Chapter Text
ZEPHYRUS POV
It was a rather boring day, being a god that seemed as useless as a single grain of sand. The good thing was, the other gods were sometimes naughty and had children with mortals. So they built a camp for them so that no more wars would break out. A very special camp with a very powerful magic item.
The Golden Fleece.
Of course, I had no use for it. So I decided to play a little harmless trick.
I knocked it out of the pine tree that Zeus used to call his daughter, and it landed on the ground with a dull thud in the grass and flowers. I cackled. Then a huffing growl sounded. I had forgotten about that wretched dragon, Ladon. I blinked as my laughter died, and Ladon sent up the warning sign with smoke rings.
"Must've been the wind." I grinned, before dissapearing from the crime.
ANNABETH POV
"We got a problem!" I yelled as I took of running towards the smoke from Ladon.
I reached Thalia's tree first, huffing and panting as I was kinda out of breath. I looked up curiously at the sturdy pine. Nothing looked wrong. It just looked… incomplete. Like something was missing.
"Um, Annabeth?" Kallianna, the newly claimed daughter of Iris said.
I turned. I didn't notice her before.
"Yeah?"
"Um, you might wanna look down?" She said, biting her lip.
I followed her instructions and gasped. The Golden Fleece had been knocked out of the tree and was now laying in a heap on the ground with a large lump under it.
"Kalli, can you help me lift this?" I asked, crouching down.
"Y-yeah. Yeah, of course!" She said with her high-pitched voice.
I smiled at her as she came to crouch next to me.
"Here, you take this side, I'll take this side." I offered.
She tucked her hands underneath the Fleece but stopped. Cautiously, she inched her hand forward. Her eyes widened and I looked up.
'Kalli…?" I asked uncertainly.
Her eyebrows furrowed and her hand crept forwards. She screamed.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's wrong?" I asked her.
"There-There's something u-under there." She said breathily.
My eyes narrowed.
"Or, someone." She offered.
"Someone?" I asked.
I refrained from swearing in the presence of the ten year old.
"Here. Help me lift it."
She nodded and with a huff, we lifted it back into the tree. Who knew that a sheep's fleece that was made of gold would weigh so much?
We stared down at the spot it uncovered. Lying in the soft grass and little flowers was a man, not much older than me. I frowned.
HYACINTHUS POV
I blinked. It felt like I had woken up from the longest nap ever. After rubbing my eyes, I saw two girls, one about eleven, maybe, and the other about sixteen. I sat up from the soft flowers.
"Woah. Where... am I? And, who are you?" I asked.
The two girls exchanged a look.
"Well, I'm Annabeth, and this is Kallianna." The girl with stormy eyes said.
The shorter girl waved enthusiastically. I smiled brightly back.
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.
"Um, good question." I said, then cast my memory back.
"And as for where you are, you're at Camp Half-Blood." She said.
I thought for another moment. Then I gasped as I recalled where I was from, if not my name.
"Well, how close are we to Sparta? I need to get back to my kingdom." I said, standing up and brushing my hands off.
Why was I laying in a field of flowers? No idea.
"Um, nice joke. Are you a child of Hermes?"
A child of Hermes?
"No?" I said.
The girls looked at me for a moment.
"Let's get you to Chiron." Annabeth said.
"Chiron?" I echoed.
Surely he wasn't still training. It was almost sunset. I looked at the sun. It felt wrong, like something was missing.
"Yes, Chiron. He's the activities director." The other girl-Kallianna-supplied.
I nodded. That made sense.
"C'mon." Annabeth said, tugging on my wrist.
We arrivied in front of a serene blue building. It looked like no structure I had ever seen. I stared at it curiously, then walked towards the wall with a hand extended. My fingers brushed the wall, and it was made of... Wood?
"No time to mess around."
I nodded and let myself be dragged by Annabeth around the back of the house. She was kind of scary.
"Chiron! We've got a, uh, situation." She called out.
We rounded the corner of the strange building and I saw Chiron. Don't ask me why or how I recognized him, because I have no idea.
"Oh. A new camper?" He asked.
"Possibly," Annabeth said, biting her lip, "But he kinda, uh, just appeared inside the border? The Fleece was knocked down and when me and Kalli moved it, he was under it."
His eyes turned to stare at me. I was slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but whatever. I stared back.
"What is your name, child?" He asked.
"No idea." I smiled. "I do know that I need to get back to Sparta, though."
He blinked.
"Sparta was destroyed thousands of years ago." He said softly.
It was like all the air had been knocked out of me. Why was my home gone?
"Wait, th-thousands of years ago? What... What year is it?" I squeaked.
"2025." Kallianna chirped.
I felt like my head was going to explode.
"Huh?" Was all I could say.
I stared up at the sun. I felt connected to it, but it still felt wrong. What was off with it?
"When did, uh, Sparta? Fall?" I asked, bracing myself for the worst.
"Like, almost two thousand years ago?" Annabeth said. "Why is that important?"
"I think the condition of which a kingdom is of utmost importance to its prince, yes?" I said slightly snappishly.
Why didn't they know that kingdoms were important to their ruling family?
"Prince? What do you mean?" Kallianna asked.
"I mean I am next in line to the throne of Sparta. Also, where's Penelope? Lovely lady, even if she did go to Ithaca." I said, looking around as if she would jump out a bush.
"What are you talking about?" Annabeth grumbled.
You know your name. You are Hyacinthus.
Okay, creepy voice in my head. Not concerning.
"Oh. I know my name now. My name is Hyacinthus." I said.
They stared at each other.
Kalianna laughed.
"Someone named him after that one guy Will's dad dated." She said meekly.
I looked curiously at her.
Apollo.
"Apollo! Where-Where's Apollo?" I asked.
"I'm gonna call you Cinth, for short." Kallianna said.
"Why?"
"Hyacinthus is kinda a mouthful." She shrugged.
"Imagine trying to have a conversation with the other princes and saying, 'Oh, Peisistratus, Telemachus, Neoptolomus, Eurylocus and Ctimine, would you like some wine?" I said, blinking my eyelashes dramatically.
"You say them like you knew them." Chiron said, eyes twinkling.
"I do." I offered plainly.
"I'm gonna get Will." Kallianna said.
I watched her run off curiously. Then I noticed Chiron and Annabeth watching me. I turned to them.
"Why are you staring at me?" I asked.
"Well, you're claiming to be prince of a place that fell over a thousand years ago, you claim to personally know people who have long died, and you were under the Golden Fleece. And look at what you're wearing." Annabeth said, gesturing at my clothes in horror.
"What's wrong? What are you wearing?" I deflected.
Chiron sighed between us.
"Just sit tight, Will shall be here soon." He said.
I nodded and so did Annabeth.