there in spite of everything that he only really got there.

And he didn't want to lose that.

So, to say the least, he was still trying to talk his Dad down. Despite his own lingering frustration over what the last two and a half years had been like.)

Apollo getting mad at the lack of healer etiquette, though…Well, it made sense now that he thought about it. But he honestly hadn't expected it at first. 

He was just too used to being ignored by then. Even after the crashout that apparently most of camp and the hunters, by extension, had overheard.

“Why would he not say something?" His Dad asked with a growl.

Percy shrugged at the question. "I don't know. I mean, Chiron said he was going to tell the council what happened. Only thing I can think of is maybe Luke. Since he was behind this."

His Dad looked up at him with a frown. "I thought he was your friend?"

Well, that definitely confirmed Chiron hadn't been telling anyone what Luke had actually been up to. "Not since the first summer. I would rather stay as far away from him as possible. But because he's working for Gramps, avoiding him has been kind of impossible."

If he never saw Luke again, it would be too soon. But as much as he wants to think Luke is dead from the fall. He doesn't think things are quiet that way.

At least this probably explained why Hermes had been so gung ho about sending him after Luke. If the council had never been actually aware of what Percy had told Chiron about Luke being the thief. Then that would explain a number of things.

"Regardless of what Chiron is or isn't doing. I am surprised I didn't hear about this from one of my kids," Apollo said with a frown.

"Lee just found out about it a few days ago. Chiron was the one in charge of treating me most of the time. And just kind of let them assume that anything else the water would take care of. So I think they knew something had happened, but not what had happened."

He might have gotten over some of his anger that had led to the crashout at Lee. But he wasn’t completely over it.

Not after dealing with it for a year and a half.

“So that’s probably why you see some remnants of old injuries from when I was at camp.”

"Yeah, probably."

Because, sure, he had gotten good at patching himself up over the years. Especially after living with Gabe for so long. But that didn’t make him a healer who entirely knew what he was doing.

"Apollo-"

"I know I'll be having a conversation with all parties about this. Since with a war on the horizon, we can't allow assumptions to run rampant. It could cause a number of problems."

“If it helps, I think they kinda realize it now? I kinda crashed out at your kid after last time where they just seemed to be ignoring things again.”

He’s not sure why he’s even telling Apollo this. Maybe to keep himself distracted from whatever the God was doing? Cause the less he thought about how his chest felt funny. The better it was.

“Yeah, I heard about that during the evening prayer. Lee was feeling rather guilty over what happened.”

Oh.

Well, at least Apollo didn’t sound mad about yelling at his kid, he guessed? Cause with his luck with Gods him being mad at him for yelling at his son wouldn't have been a shock.

(Even if some part of Percy knows that had been well overdue. He had been holding back so many things for so long. And probably would have kept holding it back. If Grover hadn't insisted on going to get Lee because he didn't look well after the fight with Thalia.)

“His guilt does not make up for what happened.” His Dad said, choosing that moment to interject.

“Not saying that it does, Uncle. I’m not sure what Chiron is teaching my kids at this point. Since he should have been making sure they knew what they needed to do, since I taught him first.”

Percy decides to interject at this point. “I mean, I’m not sure if he actually is? Since the only time I’ve seen Chiron teaching was for master archery? Everything else he kinda leaves to the other campers for as long as I’ve been there.”

Cause look, it was upsetting that he had been ignored for so long. But also part of him knows that they can’t exactly know what they aren’t taught. And from what he could tell, Chiron ran camp and taught archery.

But beyond that? He didn’t do a lot.

Like, Chiron had been a good teacher at Yancy. But that had only been at Yancy. Now they were at camp. Where he wasn’t really doing anything.

Apollo pinched his nose at that. “Well, he is supposed to be there as a teacher for multiple subjects, not just archery. If he is not doing his job, then he is not fulfilling his part of why he was granted immortality.”

Oh right, the whole being only immortal because he was a teacher. He had kinda forgotten about that.

Which actually just confused him. Since if he had to teach in order to be immortal. Then wouldn’t not teaching affect his immortality?

Or maybe that wasn’t how it worked?

“Looks like I will be paying a visit to camp after the solstice is over to talk with my former ward about what he has been doing.”

“Yes, since it seems your former student has more than a few questions that need answering at the moment.” His Dad said, scowling.

"Can he really get in trouble right now? I mean, with the war coming on the horizon, it maybe isn't the best idea."

Especially considering who had been put in Chiron's place the last time. Like they probably could use another teacher, if he's being honest. But he really doesn't want another repeat of the Tantalus situation.

(Seriously, whose idea had that been? Had they been trying to drive demigods to Luke's army? Because it kinda seemed like that if he's being honest.)

"He may not be able to be held fully responsible until after the war," Apollo admitted. "But we can't entirely ignore it either, since from what I am seeing, he could cost us if something isn't done."

It felt like his life was slowly being turned upside down. And maybe for the very first time, not in the worst way.

Since between the incident at the solstice meeting. And now his Dad was getting worked up over what Apollo had found. He felt like things weren't quite adding up like they used to.

So maybe it was natural that he let slip about the comment his Dad made about calling him a mistake. Since if he really did view him as a mistake, then why had he first gotten involved with the solstice vote, threatening Athena and Ares in one go?

And then had gotten mad about the Luke situation.

It was nice don't get him wrong to see his Dad actually caring about what happened to him. But it wasn't entirely matching up with what he had said before.

So it was probably natural to ask the question eventually. "If you care that much about me that you got mad at the other Gods, then why did you call me a wrongdoing before?"

(To be honest, he almost regretted it just as immediately as he asked it. Since he was afraid the answer to the question was going to just make things worse. But there was no taking back the question once he asked it.)

His Dad's face flashes through several emotions in a moment. Starting with confusion before settling on some kind of understanding. "That wasn't what I meant. Though looking back, I realize how that can be seen as what I meant."

Percy's face scrunched up in confusion at that. "Then what did you mean?"

Because to be honest he was having a hard time seeing what his Dad meant by that comment. That didn't mean he regretted having a child.

Especially since at the time hey had no way of knowing Thalia was coming back. So the fact that he existed essentially meant a war that could maybe destroy Olympus was coming.

It hurt. But he had thought he had understood the comment at the time. Now he's not so sure.

"What I was actually referring to was the choice to go along with Zeus' idea for the oath to begin with. I should have known eventually one of us would have a child again. One can only avoid fate for so long. And so it was inevitable one of us would have had a child eventually."

Okay so that made sense but that just brought more questions in his mind. Because if he really thought the oath was a mistake then there was a new question of- "So why did you go along with it then?"

His Dad gave a tired sigh at that. "Because it seemed like the best choice at the time. Your uncle's paranoia rushed the situation to try and keep any possible chance of razing Olympus didn't allow much time for critical thinking in hindsight."

Oh.

That made sense.

He hadn't ever really thought about how his uncle's paranoia might have effected things back then. But it made sense that it would cause problems beyond just wanting to ignore the possibility of another war.

"There are a number of regrets I have. I wish I could have given you a better life. Better protection. Instead of having to stay away for as long as I did fearing your Uncles might find you among other things. But having you? That has never been one of them."

Percy's not entirely sure if he fully believes it if he's being honest. Not after everything else that he had gone through. But it's nice to maybe think that his Dad cares.

But it will take more then a crashout at the winter solstice to convince him otherwise.

Though the talk of regretting having taken the oath to begin with does have him wondering. Would camp have treated him better if he wasn't a forbidden child?

Or would some of Chiron's biases that he had noticed last summer to children who weren't related to the sky mean things would still be a problem?

He guesses he'll never really know.

Apollo's crashout at Chiron is more then he is expecting.

It doesn't happen immediately after the winter solstice. He's not sure where the Sun God disappears to after examining him. But it becomes apparent he's looking up more information about the camp.

Since one Apollo starts calling out Chiron's behavior. Things start coming to light that aren't just related to the Percy. 

(Which makes him wonder if he should have said something sooner. Honestly he probably should have. But in his defense he had a track record of people not believing him when he brings up stuff.) 

He had been expecting to hear about it after. Maybe bits and pieces of it from his Dad. Since his Dad is making an active effort to be around at the moment either through himself or through his family.

(Since as he said someone needed to make sure he was being trained regardless of an ongoing war. And as they had already seen Chiron couldn't apparently be trusted with that task with Percy.

There was some talks about Percy maybe going to Atlantis for training. But as of right now that was all what they were talks. They hadn't gone any further past that.

There were a lot of things they needed to sort out before it became more then that.)

“You should be grateful that it was Perseus that ended up crashing out over what happened. And not his father after finding out that you seem to have some kind of agenda to isolate him from the other children.”

Yeah Percy still had a hard time wrapping his head around his Dad caring about the whole isolation problem. Sure they had the conversation on Olympus but it was going to take time to get that message through his head.

“I was just trying to-”

“Control the prophecy?” Apollo asked raising an eyebrow. “I heard about what happened during the first couple of weeks he was at camp. And while you may think all of us ignore our children's prayers. That is very much not the case. I listened I just hoped that I was wrong in my suspicions. Now I can see that I was unfortunately correct.”

Judging by the surprised look on a few campers faces. He guesses he isn’t the only one surprised that Apollo actually listened in on that. Since they definitely had gotten the impression otherwise. Especially as far as he knew none of them really responded to the prayers so there wasn't really any reason to think otherwise.

It made him wonder what else the Gods heard. That they had always thought they ignored.

He had stepped back because of the fact that with the way his father had been behaving. It had seemed ill advised to be doing too much of something that might fuel the behavior.

And listening to prayers and possibly intervening because of concerns involving them shouldn't be classified as that. But sometimes he really didn't know what to expect from his father as frustrating as that was.

So he had stowed away that information in case it was needed for later. And it had definitely had been needed.

He just wished he had done something sooner. Realized something was definitely needed to be done sooner.

But that required Chiron not hiding information from him and the others. And well it felt like at times Chiron was allergic to that unless it was someone he actually favored.

“You know that controlling a prophecy never goes well. You are well old enough to know that. And that was something that I made sure I taught you while you were my ward. So why are you trying to do so?”

Percy debated if he should mention the fact that of his only handful of friends that one of them at least knew part of the Great Prophecy? He didn’t want to get Annabeth into possibly more trouble at this point. But he doubted Chiron would mention telling Annabeth something she probably shouldn’t have known at 10.

Just because she was one of his favorites. And he could never say no to any of them it seemed.

(Annabeth had said last year she only knew part of it and had paraphrased it. But he also knew Annabeth pretty well at this point. And he knows how much she hates not knowing anything.

So her knowing the full prophecy somehow. Either by having pestered Chiron into telling her it. Or her having just read the whole thing when she originally found it.

Was not that far of a stretch.)

Also if Chiron had been willing to tell Annabeth what she wanted because of her favoritism. Or had never told anyone about the pit scorpion to protect Luke 

(Apparently hoping like Hermes he might eventually come around. Which oh boy was that a reminder of how alone he was in the camp if that was Chiron's idea behind why he had not gone to Olympus.)

What else did Percy not know about because of the favoritism?

He notices Nico sitting over at the Hermes table quietly. And something else occurs to him. Who else was being hurt possibly by the centaur's choices?

Because Bianca might be gone, lost in the desert. But Nico still remained and as far as Percy knew. Now really had no one else to probably rely on.

Which was definitely a problem if he was right about their father. Considering how Chiron was known to behave about their father in his experience.

"Chiron told me what happened. Or a version of it anyway. I don't know if it's actually true."

Yeah and he's not entirely sure if he should be telling the ten year old how his sister had probably died. That didn't seem like a good idea.

Though he has to wonder with how Chiron can get at times. If Nico might know more about his sister's death then he probably should know. Because for being a thousand year old trainer.

He really didn't handle the whole thing with death very well.

And it really should have been someone else to tell Nico. But who was there that could have done it? Thalia was now with the hunters. Grover was distracted with the possible Pan lead and he had been busy on Olympus. That had left really no one to tell Nico what had happened to his sister. Since everyone else was dead.

So it would have been Chiron to tell him what happened. And Percy winces remembering how Chiron had handled things after he had apparently lost his Mom. He wants to think the centaur handled Nico's loss better. But he has no hope that is what actually happened.

(Though he does wonder why none of the other campers tried to say anything first. He would have if he was there. Nico deserved to be let down gently about losing his one family member.

Not however Chiron had actually done that.

And he knows he can't be the only camper who had experience with Chiron's less then stellar handling of death, grief, and everything that came along with it. He gets the centaur is old but when you're supposed to be raising a camp full of kids who might die before their 20th birthday you would think you would have learned to handle it better.

Instead it almost seemed malicious in how poor he was handling things.

He doesn't know what Chiron has against death. It's a natural part of life. But there was obviously something there.

He gets death can be scary. It had been hard when he had thought he lost his Mom. But sometimes it felt like Chiron had a personal vendetta against it.

Maybe it was an immortal thing? But that didn't fully add up considering there were Gods associated with death. So he thinks he's just never really going to understand Chiron.)

Add in powers that Chiron definitely wouldn't know how to handle since he isn't sure when they had a kid with death associated powers at the camp. And they had a recipe for disaster.

"I am so sorry."

An apology feels like its not nearly enough. Considering how he felt responsible for the death of Bianca and he had promised Nico he would look after her. Only to come up with the very plan that had killed her.

And for a moment he wonders if Nico is going to throw the figurine away. But after a second he just pulls it closer to his chest.

But it's a place to start at least. And Nico might already be tired of hearing it but he still felt he had to say it.

Nico fiddles with the figurine for a second but doesn't put it down before saying. "Everyone keeps saying that but it's not like it's going to bring her back."

Unfortunately true. But he feels like he has to apologize maybe more then the other campers. Because he had told Nico he would look out for Bianca. And he had failed that in the end. 

"I don't know what to do. I know what she probably wanted was for me to stay here and Thalia said she was worried about what might happen to me." Huh guess the conversation they had wasn't as quiet as he and Bianca had tried to have.

And if he's been talking with Thalia he guesses that's how he got the figurine. Since Percy hadn't even realized any of them had held onto it after Bianca's death.

"But I remember hearing what you said to Lee after the game. And that sounds kind of unpleasant"

Bianca really hadn't been kidding then when she said most of everyone had heard the rant. It at least explained why things had been changing after he guessed.

"Yeah what happened with me and camp might not be your experience though. Most kids don't have my experience." 

He's probably the worst example for a reason to stay at camp. Considering camp was just finally now starting to get better about their treatment of him.

And he was just a son of Poseidon. At least his Dad wasn't universally disliked by the majority of camp.

Nico on the other hand…Most of the camp had never seen Hades he's pretty sure. Or at the very least hadn't seemed to draw the connection between the two. And that was probably for the best. 

Him and his Dad had talked after the winter solstice. Helped clear the air on some things that definitely needed clearing. 

(Badly worded comments being one of them. The timing of his claiming being another.)

Along with helping him realize that his Dad did care. He just was not great with words. It also made him realize that his Dad would have preferred to wait to claim him.

Not because he didn't want him as his son.

But because of fear of retaliation from Zeus upon claiming. Since the god king was that paranoid. And Percy wasn't supposed to actually exist. And after Thalia had already been targeted by Hades.

His Dad had rights to be concerned about what might happen upon his claiming.

And he was pretty sure he wasn't the only person who suspected that Hades was Nico's Godly parent. Since he had never been to the winter solstice before now he know other campers had been as part of the annual trip.

And Hades usually came to those.

(But then again maybe they would be in denial like they had been about his parentage. Since in hindsight it also had been kinda obvious who his Dad was. But everyone had played dumb until the claiming.)

Lee had promised him before the quest that they would try to finally do better by him. Nearly two years too late arguably. But they were at least going to try. But he hadn't been back at camp long enough to actually see it.

And he probably wouldn't really see the effects of his crashout at Lee for a few more weeks. If there were any actual changes from the crashout. Well beyond everyone having heard it and him making the DiAngelos unsure of how to go forward.

(Percy was going to believe that they were happening when he actually saw them.)

So until then they were in a kind of limbo. Of maybe things would get better and Nico would be safe here. Or maybe they wouldn't and he would have to protect Nico from the other campers.

It was impossible to say at this point.

But if Nico at least stayed at camp. He could at least keep an eye on him for as long as he was at camp. And at this point Percy was considering moving to the year round system with the war on the horizon it made more sense.

He had been surviving school. Like he always seemed to. But it was exhausting to try to get through a normal school system when there wasn't war coming. And now that there was.

Maybe traditional school really wasn't the best option.

He loved his Mom and he knew this would put a strain on their relationship. But that wasn't exactly new. Things had never been the same since he had first gone to camp.

But admittedly his Mom was only half the problem of what he was considering when it came to Nico. He wanted to be able to keep a close eye on Nico. To make sure he didn't go through what he went through whenever Hades probably claimed him.

And to do that he needed to try and figure out a way to get him out of the Hermes cabin.

And there was a solution to that of course. But he didn't exactly have control over that despite being the one that was actually living in the cabin.

He gets up from the table telling Nico. "Stay put I need to make a call."

Before heading off to his cabin. Where as soon as he was in he dug out a drachma flipped the coin to start the Iris Message and hoped his Dad was in a good mood to entertain this whole idea. Since he honestly didn't know how he was going to feel about this. "Hey Dad I wanted to ask a question if you have a second."

Nico moves into Cabin 3 that evening. Thankfully while his Dad had been surprised by the request once he had explained the situation with Nico he had been willing to go along with it.

That being said his choice wasn't without its issues. Though not necessarily from who he was expecting it from if he's being honest. Though maybe considering their history he should have expected Annabeth to cause problems.

She had always been kinda weird and a bit possessive about their friendship. And more then once it felt like that she thought if he was becoming friends with someone else that it would somehow end their friendship.

Which no, that wasn't how that worked.

Nico he can tell feels awkward about the situation. But he reassures the younger kid to not worry about it. Annabeth should eventually come around on her own and if she didn't it wasn't his fault that she was being like this.

And if she didn't come around then they were going to probably have to have a much overdo conversation about boundaries.

Which was probably going to be easier said then done for both of them. Percy had so few people that he was close to in his life that the entire idea of trying to put a boundary up was difficult.

But this wasn't just about him. It was about making sure Nico was safe. So he would figure this out somehow if he had to.

Is this because of Bianca's death? Because "Thalia told me what happened on the quest."

Well he hadn't realized the two of them had been talking since Thalia was probably busy being the new leader of the hunters. But he guesses since Annabeth is having so many problems right now that it makes sense.

He does have to wonder how those conversations are going. Because if she's basically accusing him of abandoning to look after Nico. He can't imagine she's handling Thalia joining the hunters much better.

"I mean yeah I feel responsible for what happened to Bianca. But it's not just about what happened with her." 

It had been his plan. Even if he knows he probably couldn't have gotten into the same spots Bianca could have because he was finally starting to grow after the years of abuse from Gabe. He still feels responsible for not being able to save her.

Since he knows lost doesn't always mean dead. It just was what happened in this case tragically.

But what happened with Biance really wasn't the only reason why he wanted to look after Nico. If he really was another child of the Big 3. Then he almost certainly needed someone keeping an eye on him.

Just because Percy had managed to get by on his own. Even if it had been difficult at times. Didn't mean he wanted Nico to go through that same experience.

And Annabeth…just wouldn't be able to understand that.

Or at least not in the same way.

Annabeth had always had her siblings, or Luke, or Chiron. At the very least from what he knew she never had to worry about being isolated because of who her mother was.

All of her worries about abandonment from what he knew came from her childhood and then losing Thalia the first time. Not great but not entirely what him and maybe Nico could go through.

"Then what is it about?"

"Not wanting Nico to go through what I went through."

Among other things Nico didn't have magical water healing powers. So if camp decided to start pulling away from him like they had Percy. It would be a lot more dangerous for Nico.

"I'm used to not having a lot of friends. That's just how its always been. But just because that's my experience doesn't mean it should be everyone else's. Especially when it lead to its own issues."

Because part of him knows he probably shouldn't have just ignored the episodes for as long as he did. But he was so used to hiding things and camp's distance he just learned to get by.

But now he had a younger camper he needed to look after. And needed to be modeling better behavior for. So yeah things were going to be changing.

Even if it maybe made them a bit uncomfortable.

"I am allowed to have other friends Annabeth. I don't know why you think that me hanging out with Nico or any of the others means I'll stop hanging out with you. But that's not how it works, that's not what I'm planning to do. I promise."

Part of him wonders if Luke had something to do with this. Considering how things had went down right after he got claimed. He can see how easy it would be to fall down the rabbit hole of thinking that he can only rely on Luke because he was the only one around.

It makes him wonder just what he's never been told about before he came to camp.

Part of this he thinks has definitely something to do with what happened with Luke. But without knowing entirely what happened on the mountain after she had been released from holding the sky.

It was just impossible to say how it had effected things.

"I promise you I'm not going anywhere."

That seemed to help a bit since Annabeth's shoulders slouched a bit. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep."

Right with the war that might be easier said then done. And then there was everything with the Great Prophecy which he was taking on.

(There was no way he was letting Nico inherit that burden. Not if he could help it.)

"Okay at the very least I am going to try my best. And I can promise you that me making other friends doesn't mean you'll lose me to them. Okay?"

That seemed to at least satisfy Annabeth if the way she slightly relaxed was anything to go by. "Okay."

Percy was happy to see that camp was at least trying to do better.

Lee had seemed to learned his lesson about not checking him after the crashout. And had maybe overcorrected in the opposite direction in a way Percy was definitely not used to getting attention to.

And it wasn't just Lee that changed in the aftermath of crashout. Not everyone was trying to be friendlier (which was a bit weird after being kinda ignored for so long) but at least he could name more then two people now it seemed that realized maybe just socializing with their own cabins might cause problems.

To Percy it was most evident with Nico. Nico still hadn't been claimed by Hades. But it seemed to be an open secret among the campers that's who his Dad was he was pretty sure at this point.

Percy wasn't sure if the behavior would change once Nico got claimed if he ever did get claimed. Since Chiron had so many issues with Hades, the Underworld and death in general. And that had definitely rubbed off on other campers.

(Seriously what was with Chiron's problem with death?)

But at least if the campers did decide to distance themselves from Nico if he got claimed by Hades. He could at least provide support for him. Since he wasn't going to let Nico go through what he went through if he could afford it. Though it might mean rearranging his current schedule.

(Which was why standing his ground with Annabeth had been so important.)

On non camp related news, Percy was currently spending the weeks at camp or Atlantis depending on the week. Learning so he would be ready for the war. And the weekends with his Mom.

(It had been suggested at one point that he return home for the remainder of the semester by Chiron. Though that had been quickly called out as another attempt at not teaching a child by Apollo. Since with the war on the horizon Percy needed more time at camp training.

Not less.)

His Mom hadn’t been happiest about the choice to remain at camp even during the week. Much like with Chiron she had wanted him to stay home. But she had been outvoted on that opinion by Apollo and his Dad.

Apollo had told her that part of having a child so connected to prophecy. Meant that he needed to be in their world more, not less. And had been reminded that this was something she had been told prior to having Percy.

Which was news to Percy. He honestly hadn't known she had been told that amount of details.

And with Percy actively choosing to take the prophecy after finding out about Nico. He needed more support and lessons not less.

He couldn't just keep paying attention to his demigod side when it was convenient. Or when he was at camp. He really shouldn't have done that from the beginning. But he had just been trying to make his Mom happy by coming home.

Now though…he couldn't afford that option.

Apollo had also brought up a question that Percy hadn't wanted to think of. And honestly still didn't want the answer to if he was being honest. But…what had been her plan for him as he got older?

His scent was supposed to get stronger as he aged. Which meant arguably Gabe's scent would have stopped working as well. And if that happened would his Mom gone looking for someone worse then Gabe?

He doesn't want to think about it. Growing up with Gabe had already been a bad experience. He can't imagine someone worse then him. Let alone someone his Mom had married to protect them for their world for as long as she could.

Eventually at some point for his own safety he would have to go into their world. No attempts at hiding the world through other false protections would keep that from happening eventually.

He doesn't want to think about the idea of someone worse then Gabe. Gabe had already been hell to live with. But his Dad was right as much as part of him didn't want to admit it. What would have happened if she hadn't sent him to camp?

She had always talked about wanting to keep him close. But close meant dealing with Gabe and dealing with his stench to protect him from the Greek monsters.

Eventually their luck would have run out.

And he doesn't want to think about what would have happened then. What had happened two years ago had already been bad enough.

He doesn't want to think about losing his Mom to a more human monster.

He doesn't want to worry about losing her again. Paul so far has been nice. But so had Gabe for a while so he's not ready to entirely trust him. That will take a while. 

And that's part of the reason he keeps coming home. Not just because he wants to see his Mom. But because he wants to make sure she's safe. Because he has somewhere to go now if things get bad again. But it isn't so easy for her when she's already talking about moving in with Paul.

(Everything feels like its moving too fast. But he's not sure he can tell her that without confessing that Gabe had been hurting him for years. And she already had dealt with enough raising him.

She doesn't need to know about that.)

Things with him and Annabeth are still complicated. The conversation they had had had definitely helped some but he can tell she's still struggling with te entire situation. And he's not sure if anything other then time will make her understand it.

If she will ever understand it at all.

He doesn't think his time away in Atlantis is helping things either. They've not talked about that aspect of the change in his relationships impacting theirs but its kinda hanging over them as something they can't really fully address.

Percy needs this time. He needs to learn how to control his powers if he is going to survive the war ahead.

But Annabeth doesn't seem to really understand that. And he thinks it has something to do with not having her own powers (or at least not in a 'traditional sense.) And the own issues with her own family. She seems to be able to somewhat understand the growing relationships with camp.

But not so much with his Godly family.

And honestly that is one thing that is so different he doesn't know how to entirely fix it. Camp is one thing, family issues is entirely another. Especially immortal ones.

And he's pretty sure Annabeth isn't the only one with an issue with his dips to Atlantis. There has to be some definite jealousy from the other campers. But no one's said anything at this point.

And after the crashout he's not sure if anyone will say anything. Which again he would rather people just say what they're thinking at times.

Somehow the war is looking like the simpler thing and he doesn't understand how.

It feels like he just exchanged one problem for another. And he doesn't even know how to fix this one unlike the last time.