Chapter Text
(Chapter 4)
The council watched in horror as the birds descended on the children.
“The kids!” Hermes cried, standing. “Dionysus!”
“Do not!” Zeus boomed.
“But—!”
Zeus glared. Hermes grit his teeth and sat back down.
On screen, children were frantically running everywhere, screaming in terror while trying to escape the birds. Dionysus was flagging. The vines were slowing; his grip on his chosen mortal form was wavering.
“Don’t mean to question or anything,” Ares muttered, “but…we could lend a hand—”
“We must not interfere!” Zeus said.
The council was silent, several shifting in dismay.
Water joined the vines; the gods’ attention shifted to Percy.
Poseidon tensed when one got him on the back, leaving bloody claw marks across his shoulders.
“Too many!” The boy yelled, a water bottle in hand. He was pulling the water out, using the stream like several spears. “How did Hercules do it again?”
“That water bottle is extremely filled,” Hera commented neutrally.
Hermes bared his teeth in a smile.
“Forget the water bottle, we’re not going to talk about the crown?” Ares muttered.
Poseidon’s smile was even bigger.
A plan was formed; Athena’s child thinking quick.
“Clarisse!” The boy barked as they turned to head towards the house. “Help Dionysus protect the kids!”
“Don’t tell me what to do!!!” Ares’ daughter snapped back, but she charged into the chaos and cut a path towards the god.
“Tantalus is not who I would have chosen to watch over the camp,” Aphrodite commented lightly after seeing the man’s form of “helping.”
Demeter hissed at Zeus, outright glaring fiercely. Apollo sniffed in agreement; his finger twitched, and on screen Tantalus tripped.
Zeus ignored them.
The children got the boombox to play, sending the birds scattering.
The camp was wrecked, almost all campers injured one way or another.
“And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race.”
Both Poseidon and Athena growled when the man turned on their children. They eyed each other in disgust for a moment, before deciding a fight wasn’t worth it.
“Go chase a donut!” Percy snapped.
Ares barked out a laugh.
“Spirited,” Artemis commented lightly, a smirk on her face.
“Dionysus,” Apollo breathed, drawing their attention to their youngest member.
He had sat down where he was, vines crawling back to him like a funeral march. Percy was bent down in front of him, looking concerned.
His eyes were dull; he looked not all there.
“Zeus,” Poseidon rumbled warningly. Everyone else glared at the king.
By the hearth, Hestia flickered into view, a frown on her face.
“Please help him back to the Big House,” Percy said, “and get him some…thing to drink.”
Percy and Dionysus’ two boys looked up at the sky.
Zeus opened his mouth; Hestia stepped forward.
Her frown grew more pronounced. She gave him The Look.
He closed his mouth.
“Lady Ariande,” Percy murmured, “if you can hear me, Dionysus could use some support right now.”
Hermes and the others sighed in silent relief.
Hestia flickered back out of sight.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on clean-up.
“He’ll be fine,” Apollo assured Poseidon as Percy helped another camper to the infirmary. “Will is one of my best.”
“I think you mean ‘terrifying,’” Hephaestus muttered, watching the sun child descend onto the sea child like a feral animal.
At least the boy looked amused, shark teeth pulling across his face as he ruffled the wolf-child’s golden curls. He almost lost a few fingers for it, but he laughed gleefully instead of shying away.
“Why,” Apollo said, smiling innocently, “I’ve no idea what you mean. He’s just precious.”
Hephaestus shook his head ruefully while Artemis chuckled.
“If he’s really found it,” Athena’s child murmured, “and if we could retrieve it—”
“Then it could help Thalia.”
Zeus sat up straight.
Athena sighed at Annabeth’s summary of the story. “It was Phryxus and Helle, not Cadmus and Europa,” she murmured.
“I think it was actually Phryxus and Helle, not Cadmus and Europa,” Percy muttered.
Athena looked at the screen in horror, much to the others’ amusem*nt. Poseidon smiled at her mockingly.
“Sorry,” the boy coughed. Athena’s child was looking at him much the way her mother was. “River hyper-fixation. Anyways…”
“‘River hyper-fixation,’” Hermes repeated. A large smile played on his face.
Poseidon muttered, “Dardanelles, also known as the Strait of Gallipoli, or—”
“Hellespont,” Apollo finished gleefully. “How cute.”
“What an odd thing for a child to be interested in,” Demeter commented. “Though I guess unsurprising.”
“The Fleece,” Zeus interrupted. “Would it work?”
“Possibly,” Apollo shrugged. He smiled sweetly in the face of Zeus’ stern look. “I have a feeling we’ll find out.”
“We’ll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there’s only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters.”
Percy shrugged.
“Two words,” he said, “brother, sea.”
Poseidon huffed in amusem*nt.
“We’ll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He’ll say no.”
“Probably,” Percy agreed, “or we can try asking tonight at the campfire in front of everyone. They’ll pressure him. He won’t be able to refuse, and if he does…I’m going anyway.”
“That’s the spirit,” Hermes muttered. He glanced down at his phone, fingers flying across the keys, then grinned.
The gods watched Percy back Tantalus in a corner.
“Ouch,” Ares grumbled, picking at his nails with his knife.
“Oh?” Demeter asked, arching her brow. “Not happy that your daughter received the quest?”
Ares shrugged. “Getting the credit for someone else’s achievements, that bites. She knows it too.”
Percy smiled. He said nothing in the face of Tantalus’ insult. His eyes tracked him heavily until the fire died.
It was obviously unnerving. The gods snickered when Tantalus practically ran away.
“Coward,” Ares sneered.
“Where is that child going?” Athena asked.
Zeus leaned forward, a hand enclosing around his lightning bolt. Poseidon glared at him in return.
Percy made his way to the tree, as if drawn to it.
“Uh,” Hermes broke the silence, “I don’t…think he’s supposed to be able to do that.”
He was met with only stunned silence.
“Fascinating,” Apollo finally breathed. “He just…pulled some of the poison out. Not all of it, mind you, but enough to give the tree a few more weeks. We were just about to watch it fall right then and there.”
“…poison is a type of liquid,” Poseidon murmured in consideration. “It is possible…unlikely, but possible…”
“Possible what?” Zeus demanded.
Poseidon didn’t answer. He sat back in his chair, lips sealed shut.
Zeus huffed in annoyance. He waved his hand at the screen, shutting it down, and disappeared in a flash of lightning.
Hera sighed at his dramatic exit.
“You’re all dismissed,” she said, “but keep an ear open, I have a feeling he’ll be summoning us again.”
“Joy,” Ares muttered, snapping away.
The others followed, scattering.
-
(Chapter 5)
“That brat!” Ares roared. He had launched himself to his feet. “How in the—He just—POSEIDON!!!”
“Do not look at me,” the god snapped. “Might I remind you that just because those souls owe you a debt doesn’t mean you get full command of a sea-faring vessel.”
“But to pull it from a god’s hands,” Demeter pointed out quietly. “A demigod, might I emphasize, pulling from a god’s hands.”
Zeus looked torn between impressed and shocked.
Poseidon huffed, but said nothing. He looked back at the screen, where the two girls and the young cyclops were scrambling to find the boy. A slight twitch of his hand had them pointing in the right direction, where Percy floated unconscious on a piece of debris.
“Oh,” Apollo said. Poseidon avoided his truth-embodied nephew’s eyes. “Oh.”
“What?” Ares snapped, enraged.
Apollo’s mouth closed and he said no more.
Ares disappeared with a snarl.
-
(Chapter 6)
“Eat the gummy,” Hermes muttered.
He pointedly ignored Zeus’ stare when the boy did as told somehow.
“Guess she moved away from pigs,” Percy muttered, having found the little cage in the corner.
“Smart boy,” Poseidon grinned.
Athena huffed. She would not be impressed by the sea-brat.
She refused.
They watched as Circe metaphorically shot herself in the foot with Annabeth, and Percy threw the resort into chaos by de-transforming the pirates.
“So that’s what happened to him,” Ares mused. “Always wondered…”
Hermes and Apollo looked at him in barely veiled disgust.
“Oh!” He made a face at them. “Can it! He was one of my rudest.”
Hermes made a face back, while Apollo waved his hand as if to say ‘fair.’
“About time!” Ares’ female child barked when Percy made it back to the boat.
They shot off into the sea.
“Couldn’t just leave them with the pirates!” Percy yelled back over the wind. “Not with their magic not working!”
All the goddesses nodded in approval.
“Glad we didn’t have to watch that massacre,” Aphrodite said primly. She continued painting her nails.
Athena glared something fierce at the council as they watched her daughter admit her fear.
“Ease it up over there,” Ares muttered, “honestly, you’re going to set something on fire.”
If anything, her glare got stronger. Ares cursed and patted out the flames on the corner of his chair. Hephaestus huffed and, without even looking up from his tinkering, waved his hand. The unnatural fire was doused.
“I think she needed to hear that,” Dionysus said quietly, having joined them somewhere between the children leaving Circe’s island and approaching Hephaestus’ forge.
“Definitely,” Apollo agreed. He looked over Dionysus closely.
“Quiet,” Zeus muttered. “They’re approaching the Sirens.”
The council fell silent.
“Percy. You…looked like you belonged down there.”
“Damn your child,” Poseidon growled. “She dares—after he risked his life and saved her, no less!”
He had finally let off the tight grip he’d had on his throne. The marble armrests had nearly cracked after he had watched his small son dart in-between sharp debris and floating mines towards certain death. How close they had been to the Sirens…
Athena said nothing, her lips tightening.
What could she say? Her child had been saved by the sea-brat, and she’d just spat in his face for it.
The other gods were murmuring amongst themselves. The sea-child, she was aware, had already endeared himself to half the pantheon. Even now, Dionysus looked tense, and Hermes’ eyes were dark, his snakes curling around his neck in agitation. Ares might have put on a show of disinterest, but the way he had stopped fiddling with his knife was telling.
Apollo spoke quietly with his sister. His eyes were half-lidded, but a storm brewed there.
How he had gotten the Sun God’s attention, Athena didn’t know, but a minuscule part of her pitied the child for it.
“The girl’s fear was understandable,” Demeter pointed out, ever the mediator. “Her experiences have shaken her core.”
“But she could have approached the topic better, and she especially could have made sure they were in complete privacy,” Hera answered gently. “She is a child of wisdom, she should have been more wise.”
Instead…
“…if I hadn’t known it was Percy, I would have thought him the monster.”
At least Ares’ spawn had some sense.
“Annabeth Chase,” the girl snapped, looking enraged, “get yourself together.”
But the damage was done. The boy had heard her, had turned away with dark and hurt eyes.
Even though he hadn’t made any mention of the conversation…
He would remember this, because what child wouldn’t remember being called a monster by someone they considered a friend?
-
(Chapter 7)
“A clever way to move forward,” Demeter commented.
The children had dug a trench in front of the boulder, and Percy now manipulated water around it, forming a net-like structure to pull it forward.
Gravity took hold and, urged on by water, the boulder tumbled from its hole.
A blur of white practically smashed into Percy.
“Grover!” Percy exclaimed, smiling in cheer.
“Run, you morons!” Clarisse barked, darting past them a few moments later as a roar echoed towards them.
“Eloquent,” the agricultural goddess commented, looking highly amused.
Ares snorted in agreement.
The children bolted for the ledge they’d come from, scaling it in record time.
“Nobody!” Athena’s child yelled in reply to the Cyclops, distracting him.
Poseidon groaned.
It was Athena’s turn to smile at him mockingly.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t grow annoyed with that man too,” Poseidon snapped.
Her smile turned into a frown. She didn’t say anything.
“I was unaware he’d gotten any sort of ground manipulation,” Demeter said lightly.
“Earthshaker,” Poseidon emphasised.
She tilted her head in acknowledgment. “I’ve never seen it used that way; it’s clever.”
“They have the Fleece!” Hermes cheered, “wonderful, now they just need to make it back.”
-
(Chapter 8)
“We used to sleep in cuddle puddles,” Hermes muttered petulantly.
“It was the only way to get you to stop taking my things,” Apollo pointed a newly-painted blue fingernail at him in mock-anger. “My cows, Hermes, you little sh*t.”
He grinned in response. “You got the lyre from it, didn’t you?”
“You gave a twelve-year-old a credit card?” Athena asked in disbelief. “A twelve-year-old boy?”
Poseidon shrugged, enjoying the consternation on her face.
“He’s proved himself responsible,” he defended. “His mother raised him well.”
“Oh,” Athena muttered, “thank us, that means he’s not like you.”
“Not like him, my ass,” Ares muttered, “the chaotic little sh*t.”
Poseidon preened at the praise.
“That wasn’t a compliment,” Apollo dutifully informed him.
The sea god shrugged.
Clarisse was sent on ahead. The other children were waylaid.
The room became tense.
Hermes ducked down in his seat, head down.
“Spies,” Artemis hissed. “That is not good—”
“Excellent, Percy,” Poseidon murmured, “get them to question their choices.”
“Oh!” Aphrodite leaned forward, setting the nail polish aside as the children summoned an IM. “That’s clever!”
Apollo grinned, pleased. “Behold, father,” he said, “Chiron’s name has been cleared.”
Zeus stared at him sullenly.
“I am not sure why you thought ignoring the God of Truth was a good idea.” Hera sighed in exasperation. “He cannot lie, my dear. And Chiron would never—he has argued in favour of the children for centuries.”
“Silence,” the king grumbled.
At the mention of the Titan-Lord, Zeus waved away the screen and disappeared.
No one moved. Hera waved her hand and the screen reformed.
“You’ll never leave this boat alive.”
“Excuse the language, or don’t, but you’re such a dumbass.”
The council exploded into laughter.
A wave swallowed the deck. Poseidon grinned, hand slicing downward to ensure many who went overboard would not ever resurface.
A sacrifice was a sacrifice, after all.
The children were gone, having dove into the water on the opposite side. Percy formed them air bubbles and they were off. They got to his boat within minutes and quickly shot off up the coast.
“Otherwise…well, don’t give information if it’s not asked for.”
“Are we sure he’s not one of mine?” Hermes mused, his form rippling back to one younger.
Apollo eyed him in concern. Artemis shifted as if ready to run.
The god put his hands up in surrender when Poseidon snarled at him. “Okay, okay,” he said, “never mind.”
“That’s an inside thought,” Hephaestus muttered. The little bird he’d created chirped in his hands.
“Unless you want to get eaten by a possessive shark,” Ares finished.
“It would appear that the…trip has been completed. I rather think Zeus will not be calling for another meeting so soon. You are all free to go,” Hera announced.
The meeting formally ended, and they all popped away.
