#just thinking about Poseidon making a point to say FORMER friend Luke

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

It’s pretty funny narratively that Poseidon doesn’t approve of Percy’s relationship with Luke in the same way Athena doesn’t approve of Annabeth’s relationship with Percy.

[lilislegacy]

So a lot of people talk about Percy becoming darker and crossing lines in Tartarus but I think a less talked about moment is when Percy got Bob to “kill” Hyperion. One of the reasons this moment is so startling is not just because we don’t view it from Percy’s perspective but because of how much a similar path Percy has been taking to Luke recently.

One of the reasons I think Percy really hates Luke for most of the first series despite I think mostly agree with him is that from his perspective Luke was the type of person to use his relationships with people as leverage. Annabeth, Thalia, Silena, even Percy. He was willing to use people’s trust and affection as a tool to further his goals. And Percy who values loyalty above all else, finds that to be a evil trait of his.

I don’t think in the end Percy hated Luke but that was the aspect that he may have unconsciously drew between them.

Then in Tartarus we have Percy using his friendship with Bob to manipulate him to “killing” a relative while hiding info from him.

It’s a really dark turn that I sure wish was addressed or followed up on!

The poison control is whatever, but this is the real moral tightrope.

this is really interesting

and i agree! i’ve always thought the reason percy hates luke so much, and hates being compared to him, is because luke betrays and manipulates people who trust him. percy himself, who’s defining trait is loyalty, thought luke was the first person in the demigod world to be his true friend. and then found out luke’s generous “gift” to him was meant to drag him down to the darkest pits of hell. that’s… pretty extreme betrayal. then to find out luke willingly poisoned the entire camp - his former home, his family’s home - is beyond percy’s understanding. then not to mention everything he did to annabeth, and thalia, and grover… luke is a traitor, which is the exact opposite of percy’s moral structure. hence percy never wanting to be compared to him.

but like you said, percy is a lot like luke in many ways, whether he likes it or not. however, i will say that when luke asks others to do things for him, it’s for his own personal agenda. but percy asking bob to kill hyperion was so that way percy and annabeth could make it out alive and save the world. so i have to give credit where credit is due. percy had overall good intentions.

BUT, as much as people don’t like to admit it, percy can be a real asshole. the fandom likes to make percy into this sensitive, emotional, defenseless little girly pop who’s favorite activity is braiding hair. (they also make him dumb). and as much as i do love sensitive guys like that, it’s not canon percy at all. percy is usually a sweetheart, it’s true. he’s a gentleman; very kind, funny, and reliable. but percy is also a tough ass dude. he’s rough around the edges. that was the whole point of seeing him from other POVs in HoO: percy’s view of himself is NOT how anyone else sees him. he grew up in freaking new york city. he skateboards and gets into fights and cusses like a sailor. he has an unpredictable temper, sarcastic humor, and doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit. he’s the reckless, quick-to-anger, super powerful half-god son of poseidon, and he’s done some really harsh things. there’s a reason people find him intimidating as hell. and as loyal and kind as he is, and as much of a mama’s boy that he is, he can also be really insensitive to other people’s emotions. remember how he treated upset annabeth in BotL? remember how he treated nico… many times? remember how he was an asshole to leo? and to jason? it’s just that sometimes when others are going through hard things, percy kinda seems to have a “ok and? we all go through unfair shit” mindset, or just doesn’t even think about it. he does realize this about himself in tartarus, which is why he feels so bad for using Bob in the past, and being unappreciative of Nico. as percy grows, he becomes a better man. but he’s still not the sensitive and emotional type, and can be really damn ignorant.

so i definitely think you’re onto something when you talk about how he used bob. and while i don’t think it’s the same as luke, percy has done things - harsh and insensitive things - similar to luke. a realization that would probably send percy into a dark place.

[demigodsanswer]

A Marriage of True Minds

So I can’t get this AU out of my head, and so this happened. 

Summery: Percy and Annabeth are in line for their own respective thrones, and have only met in person once when they were twelve. But for nine years they maintain weekly correspondence, becoming, in many ways, each others closest friends. When they are both 21, Annabeth, particularly, is feeling the pressure to get married. After a bad encounter with a suitor at 16, she puts it off marriage prospects until she is 21, when she has the perfect idea: ask her best friend to marry her. 

(TW for attempted rape) 

Poseidon’s kingdom is on the south east side of the continent, where as Athena’s is north west. The kingdoms have a past history of bloody war, but they have been a relative peace for about a century. Still they aren’t close, and the leaders of the respective nations rarely actually communicate or see each other. 

The last time either leader traveled to the other kingdom was when Athena and Annabeth traveled to Poseidon’s kingdom for his marriage. Percy and Annabeth met there as 12 year olds, and spent the month playing and training together. Because Athena’s kingdom is a matriarchy, they have no problem with Annabeth learning to sword fight, and Percy is happy to have someone his own age around to practice with. 

 King Poseidon had previously been married, and had two sons with another woman, the Queen, but she passed away when Percy was 11. Percy was raised in his father’s palace, but as a bastard. When his father married he mother, he was legitimized, making him third in line for the throne. 

At the end of the month, when Annabeth leaves, Percy promises to write her. This starts off a nine year friendship built exclusively over letters. 

Annabeth is first in line for her throne, and therefor gets a lot of marriage proposals once she turns fifteen. 

Annabeth complains about these men pretty consistently to Percy, hoping that he proposes marriage. She hasn’t seen him in years, but he was cute when they were twelve. And physical appearance doesn’t actually mean much to her. She knew they got along intellectually and that was all she wanted - a marriage of minds. If he was good looking, that was great, but she didn’t need that. 

But that doesn’t happen. And Athena never suggests him either. Annabeth pretty much figures out that it’s because of his former bastard status. Athena hasn’t even considered his proposal if one has been made, but, likely, Percy sees himself as unworthy. 

Athena turns down most suitors for Annabeth, but there is one who makes his way through. Luke, a 23-year old duke-to-be. Annabeth is 16 when they meet, and the two click pretty quickly. He’s funny, he’s sweet, and he kisses her hand every time they greet each other. 

He’s starting to look like a viable match. Annabeth even tells Percy about him. But before Percy can respond, Luke proves to not be as great as Annabeth and her mother once though. 

After a few weeks with the family, Luke asks if he can kiss Annabeth, and she lets him have a chaste kiss. They share a few more kisses over the next week or so. Then, one day he deepens the kiss, and she lets him. He mutters sweet complements to her about her beauty and intelligence, and how he wants to marry her and is going to propose marriage soon. Annabeth is thrilled.

The next day, Annabeth goes to his room to give him a book - Athenian history. If he is going to marry her, he should know their history. Luke invites her in, takes the book, and starts to kiss her again. Annabeth is okay with it, until she remembers where she is and what people might think if they realize that she is gone and in her suitor’s room. And then Luke starts to move to the bed, pushing her down onto her back, holding her under him. 

She starts to struggle and kick, and say that she wants to go, but he doesn’t let her up. He starts pulling at the ties on her dress, saying that they will be engaged soon and that no one has to know. But Annabeth knows what he wants and refuses to give it to him. She manages to get her hand under her skirt to where she keeps her knife (because of course she does), and cuts him across his face. 

Luke flies off of her, holding his face to stop the bleeding. Before he can retaliate, Annabeth is running out the door, dress still torn and, now, bloodstained. 

She runs to her mother and explains what has happened, and Luke and his father are out within the hour. Annabeth refuses any offers of courtship for a year, and does not even meet in person with any potential suitors until she is 18. 

After Luke leaves, she writes to Percy “Courtship with Luke is over.” Percy sends her comforting words, but he doesn’t ask what happened. Annabeth is grateful for that. 

Between 18 and 21, Annabeth meets some potential suitors but has a hard time trusting any of them. The only one she comes close to is Frank, but on the fifth day of their courtship, he confesses to being in love with a woman back home, and asks Annabeth to call of the courtship, saying that his father will never forgive him if he is the one to call it off. 

At 21 years old, Athena is starting to really look for Annabeth to find someone to marry. Annabeth does not need to be married to rule, but, as her mom keeps pointing out, strategic alliances through marriage are the strongest. 

Annabeth asks if Percy has had as much bad luck with suitors as she has. He confesses that he hasn’t had nearly as many suitors as she has. “Legitimized or not, people still see me, at best, as third in line, and, at worst, an illegitimate bastard. No one wants to marry me. I’m likely to be forced into some high ranking military position just to save my family the trouble.”

Annabeth writes back. “Nonsense, any woman would be lucky to have you. I would certainly marry you over any of the men I’ve had to meet the last five years.” 

Percy writes back. “Are you serious about marrying me? Because life with you sounds much nicer than military life.” 

Annabeth thinks hard about his letter when she gets it. She knows she likes Percy, and she could easily grow to love him. It would be politically advantageous to marry someone from that kingdom to secure peace, and, because of his former bastard status, he is just scandalous enough for Annabeth’s more adventurous side. Plus, they already have a great respect for each other. It would be a marriage of true minds, and that would be perfectly ideal for Annabeth. 

She responds to Percy that, yes, if he offered courtship, she would accept. She would do anything in her power to get her mother to accept the courtship. 

The next month, an official offer of courtship is made, and, with some convincing from Annabeth, Athena agrees to accept the proposal. 

Four months later, a royal caravan from the south enter the kingdom. 

Percy cleans himself up from the road - he’s pretty much ridden horseback the whole way, only using the carriage when it was raining (and even then, only most of the time) - and he gets ready to see his best friend for the first time in nine years. 

He walks into the throne room, and sets eyes on Annabeth, and nearly passes out. When they were twelve she was boyish, aggressive, and wearing trousers most of the time. Now her hair was combed, she was in a silver dress, wearing a tiara, and wow she beautiful. 

After a moment, Percy remembers his manners, and they get on with the meeting. He goes to Annabeth and greets her by bowing and kissing her hand. She just stares at him with an intensity that he had almost forgotten. He can’t read her emotions at all. Maybe she was not as satisfied with him as he was with her. 

By the end of the meeting, Athena and Annabeth have agreed to courtship, lasting no more than a year, during which time Percy and whatever members of his royal company he would like, would stay with them in the palace. 

When they are dismissed, he asks Annabeth for a walk, and asks his companion, Grover (son of a lesser lord) to chaperone them. 

As soon as the three of them are alone, Annabeth pulls Percy into a hug. He hugs her back tightly, lifting her off the ground a bit just to show off that he’s no longer shorter than her. 

Annabeth would be a fool to deny how handsome Percy had become. He still looked a little wild and mischievous, but he was also more composed and mature. And he was so very, very handsome. If they never found love together, she would at least not have any trouble going through with the act of conceiving children. 

They walk around the garden for hours (Percy feels bad, they barely acknowledge Grover) but they have a lot to catch up on. 

When the sun starts to set, they make their way inside for dinner. 

At the end of the night, Percy kisses her hand goodnight, but, had he had any less sense of decorum, would have probably just asked to kiss her. 

Before Annabeth lets him walk away she asked, “When do you think you should propose marriage?” 

Percy pauses. They had written back and forth and agreed that, barring any real issues, their courtship would end in proposal and marriage. But he had spent all day so enamored with just being around her that he hadn’t even thought of it. 

Finally he answers, “How long would be appropriate? I don’t see much need to drag courtship out if we already know that we get along.” 

“I agree. I think three months would be sufficient. My mother knows that we have been writing, so she won’t question it.” 

Percy smiles and nods. “Three months then.” 

“Three months.” Annabeth agrees. 

Percy smiles and takes her hand. “At this rate, by the end of the year, you will be my wife.” 

Him saying that fills Annabeth with an anxiety and excitement. She squeezes his hands. “And you will be my husband.” 

He kisses her hand again, still clutched tightly in his own. “Good night, Annabeth.” 

She lets go. “Good night, Percy.” 

They weren’t alone, as they thought, when they had that conversation. A servant overheard, and quickly rumors spread that the reason for their courtship was because of love. “Isn’t it romantic,” the servants whisper, “a marriage for love. Long time friends turned lovers.”  It does not take long for these rumors to get back to Athena. 

She confronts Annabeth about it, and accuses her of rejecting other suitors just to marry someone far below her own station. 

“He is not bellow my station,” Annabeth argues, “he is in line for his own throne. He is legitimate.” 

“You could have told me if you were in love with him and this marriage business could have been over with a long time ago.” 

Annabeth realizes then that Athena does not think this is the smartest match she could make, but is allowing the courtship to go on because Annabeth seems excited by it. It’s not like her mother to listen to servant gossip. The fact that she believes it means that Athena has thought her daughter was in love with Percy for a long time. And that Annabeth’s “love” for Percy is the only reason this courtship was allowed to happen at all.  If Athena finds out that they don’t love each other, Athena may call and end to the courtship. 

“He has already promised to marry me,” Annabeth tells her, “that rumor is true. We were going to wait an appropriate amount of time but ...” 

“No need for all of that. Tell him he may ask me for your hand whenever he feels ready.” Annabeth nods and turns to leave but Athena stops her. “And Annabeth, from now on, your brother will be chaperoning your interactions with him,” Athena walks closer and places a hand on her shoulder, “for your safety,” and Athena meant that. Annabeth hugs her mother quickly, before leaving. She needed to find Percy before her brother found the both of them. 

Annabeth finds Percy in the garden and fills him in as quickly as possible. He must propose much sooner and they must pretend to be in love. Percy agrees and doesn’t have an issue with it. 

They’ve only been alone for a few minutes when Annabeth hears her brother approaching. Quickly, Annabeth grabs Percy and kisses him. Percy’s breath catches and he freezes for a moment, before catching on to what she is doing. He quickly places a hand on her waist, and another hand on her face, making the kiss look like the tender kiss of two lovers newly engaged. 

“Annabe - Oh, there you are,” Malcolm freezes, and the two pull away. “You know mother sent me to chaperone, but I really don’t want to be in the way of you two too much, so if you ever need a” he gestured vaguely, “moment, please tell me and I will turn away.” Annabeth smiled at him. “So it’s true then?” He asked. “You two are really getting married?” 

“Yes,” Percy said, “once I ask your mother officially.” 

“But she’s given her blessing,” Annabeth says, putting her hand on Percy’s. 

“Great,” Malcolm says, rocking back on his feet. “Anyway, I’ll just be, sitting over here, reading my book, don’t pay any attention to me.” 

Once Malcolm is sitting, Annabeth mouths “sorry” to Percy, who just shrugs. “It was nice” he mouths back. Annabeth just shoves him. 

They continue to talk in hushed voices about the engagement and marriage, and about this ‘pretending to be in love’ stunt they have gotten themselves into. They have to talk in relatively coded language though, just in case Malcolm can hear them. Or in case of more nosey servants spreading their business through the castle. 

When they depart at sunset, Percy leans in, seeking silent permission to kiss her again. Annabeth closes the space between them, kissing him gently, and much more appropriately than before. Percy finds himself desperately wishing for a third and fourth kiss. 

When Percy gets back to his wing of the castle, Grover is waiting for him. “So do you really love her?” He asks. 

Percy just shoves him into his room and sits him down and says, “Yes, no, kind of.” Percy explains everything that happened the night before and that day. He pauses when he gets to the kiss. “And then she kissed me, and, of course she is beautiful, and she’s my best friend, I feel like I could tell her anything, but I didn’t expect that when I kissed her for the first time -” 

“It would be a show for her brother?” 

“Well yes, but mostly, I didn’t expect that I would be able to actually imagine doing it because of love. It was like ... in that moment, I could imagine us living together and having children and ruling together, and being in love I guess.” 

“Well, considering you will be proposing by the end of the week, its probably a good thing that you can imagine those futures. I’ll leave you alone now with your fantasies of your future wife.” 

When Grover leaves, Percy lets the term “future wife” wash over him and mingle with memories of the kiss. He smiles and suddenly he feels like his whole body is on fire in a way he’s hardly ever felt before. 

Annabeth, likewise, is on fire. Luke never even made her feel this way. She was sure she wasn’t falling in love with him - no they had been friends for so long, and he was handsome, so of course that kind of intimate contact would have a physical effect on her. Her logic doesn’t make the feeling go away though.  

(That’s all I have energy for right now. But let me know if people would be interested in a part two or real fic version of some of these scenes. For sure don’t have time for a real chapter fic, but some fluff or smut here and there featuring period clothing is my jam)

[jflashandclash]

Tales From Mount Othrys

             The Versatility of a Guitar String

                                       I

 Warning: Depictions of Violence.

***

           “Forget your family.”

           Flynn’s melody murmured in my dreams like the silkiest spider threads rocking a slumberer’s hammock. “You deserve to enjoy this: the start of your new life. Let yourself forget.”

           Her words cradled my mind in a tranquilizing solace. At the time, the only response I could utter was, “What other family? You’re all the family I need.”

 --Memoirs of a Talking Head[1]

 ***

         When Jack agreed to tear down the gods, he didn’t think it would involve him snorkeling in a toilet.

         It did.

         Jack thrashed and twisted, barely getting a gulp of air before being submerged again. His orange converses squeaked uselessly against the bathroom’s floor tiles.

         The girl shoving his head into the water bowl was much stronger and larger than he, despite being several years younger. Between dunkings, her and her friends’ laughter reverberated off the walls.

         This, unfortunately, wasn’t the first time someone had forced Jack to be well acquainted with the most vital part of a restroom. Last time, Ms. Daisy Blackwell, one of the prettiest girls at his church, had taken Jack behind the church after his solo at one of their concerts. She had said she wanted him to sing to her. When Tommy Higgles, her boyfriend, found out that she asked Jack to do more than sing to her, he and his friends cornered Jack in the boys’ bathroom at school.

         Last time, Tommy had emptied all of Jack’s medication into the toilet bowl. “That straightening out your memory, freak!” Tom had shouted.

         This time, the water was cleaner. Or, at least, it wouldn’t give him an overdose as he choked on it.

         Last time, Jack had no idea it was going to happen. Ms. Blackwell had heard Jack “confused” things a lot, and that he was “confused’ about her relations with Tommy. But, afterwards, Ms. Blackwell wouldn’t acknowledge him in public, or that anything had happened between the two of them, like the other boys and girls that had taken an interest in Jack at his small high school.

         This time, Luke had warned Jack that it was a Camp Half-Blood hazing ritual, one from which Luke could not spare him. Jack had to either fight off a hulking daughter of Ares or get humiliated.

         Despite the warning, Jack felt himself thinking the same thing he had before: I’m going to drown.

         The water seeped into his lungs during his squirming. Pressure mounted in his chest. There wasn’t enough time to cough. Panic made his heartbeat thud inside his head. His head smacked into the toilet bowl with each thrash.

         The worst difference surfaced as he forced his limbs to stop fighting. Last time, Jack knew he would reach eternal salvation if he died the humiliating death of a toilet warrior. This time, as Jack willed his body to give up, he wondered, Do half-bloods even have souls?

         The fingers clenching his hair pulled his head back, stretching his body in a strained arch.

         He sputtered and coughed out the water.

         Clarisse La Rue’s sneer loomed in his peripheral. “Had enough of a swim?”

         At least there was a toilet directly in front of him, so no one would have to clean up the content of his lungs and stomach. That would be rude to any godly janitorial staff. He hacked, unable to talk for a moment.

         Clarisse released him.

         Jack barely missed cracking his head against the toilet bowl. Blurrily, he searched around, trying to prop himself up on the cool, slick floor.

         The laughter echoed around the room. The massive girl stood.

         “Why?” Jack finally choked out.

         “To show you the pecking order,” Clarisse said. She and her friends got up and left the bathroom stalls.

         Jack trembled. The first time he tried to get up, his legs felt like jelly. Finally, he got to his feet and stumbled to the sinks. He turned one on and dunked his head under, reminding himself that he was in control of the water rinsing him off.

         The monsters on the Princess Andromeda had been way nicer on his first day. They at least ignored him or said he smelled good.

         Someone shook Jack’s shoulder.

         He flinched.

         “Hey, we’re not really supposed to be in the girl’s bathroom.”

         Jack tried to look through the water at his escort: a thirteen-year-old child of Apollo named Ryan. He had tan skin and an athletic build. Once he got Jack’s attention, he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

         After a few more moments of feeling the water against the back of his head and his neck, Jack shut the sink off. He let his dripping bangs plaster onto his face and soak his flannel shirt. The top was already drenched. As it turned out, toilet water: not refreshing.

         “Why didn’t you help?” Jack asked. To still be there, Ryan must have stood by the entrance the whole time, watching.

         Ryan’s expression was skeptical. Like everyone else who had commented on how old Jack was, Ryan seemed disappointed by what he saw. “You think I can put a dent in a child of Ares?”

         Jack shrugged. “You could have run to get help.”

         “No one is going to help against Clarisse.”

         No wonder Luke hates Ares and his children.

         Although the room felt warm with the climate control, Jack hugged himself. It took every ounce of control not to tug at his hair and to, instead, dig his fingers deep into his ribs. He promised himself he wouldn’t mess this mission up and that meant acting as normal as possible.

Mission? Quest? Had Kronos called it a quest?

         This was the exact time Jack should be asking Ryan questions. Phil and Luke both said Jack was perfect for this type of quest, because he was so unassuming and genuinely curious when asking questions. Charming and harmless, as Ms. Blackwell had teased him.

         “Doesn’t that bother you?” Jack asked. “Were you dunked?”

         Jack tried to imagine coming in here as a young kid, before he met Flynn and knew Greek monsters were real. He would have thought this was whole place was a cruel prank or a bad dream.

         “All new people get dunked,” Ryan said. He looked impatient. “You get over it.”

         Jack felt like his tongue was four times too large. That didn’t seem right, but he doubted saying so would get him any points with Ryan.

         Only twenty-four hours, Jack reminded himself. Twenty-four hours before Luke, Lucille, Lou Ellen, and I need to get out. You can be normal for twenty-four hours.

         He hoped.    

Summer solstice was a day away. From what Luke got out of a quick Iris Message and a dream vision with Kronos, some kid named Percy Jackson should be starting some massive war with the gods. Percy should have been be dragged into Tartarus with something called the Master Bolt. Then, this camp wouldn’t be safe. It would crumble into a battlefield between the gods.

         “Just remember when Clarisse dunks you that she’ll be killed in the crossfire. I’ll make sure of it,” Luke had said.

         Jack didn’t want Clarisse and her friends to be killed in the crossfire. He just wanted her to be less mean. Seeing her in person, the former seemed much more likely.

         Ryan sighed. “Come on. Let’s see if you you’re as bad at horseback riding as you are with archery.”

         Jack shuffled forward. He guessed Ryan didn’t intend to sound so critical, but no one at camp could believe Jack had survived on his own for so long, being a son of Apollo. Although Phil immediately stated that Jack had been claimed—he hadn’t, whatever ‘claiming’ meant—whispers went around that maybe he was supposed to be in the Aphrodite cabin instead.

         “At least he’s good for the girls to look at. Don’t think he’ll do much in the coming war,” he had heard Lee Fletcher, his cabin counselor, muttering when Jack accidentally elbowed Chiron in the chest during their archery lesson.

         Jack knew he wouldn’t have survived on his own, but Luke had him under strict orders not to mention Flynn or Luke or anything about Kronos. As for that day, they didn’t know each other, which was a real shame. Jack wanted Luke to show him Thalia’s pine tree.

         The rest of the training was similar. Fortunately, his cabin mates—is that what they were called?—and Chiron were too distracted by the fights that kept breaking out between the children of Athena and Jack’s siblings. Something about Poseidon being in the right to take a stand against Zeus? Jack had only recently learned the gods and titans were real. He couldn’t keep the internal bickering straight.

         Most people were too distracted and tense to pay Jack much attention for the rest of training, which was a problem. That meant he couldn’t complete his mission either. He hoped Lucille was having more luck in the Aphrodite Cabin and Lou Ellen in the… where had Luke said she’d go?

         Luke’s words haunted him. “Either we turn them or we consider them sword fodder. Anyone on the Olympic side will need to die, so you’re doing them a favor if you can show them how corrupt the Olympians are.”

         Flynn, Jack’s girlfriend, understood immediately. That’s why Luke had sent her on a mission to a place called New Rome. Luke said that would be too difficult for Jack to tag along.

         This quest was a test for Jack, Lucille, and Lou Ellen: a way to prove they were worthy of Kronos’ next world.

         Like introducing people to Jesus, Jack mused. He remembered walking through the sterile halls of Botin’s Hill Hospital, how the sick welcomed him inside to hear him sing church songs. Pity he didn’t know any about our savor, Kronos.

Jack frowned. Luke and Phil kept saying he could heal people with his song. But, the sick people didn’t always get better when he sang. Sometimes…

         “Jake, right?”

         Jack flinched. The Apollo cabin was setting up for the campfire. He’d zoned out, watching as the Hephaestus campers stoked the flames. Everyone else referred to the cabins by numbers, but Jack couldn’t keep those numbers straight, so he tried to catalogue everyone by the few gods he did know.

         A friendly, blond nineteen-year-old stood beside him. The familiar scar made Jack grin, despite his feelings of being a failure. He shouldn’t want to talk to Luke. That would mean reporting that he’d had no luck converting any of his siblings, or even seeing if they could be converted down the road. The children of Apollo seemed to love their—his—dad wholeheartedly, though Jack hadn’t gotten any specific person’s story yet.

         Luke squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “How’s your first day going? You came in at a rough time.”

         Jack knew that Luke had to pretend they’d never met before, but the convincing, detached quality of Luke’s voice was demoralizing, especially with how he got his name wrong.

         Jack managed to nod at him. He hadn’t realized that, when he sat down on the log, he’d pulled his knees up and was rocking.

         Almost frantic, Jack straightened out his legs and stopped rocking. Normal for one day. Normal for one day. He repeated to himself. Then, he could tell Flynn that he’d done a quest, right? He could show Luke that he’d be worthwhile in his army. Besides, the campfire was all about singing. This is where Jack could shine.

         Jack gave Luke a much more confident smile.

         “Just keep it together, buddy,” Luke said, his grip on Jack’s shoulder becoming uncomfortable. “I’m sure the rest of your night will be a success—”

         Another camper, an Athena boy, raised his voice in middle of a discussion, drowning out Luke. “—maybe because someone needs to keep order in this camp—”

         “Oh, can it! You’re still pissy at Poseidon for a rivalry that you won. Get over it! There’s no reason you’d be on Zeus’ side otherwise!” one of Jack’s siblings shouted at the Athena camper.

         More shouts broke out. The campfire flickered uncomfortable, dark red. The flames looked too low on the wood to still be lit.

Jack felt like something was about to go wrong, something important.

         One of the Ares campers shoved the Athena kid—Malcolm? He stumbled, barely dodging around the fire. He slammed into another camper to keep his balance. And—

         The movement was too fast for Jack to dodge, not that he would have thought to.

         One of Jack’s siblings toppled backwards.

         Pain flared in Jack’s throat, as the kid’s—Will’s?—elbow smashed into Jack’s windpipe. Will hadn’t meant to, he’d been trying to pinwheel to keep his balance—

         Jack flopped backwards, clutching at his neck. He coughed. Each breath rasped painfully.

         Hands gripped Jack’s shoulders. They dug into his skin, dragging him away from the campfire. Another member of his cabin went to pummel Malcolm, even though the incident hadn’t been Malcolm’s fault.

         The yells were jumbled. The bodies crashed into a scuffle—they looked more like a random mob of strangers than cousins and siblings. All Jack could think was, My throat—Dear God—can I still sing?! What if they crushed it? What if they crushed my windpipe?

         A more logical part of him said that his windpipe would be fine. He needed a few minutes to recover. That would be it, right? What am I without a voice? That’s my only useful trait. Would Flynn want me anymore?

         He wheezed.

         Whoever was dragging him pulled him up onto his feet.

         The pain lessened, but the panic made Jack clutch at his neck. He tried to talk. His voice came out a squeaky rasp.

         He expected Luke to be his savor, to be chastising him for over-dramatics.

         The person beside him was a foot too short.

         “Come on. We have throat lozenges in the cabin,” Ryan said. He released Jack and started walking back towards the housing.

         Jack pointed frantically back to where the campfire had become a battle zone. The Ares and Apollo campers teamed up against Athena. A centaur already stood in the fray, pulling teenagers off each other.

         “Chiron will take care of it,” Ryan said, “We plenty outnumber Cabin Six and you’ll be in the way if you stay.” This time, the irritation in Ryan’s voice was unmistakable. “You’re really not cut out for this, are you? You had plenty of time to move.”

         Jack trembled. He reminded himself that Ryan, like other kids that had mocked him, was a child of God’s and that all God’s children were…

         Something flipped in Jack’s head. They weren’t equal, were they? And God—the gods—didn’t love them equally. Luke said that Percy Jackson—the son of Poseidon that Luke had framed for the thievery of the Master Bolt—that kid could control water. Thalia had been able to shoot lightning. These gods, the Greek gods, didn’t treat them as equal, else Thalia wouldn’t be a pine tree.

         By the time Jack got enough of his voice back to talk, they approached the golden exterior of Apollo’s empty cabin. “You seem like such a natural,” Jack said. His voice was raspy, but functional.

         A tightness squeezed Jack’s stomach when he examined his little half-brother. Throughout all the training that day, Ryan had excelled.

         Ryan sighed. Tension released from his shoulders as he opened the cabin door. He paused. After a moment, Ryan held the door open for Jack. “My mom told me I was a half-blood when I was very little. She knew Apollo was a god, so she set me up with archery lessons as soon as I could pull back a bow. She was a pediatrician and let me play with all of her college text books.” He shrugged. “The other campers think I’ll surpass Chiron with a bow one day, and I’m already a better healer than Will, but I had a head start.”

         This is was it! What Jack was supposed to be doing all day! Getting his new cabin mates to open up: about themselves, their feelings about being demigods, their opinions of their parents. For some reason, Jack didn’t feel better about the success. The tightness in his stomach squeezed until he felt his breath going short again. He wanted Ryan to shut up.

         “You knew the monsters were real,” Jack said. He hadn’t realized that would be an option. He stepped inside.

         “Well, yea, we all did,” Ryan said like it was obvious. The cabin door shut behind them. No one else was around. Ryan walked past the corner stacked with instruments to the medicine cabinet. He withdrew the lozenges and handed them to Jack.

         Jack frowned, examining the packaging: ambrosia coated. Even with simple things like pain killers, he always checked ingredients in case they conflicted with his medication. Jack popped one in his mouth and bit down hard.

         Everyone knew that you were supposed to suck on lozenges; but, Jack wanted a sharp sensation in his mouth. Cinnamon spiked his taste buds.

         Ryan gave Jack a wary look. “Listen, Jack, maybe you’d be better off at home with your mortal family,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want you here, I just don’t know if this is the safest place for you with this war brewing. Tomorrow, Summer Solstice, this camp might be about to explode, and you’re not really trained for combat yet…”

         Ryan looked genuinely concerned. “We can loan you a weapon from the armory. Since you’ve made it so long without any help, I doubt your aura is that strong or ever will be strong enough to attract monsters. It’s not that we don’t want you here—or that Dad doesn’t want you here. I mean, he claimed you. That’s a big deal. It means he loves you and all, but—”

         Jack bit down harder on the lozenge, wanting to crush it. He hadn’t been claimed.

         “How soon were you claimed?” Jack interrupted. The twisting in his stomach kept getting tighter. He felt like he was on the cusp of something important and that something would make all the tension disappear. It had to do with what Ryan was saying, but he wanted the kid to stop talking.

         “As soon as I stepped foot into camp,” Ryan said. He rocked onto his tiptoes, like he was getting impatient to go back outside. His gaze shifted back to the door as though the eye motion could shove Jack back out.

         Jack hugged himself. “Apollo… Dad. You speak really highly of him.”

         Ryan glanced at the door again, then back at Jack. He sighed, rolling back onto his heels. “Yea… I—I owe Dad. He’s kinda awesome.”

         These campers seemed to know so much more about him. How could you say that a Dad you’ve never met was awesome? Had Ryan met him?

         At Jack’s silence, Ryan got a sad smile on his face. “I guess I can tell you about it. My mom never fell in love after him. She said it was impossible after she had a full summer with him—”

         A one night stand. A one night mistake, Jack remembered his mother assuring Steve about his conception, when Steven got nervous about the guy before him. They thought Jack hadn’t come downstairs for a nighttime snack. His Mom had never held that one night stand against Jack, had she?

         “—so I was raised with my cousins like they were my siblings. My older cousin, Cindy, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Mom and I prayed to Apollo every night and I sang to her every night for a week. She… she got better. Way faster than medicine by itself should have allowed—”

         The package slipped from Jack’s fingers.

         The individually wrapped lozenges scattered across the cabin floor.

         “Wow—you okay, dude? You look like you’re about to be sick,” Ryan said. The smile vanished from his face. He knelt down, plucking some lozenges from the ground.

         Jack should have apologized. He should have knelt down to help. Normal for one day, echoed in his mind. The thought couldn’t penetrate his other ones. It couldn’t stop his hands from clutching at his hair.

         What would it have been like? To grow up with a family that knew what was happening to him, to know he wasn’t crazy. Not to be medicated. Or outcast. No “you’re just confused, sweetie.” No, “All children are equal in the eyes of God.”

         In that instance, Jack realized something. People treated life like it was a living thing that chose to be fair or unfair. It wasn’t. It just existed. People were made unequal. They would be treated unequal. These gods, their gods, played favorites.

         “Ryan…” Jack whispered, trying not to hyperventilate. “You saved your cousin with your singing. Could you kill someone with your singing?”

         His vision had tunneled. All Jack could see was the smaller boy, crouched under the instrument table, gathering a lozenge from a guitar. There were spare strings on the table. When Ryan put his hand on the table for balance, he knocked them to the side.

         Then, Jack couldn’t see Ryan.

Shelby was the worst. Her body was sprawled in the middle of the hallway, on top of Charger, their German Sheppard. The other bodies—those Jack could easily pretend weren’t real. But, Shelby, had face-planted in a pool of her own vomit. The bile plastered her black hair around the wooden floor like a drowned victim’s hair splayed into a water halo… She was impossible to ignore. Jack had to carefully edge his way around her and Charger’s bodies, hoping the real one would show up and tell him to stop being silly, and terrified the real one would show up since they might increase his medication.

The day after they found his family, Jack had been too scared to tell Luke and Flynn why he thought their deaths were his fault.

He had been singing in the shower. He was thinking about how angry he was at his family while he sang. Then, they were dead, just like some of the patients at the hospital died as soon as he finished singing to them.

         Why could Ryan save people, his loved ones, with his voice, when Jack could kill?

         The pressure in Jack’s stomach made him feel like he’d throw up. That tension was wound so tightly, Jack knew it would snap. It was about to snap. He couldn’t stop—

“I guess, in theory,” Ryan said, beginning to rise from under the table, “I’ve never heard of someone—”

         There was a loud thwack.

         Jack didn’t know he’d cracked Ryan’s skull into the table. Not until the second time he did it. Ryan’s hair felt silky under his fingers. The head under his hand resisted the first time. Not so much the second.

         Jack’s heartbeat thudded in his head, deafening. He didn’t hear the noises Ryan made. He didn’t feel Ryan’s head slip from his hands or how Ryan kicked backwards—how Jack’s leg gave out under the kick so Jack was level with the instrument table.

         He saw Ryan’s mouth move, to sing to heal or call for help. Some autopilot took over, shut him up. Shut. Him. Up. We’ll make the two of us equal. We’ll play favorites the way that gods do.

         A dull ache nagged at Jack’s knee, where he’d collapsed behind his little half-brother. He fumbled for something in the room to gag Ryan. His fingers snatched up something thin, metal, and pliable.

         Jack didn’t remember shoving Ryan back to the floor; he must have. The intention was to wrap the guitar cord between Ryan’s teeth. Just to soften Ryan’s screams.

Then the metal cord pinched the skin around Ryan’s neck. The small kid bucked and thrashed. Ryan’s nails dug at metal. Those fingers fumbled backwards, swatting at Jack.

         None of his attempts reached Jack. Jack’s knee now pressed into the small of Ryan’s back. The guitar cord was long enough that Jack could pull it taught at such a distance that Ryan couldn’t touch him.

         The way Ryan squirmed, Jack’s own screams, the pain in his bruised knee as Jack simultaneously kneed the back of Ryan’s spine while jerking Ryan’s neck backwards: it felt distant, muffled.

         Until someone covered Jack’s mouth.

         “Be quiet!”

         The words brought Jack back into reality. So did the hands that dragged him backwards.

         “Holy Hera!” another familiar voice said.

         There was a clop of hooves on the wooden floor.

         Until that someone removed the hands from his mouth, Jack didn’t realize what he’d been screaming over and over.

Why does Dad love you more?

         Ryan wasn’t moving.

         Dad couldn’t love him now.

         Jack trembled. He stared at his hands. Cuts lined his palms, where he had wrapped the guitar string to anchor them. Bruising would follow. His breath tightened. That tension inside him had snapped. He didn’t have any energy left. No anger. Just a sense of queer calm.

         That same autopilot took control. Guilt nagged at his consciousness the same way pain nagged at his knee.

“No,” Jack said, “No—no. I—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”

“Shut up,” Luke repeated, slapping Jack upside the head. He sounded terrified.

Jack clutched at his hair. The strands felt slick with sweat. A sob caught his throat. What was happening to him? Had he just—

“Watch it, Luke.” Someone stepped around the two of them. Phil’s furry legs blocked off Jack’s view of Ryan’s body. “Flynn isn’t going to like it if she hears you’ve been smacking around her Jackie-boy. Now, let’s see. It’s been a long time since I needed to sneak a corpse out of a cabin. You sure like to keep me young and spry, don’t you, Jak-Jak?”

Phil’s comment was light.

No answer would come from Jack’s lips, at least, not beyond a whine.

Phil turned towards Jack and knelt down. Those dark eyes glittered with something that made Jack nauseous: compassion. He put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Kid, I need you with us. We gotta move fast. Which blanket won’t be missed if we wrap Ryan in it?”

*****

My betatester was very angry at me for the deficit of hugs and happiness for Jak-Jak. Don’t worry. Part II is more lighthearted. Okay, PHiL says it’s more lighthearted, though that guy could probably say that at a wax clown museum.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned next week for the last part of this short! I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! :D

Footnote:

[1] I’m going to write this one day.

[magic713m]

Guiding Through the Cruel Sea

This is the first in a series of Dark!Percy stories I am writing.

Percy Jackson was swinging his sword, sparring with another half-blood. He and his opponent were surrounded by other half-bloods who were watching in awe. But behind them were a variety of monsters, roaring and cheering to the fight. The two dueled around the Prominade of the Princess Andromeda, which was acting as the mobile base for the rising Titan army.

After Percy joined Luke, he was told the huge cruise ship was enchanted to remain hidden from the gods’ sight. After a few weeks on board, practicing his abilities (which he had plenty of practice, being surrounded by water) he eventually learned how to use the ocean to maneuver the ship, making for smooth sailing. As long as he didn’t try to manipulate water too far from the ship, he could avoid conflicting with his father, Poseidon’s, domain.

Usually Percy would’ve ended this fight, but he had a lot on his mind. Specifically, the reoccurring dreams of an old friend who was in trouble. The problem was, he now knew they weren’t dreams, and he needed to do something. He just didn’t know how, yet. He had to find a way to convince Luke to allow him to leave and help his missing friend.  

Finally, Percy had found and opening in his opponent’s technique, and attacked. Percy disarmed his opponent, pushed him to the ground, and held him at sword point. Monsters continued to cheer, with some shouting for him to kill the demigod.

He lowered his sword, “You’re getting better, but I your technique is still too predictable. Once I knew your moves, I could see your next attack a mile away.”

He offered his hand to the defeated opponent, and helped him to his feet. “Alright,” Percy said, looking to a line of other demigods, “who’s up-”

“Percy!” he heard someone shout. He turned to see the unclaimed demigod, Chris Rodriguez, running to him, “Luke needs to see you. He’s in his cabin.”

Percy frowned, not liking the idea of going to Luke’s room, which had another occupant that Percy did not want to be near.

“Thanks”

Percy ordered the recruits to spar amongst themselves. Before leaving, he also gave monsters a threatening glare, causing some to flinch. It was a look that said, ‘Touch those kids, and you’re dead.’

Percy made his way up to the cabin, passing various monsters and Mist-blinded mortals. He felt a sudden chill, which got colder as he walked closer to the room. He had to catch his breath when he was just outside the door before opening it.

He was greeted to Luke and his two monster guards, Agrius and Oreius, standing and watching two new passengers, who were seated with their backs to the door, facing Luke.

“Please come in. I have a surprise for you,” Luke welcomed in a friendly tone. Percy walked in and reluctantly closed the door behind him. Once he was beside Luke, he got a better look at the two people in the chairs. One was a huge guy, with messy brown hair. Percy also saw that the boy had a single eye: a Cyclops. And judging from identity of his companion, it was probably the same Cyclops Luke mentioned that had arrived at Camp Half-Blood days ago. That person next to the creature had blond hair, and grey eyes, which were now burning through Percy as she glared.

“Annabeth,” Percy breathed out. She said nothing, holding her angered expression.

“It seems we had some stowaways,” Luke said, “I thought you might want to see an old friend.”

There was so much going through Percy’s mind right now. He imagined seeing some of his former friends again, but now with Annabeth right there, he was at a loss of words. Months of being surrounded by monsters had made him long for his old friends. Once Luke felt Percy was committed to the fight, and more demigods arrived on the ship, the feeling of loss became easier to bear. But still, Luke was becoming too close to Kronos, and the demigods were recruits who he helped train, but none felt brave to approach him as a friend.

And now Annabeth was here. He wanted to tell her he’d protect her. That she was safe, despite the monsters crawling around the ship. Still he could not look soft in front of Luke, or the monster in the big glowing box.

“How’d they get on board?” he asked. He tried to sound tough, but it was eclipsed by a slightly joyous tone.

“Apparently our security isn’t as strong as we thought. But that will change soon,” Luke motioned to the glowing sarcophagus. Percy shivered, and looked at the prisoners, still needing to play his role in the interrogation.

“Well,” Percy said to the two prisoners, “what are you doing here?”

Annabeth kept her composure and her mouth closed, as she stared at him in defiance. He stared back, almost like he was searching for secrets in her gaze.

“Dad wanted me to find you,” the Cyclops spoke.

“Tyson,” Annabeth turned her head to the Cyclops, looking shocked and annoyed at him.

Percy turned to the Cyclops, Tyson. The creature looked very nervous, and when he looked at Percy, the demigod could swear Tyson was silently pleading to him. Percy really felt some pity for the poor thing. It almost looked innocent.

“Well, Tyson, not sure who your dad is, but you can tell him-”

“It’s Poseidon, Seaweed Brain” Annabeth said, causing Percy to flinch hearing the name, “Some Cyclopes, like Tyson, are his kids.”

Percy could hear some snickers from the monsters. He looked closely at Tyson, examining further, searching for some resemblance to his apparent half-brother.

“Dad misses you,” Tyson said in that same innocent tone.

“I can’t believe you, of all people, Annabeth, would team up with a Cyclops,” Luke said, “How can you insult Thalia’s memory?”

“How could you poison her tree?” Annabeth said harshly to him, “You’re killing her again, and I’m the one insulting her memory?”

“I’m not insulting her. The gods insulted her long before I did anything,” Luke said, “She fought for them and this was her reward. If she were here right now, she’d be by my side with Percy.”

“Never!” Annabeth shouted.

“Wake up Annabeth,” Percy said, “You’re being used by Olympus like we were. It doesn’t have to be like this. Demigods are joining us every day, and we could use your brains.”

“Because you lack them,” she retorted. Percy had to fight back a smile from her retort.

“The Olympians are going to fall,” Percy continued, “Luke told me that they fear me. Because of some prophecy saying that by my sixteenth birthday, I’ll make a choice that will preserve or raze Olympus. But if you join us, you won’t have to go down with them.”

“Go to Tartarus,” she said.

“A shame,” Luke said.

Percy stood back as Luke instructed Oreius to take the prisoners to be fed to one of the monsters.

“Percy, go with him,” Luke commanded, “Make sure they don’t try anything.”

-

Percy had his sword prepped as he walked behind Tyson and Annabeth, whose hands were tied, while Oreius lead in front of the group.

As they were walking, Percy thought about the times he and Annabeth and Grover shared on their quest together last year. Percy suddenly had an idea. He looked into one of the bathrooms, and shifted his hand slyly, causing a creaking noise of the pipes.

“Stop,” Percy ordered, causing Oreius to stop. He pointed his sword at Tyson, inches from his face, “Who else is with you?”

Tyson looked at him with fear, as both him and Annabeth seemed confused. Another creaking noise was heard.

“Oreius, go and search the ship. Get others if you need them. If this is a quest, there should be a third member somewhere on board.”

“But the prisoners-”

“We’re in the middle of the ocean!” Percy yelled, “I can handle them. Just go!”

The monster looked disappointed, but walked back.

“Okay,” Percy said to his captives, “We don’t have long. You guys need to get out of here.”

They looked at him wide-eyed. “What are you planning,” Annabeth asked in suspicion.

“Helping you escape. Now let me see your hands,” he said, raising Riptide up.

Tyson immediately raised his hands, but Annabeth kept her hands down.

“Oh, this is, so, a trap” she exclaimed, “You want us to find the Golden Fleece for you.”

“That’s not it,” he said, “I need your help. Grover’s in trouble.”

This seemed to catch Annabeth’s attention.

“What do you mean he’s in trouble? How could you know?”

“Apparently him and I have some empathy connection. He’s been sending me distress calls for the last few weeks.”

“And you didn’t do anything about it?” Annabeth said.

“I told you, I’m important to them. Luke was not going to let me leave his side for a satyr. I need your help.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“What does it matter? He’s captured by some Cyclops called Po-ly-phe-mus,” he said, struggling to remember the name.

“Polyphemus?” Annabeth said, “He has the Golden Fleece. You want that, don’t you?”

“Luke wants it, but think, Wise Girl. Grover said the Fleece has strong nature magic, so if it’s true, wouldn’t Grover be drawn to it?” Percy explained.

She still looked at him skeptically.

“Look, all I know is Grover is able to hold off Polyphemus for now but if you don’t go soon, he’s dinner.”

Hesitantly, Annabeth showed her tied wrists, “Fine.”

Percy cut her and Tyson’s ropes.

“There’s a life boat at the end of the deck,” Percy said, pointing in the direction, “I can give you clear waters until you’re out of the ship’s view.”

“You’re not going to help us save Grover?” Annabeth asked.

“I told you that he’s in trouble and you know where to find him. I can’t leave. Now go.”

“Please let’s go,” Tyson begged to Annabeth while looking at Percy too.

She looked at Tyson and back at Percy. She armed herself with her blade and pack, and she and Tyson ran in the direction of the life boats. Percy looked over the side of the ship at the water until he heard the alarm go off. He turned to see one of the life boats speeding away from the ship.

-

A Day Later, Sea of Monsters

Annabeth struggled to stay awake on the lifeboat of the CSS Birmingham. Though the winds Hermes provided, had given her enough distance, she still tried to get as far as she could to get away from those monstrous sisters: Scylla and Charybdis. But the sun had not been very merciful, as she was trapped in the ocean, with no food or fresh water, with the sunlight baring down. She had no idea where she was, and she didn’t know which direction to swim towards, if she was heading to a refuge or another monster. Her eyes got heavier as her muscles got weaker.

Before sleep could consume her, she heard a loud horn, startling her awake, and her eyes shot open to see a fisherman’s boat moving across the horizon. She tried to stand and waved her hands, “Over here!”

She kept yelling and waving, though concerned she’d fall off the rocking lifeboat. For a second, she thought the boat would continue its course without her. But she saw as the boat turned to her direction. As it got closer, she saw that it wasn’t exactly well kept. It had rust, barnacles and it needed a paint job. She could barely make out the name of the boat, The Melicertes, written in blue letters on the side. The boat slowed, until it stopped right next to her lifeboat. Annabeth grabbed the latter and weakly climbed up onto the vessel. As she reached the deck, she laid on her back, at heard the motor start, and she drifted off.

When Annabeth woke, she found herself below deck, on a mattress in a messy living quarters. She did feel a little cooler, now out of the exposure of the sun.

“Are you awake?” a familiar voice said. Instinctively, she grabbed her dagger on her hip. She shot up, and pinned Percy to the wall with the dagger on his throat.

“I guess so,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Apparently helping you, again. Unless you want me to put you back where I found you.”

Annabeth’s pulled the dagger away from Percy’s throat, though she kept it close. “Where’s Luke?”

“Probably still on the Andromeda. It’s just me.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now?”

“27, 40, 70, 23” Percy stated.

“What does that mean?”

“That is where we are right now. I know exactly where we are. And you’ll need me to help navigate the sea.”

“What’s to stop you from killing me, if you can find the island on your own.”

“I know the coordinates, but I need you to help avoid the dangerous islands. I don’t know the Sea of Monsters and which places to avoid, so I need your help as well. We can find Grover faster if we work together.”

Annabeth thought for a minute, then cautiously lowered her blade from him.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You get us to the island, and you will tell me everything.”

“Okay.”

-

As they sailed, Percy told her about his time after she and Tyson escaped. He told her that after he freed her and Tyson, he was in trouble with Luke. He made his own escape from the ship and was able to hijack the fisherman’s boat. He told her that he entered the Sea of Monsters through the Clashing Rocks. Once on the other side, he could feel her in the water and went to find her.

As he was telling her his story, he coaxed her story out as well. He learned how she and Tyson were able to make land and how Clarisse rescued them from monsters in her riverboat and took them aboard before making for the Sea of Monsters. After the rescue, Clarisse decided to use the entrance guarded by Scylla and Charybdis. Percy was baffled, hearing that even Clarisse would be bold (and stupid) enough to try and destroy the monster whirlpool with cannons. After the failure to destroy the monster, the ship’s engine soon exploded.

“I saw Clarisse get off the ship before it blew.”

“What about the Cyclops?”

“Tyson-” Annabeth started, but stopped, looking down in melancholy, “He…He went to try and save the ship. He bought me enough time to get to a lifeboat before the ship blew up. He…saved me.”

“He sounded pretty cool. Wish I got to know him better.”

“So do I. I was so wrong about him. I…”

Percy didn’t know how to comfort her. He was about to pat her shoulder, but she hit his hand away.

“Don’t,” she said, angrily, “You don’t get to betray us and then turn around and try to be a friend. I don’t need your console.”

“You and Grover are my friends. And the Cyclops-”

“Tyson!” Annabeth corrected him.

“Yeah, Tyson. He was important to you.”

“Not just me. Sally too. Oh gods, how am I going to tell her-”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Percy asked, as he shifted from pity to curiosity.

Annabeth lips tightened and looked away, but she could feel Percy’s gaze intense.

“Why was Tyson important to my Mom?” he said, with more demanding volume.

Annabeth turned back to him and could not break the stare as he looked at her with a mix of anticipation and demand, “Because…Sally…she adopted Tyson. He’s…”

“He’s my adopted brother!?” Percy said, louder than he intended, “How…I mean…”

“When you were gone, I told Sally about you leaving. I wanted to keep an eye on her, in case you showed, and that’s when I saw her with Tyson. She told me he use to come to her candy store, and I guess she came to love him. When I first saw him in your-Sally’s-home, I thought he was trying to hurt you or Sally, and Sally stopped me from attacking him. When I was heading to camp, I still wanted to keep an eye on him and he helped me fight some monsters at the school that Sally enrolled him in. And he stayed by my side, saying he was supposed to find you.”

Percy was silent, his eyes unblinking, as the gears in his head went into overdrive. He knew he was related to some Cyclopes through his father and that didn’t really bother him. But the fact that Tyson was adopted by his mom was completely different. Tyson was there for her, and became a second child to her. Percy felt a bit jealous of that, but he was almost immediately sad again, thinking that Tyson was gone and Sally had lost another child.

“He…we…We need to get moving,” Percy proclaimed after some stammering. He decided to bury the thoughts for later. Right now, they needed to save another friend.

“Fine,” Annabeth said, “I need to see the chart. I can map the islands we can avoid and ones that are relatively safe.”

“Whatever you say, Wise Girl,” Percy said as he showed her to the map.

-

After Annabeth she looked at the charts, she determined their next obstacle before reaching their destination.

“We’re heading towards the Isle of the Sirens.”

Percy looked at the map, “Alright, well I think I could keep the ship out of hearing range-”

“I want to hear them,” Annabeth said, plainly.

Percy’s head snapped up from the map to Annabeth with his eyes wide, “Are you crazy? I thought people are supposed to go nuts after hearing their song.”

“Percy, I need to do this,” she stated, calmly.

“Why?”

“It’s something you can’t understand. I’ve heard tales. If you listened to their song, you’d comeback wiser.”

“Yeah, if you survive,” Percy said.

“I need this Percy. Please.”

Percy looked at her, and bit his lips. “Fine, but if we’re doing this, we are taking precautions.”

“No kidding, Seaweed Brain.”

They discussed the plan and Percy tied Annabeth to the ship outside. He made sure the ropes were extra tight before heading below deck, into his room and closed the door, blasting music in his headphones as he moved the ship toward the island. As the ship moved, he could hear Annabeth’s voice outside, screaming to him. He turned the music up louder to drown out her pleading voice, and potentially the siren’s song, until it was at the max.

Then he sensed it.

A body in the water, moving away from his boat. Keeping his headphones on, he saw Annabeth gone and the ropes had been cut, and saw her dagger laying on the floor.

“Hades” he said to himself as he saw Annabeth swim towards the island.

Percy stopped the boat, commanding it to stay, and jumped into the water and used his power to torpedo towards her. He got closer but the waves pushed him and Annabeth away from each other, sending one or both of them towards rocks, nets, or underwater mines. By the time Percy got his bearings, he saw her swimming closer to the island. He kept underwater, out of the range of the sirens’ voices, but Annabeth was still paddling, and he shot towards her, grabbing her ankle.

He was soon struck by a vision, which he imagined was Annabeth’s greatest desire. It was a picnic with her parents. Percy also saw Luke and a version of himself sitting there as well. Everyone happy to see her and in the background, a huge city of Manhattan, only rebuilt by her.

Once the vision cleared, Percy could feel Annabeth fighting and kicking him, trying to break free. Percy used all his force to pull Annabeth under the water with him, and he wrapped his arms around her as he swam away from the island before forming a bubble around them.

Once in the bubble, with the song completely silent, Annabeth stopped struggling and looked at Percy, realizing her present surroundings. She let out a heartbreaking sob and she leaned into Percy. Percy just held her close and let her cry, ignoring their surroundings, knowing for now, neither of them were in immediate danger.

He whispered to her, trying to comfort her. Once she calmed down, she listened to his plan to get her back safely. Feeling drained, she allowed him to continue to hold her, in the protected bubble, as he led her back to the boat. He also instructed the boat to continue moving pass the island as they followed it under the water. Once Percy was sure they were out of earshot, he stopped the ship and brought them back to the surface.

The two climbed up the latter and Annabeth just rested on her knees, wiping away any lingering tears as Percy reached the deck.

“Are you okay,” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, “I just didn’t know…”

Percy contemplated his next words carefully before speaking.

“I saw it,” he stated, “You rebuilt Manhattan. Your parents, Luke…me.”

“You had no right!” she scolded him. Her face red with anger and embarrassment.

“I didn’t mean to,” he said, “I just saw it when I was rescuing you. I’m sorry.”

Annabeth inhaled and collected her thoughts, “I guess you didn’t know.”

“Your temptation…is saving me and Luke?”

She looked away, but Percy kept prodding, “Annabeth, it wasn’t your…it isn’t your fault. What I did, it was my choice. You aren’t responsible for me or ‘saving’ me.”

“You just left,” Annabeth said, “You left with Luke and I had to find out from Chiron that you betrayed us. I never even knew why…”

Annabeth’s voice faded as she was holding back her sorrow, “I guess nothing’s permanent.”

“He said he was sorry I was born,” Percy said, and she looked at him. He looked like his blue-green eyes were off at a distant, “Poseidon. He said it was some unforgivable mistake. And then he gave me a pat on the head and sent me off like the good child.”

“Percy-”

“For most of my life, he ignored me, and I could accept that he was protecting me from monsters. But then he claimed me once it was clear he and Zeus were going to go to war over that stupid bolt. I was just a tool for him. And when I got the bolt back, he told me how sorry he was I was born. Then he sent me away. I nearly died for their petty feud and I knew exactly why our lives were so short. So when Luke offered an opportunity to bring them down, I took it.”

“I made my choice and I’ll live with the consequences. But Annabeth, it is not your fault that I left, and you shouldn’t have to burden yourself with trying to save me.”

She looked at him almost pleadingly, but looked behind him.

“Percy”

He turned and saw the island of the Cyclops on the horizon.

-

After anchoring the ship, Percy and Annabeth explored the island. The Golden Fleece was currently guarded by big man-eating sheep, so for the moment, they couldn’t risk retrieving it yet. They discovered Clarisse has survived her ship’s destruction, was captured by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, and she revealed Grover as a satyr in the process. Polyphemus trapped his prisoners in a cave, blocked by a huge boulder, which Percy and Annabeth could not budge. They realized they needed to trick the Cyclops, if they were going to free their friend, and Clarisse.

Following Annabeth’s plan, Percy was able to hide beneath a sheep while the near-blind Cyclops herded it into the cave. Annabeth used the trick from Odysseus, calling herself Nobody as she challenged him while invisible and she drew him out of the cave, with him forgetting to reseal the entrance.

Percy let go of the sheep and explored the cave, traveling through the maze-like cavern. He finally found Grover trying to free Clarisse with a pair of safety scissors. Grover looked up and saw his old friends.

“Perrrrrcy,” he cried out, tears in his eyes “You came!”

“Of course I did, buddy. No way I’d leave you at the mercy of that thing.”

“Prissy?” Clarisse shouted in confusion, which was replaced by rage, “You no good traitor! When I get out of here, I’m so taking you down!”

“Good to see you again, Clarisse. Need any help, or would you like to wait for your husband-to-be?”

“Jackson!” she responded in fury.

Percy uncapped Riptide and approached Clarisse, “Right now, I’m here to help Grover. You, I’m on the fence about. So here’s the deal: I free you, you don’t try to run me through until after we off the island and back home. Got it?”

Clarisse growls and grudgingly nodded. With a swing, he freed Clarisse from her bonds. She shook off the ropes and tried to disregard Percy as she grabbed her spear. Before Percy could guide them out, he heard a loud explosion and a scream of fear from Annabeth.

The three saw Annabeth with a bad cut on her head, looking dazed as she was being held upside down by Polyphemus. The Cyclops was cheering having finally catching Nobody.

“I’ll deal with him,” Percy said, preparing his sword, but he was grabbed by Grover.

“Percy, you can’t. He’ll kill you.”

“You need us,” Clarisse stated.

Percy looked at them unsure. But realizing his chances, he agreed to their help.

All three attacked him, as he dropped Annabeth, head first, on the ground, knocking her out. Grover grabbed Annabeth and made an escape, as Percy and Clarisse continued their attack, until they too fled the cave, across the rope bridge. Grover tried to cut the rope to the bridge, and as Percy and Clarisse jumped to the end of it, Percy slashed the other support rope, but unfortunately Polyphemus had already crossed it.

The Cyclops laughed maliciously, as he was praising his victory. Percy saw as the monster swiped away Grover and Clarisse. He looked at Annabeth, looking almost broken, remembering that terrifying scream when she was caught. And he saw Grover and Clarisse, a little worse for wear, struggling to get up. Percy’s anger towards the creature grew as he gripped his sword tighter. He got up and charged at his foe.

Surprisingly, he was able to strike heavy blows at Polyphemus, until the creature toppled over. Percy tried to get onto the Cyclops head, but Polyphemus was able to throw him off, and Percy fell onto his back. Polyphemus began to rise, and Percy started to feel the fatigue kicking in, knowing he couldn’t throw in the same strength a second time at such a beast. He looked up at Polyphemus, but before the Cyclops could gain footing, a basketball-size rock flew from an unknown direction, into Polyphemus mouth and the giant Cyclops began hacking and coughing. Seeing the opportunity, Percy got up again and using the last of his strength, jumped onto Polyphemus face and embedded Riptide into his eye, and the giant Cyclops roared before dissolving into a massive pile of golden dust, flying away into the wind. Percy heard a shout and looked to his unexpected ally: the much smaller and nicer Cyclops.

“Tyson?” Percy shouted in confusion as he saw Tyson standing in the middle of a bunch of meat-eating sheep. They did not seem to think of Tyson as a threat, probably because he was also a Cyclops.

“Hi, brother,” Tyson answered, waving to Percy. Percy had no idea what to say as he stared, stunned at his Cyclops sibling. But he then remembered Annabeth and her injury. Percy ran to look at Annabeth and saw she was hurt worse than he thought, as her head was bleeding. He had an idea.

“Tyson, Annabeth, she’s hurt really bad and needs that Fleece,” Percy yelled.

“Which one?” Tyson asked, looking at the various sheep.

“The gold one. Hanging on the tree.”

Tyson walked up and grabbed the Fleece and threw it to Percy. Percy finally had the Fleece in his hands. Percy turned to Annabeth and saw Grover looking worryingly at him, while Clarisse seemed ready to jump him at any moment, spear in hand. Percy ignored them and placed the Fleece onto Annabeth. Almost immediately, she woke up, and saw her friends around her.

Worried for her injuries, Percy asked her to hold onto the Fleece until she felt all better. He also was able to ask Tyson to lead the sheep away, so they could run for the boat. As they got close to the sea, he looked back and kept watch for Tyson. After thinking Tyson had died and discovering that he was his adopted brother, Percy was not going to leave him behind. While Polyphemus certainly did not inspire any sympathy for Cyclops, Tyson saved Annabeth and had just saved them again. He owed him, big time. He finally saw Tyson running back, with the sheep at his heel. Percy figured the sheep must have realized Tyson had no food. Percy waited until Tyson was close to the shore and summoned water from the sea to push the sheep back inland.

“Go, I’ll be right behind you,” Percy said. Tyson jumped into the water and Percy backed up until he could dive into the sea. He moved the current, pushing him and Tyson onto The Melicertes, and they climbed up with Annabeth, still wrapped in the Fleece, as well as Grove, and Clarisse waiting for them. Percy turned on the motor and drove it away from the cursed island.

-

Percy turned off the engine and directed the current to guide them back to the Clashing Rocks. For the sake of peace on the ship, everyone agreed that the Fleece would remain on Annabeth until they made land outside the Sea of Monsters.

As Percy went to watch the horizon, he saw Tyson, looking down at the water, at the amazing sea creatures. Tyson looked at Percy, and smiled as Percy leaned forward on the side, next to Tyson.

“Annabeth told me about you. She said you helped a lot since I left. I just want to say thank you,” Percy said.

“Annabeth misses you. She has the same look Mom has when she talks about you.”

“Right,” he said, “How did you meet my-um-our mom?”

“I was lonely and I prayed and prayed to Dad. He lead me to her. She gave me treats every day for free outside her store and asked if I’d like to stay with her for a few days. Dad told her he didn’t want either of us to be lonely anymore and she became Mom. She even got me school so I could make friends, but no one was nice to me until Annabeth.”

Percy thought about how Poseidon drove Tyson to Sally. He didn’t know what to think: If it was some elaborate plan in convincing Percy to come back, or if he really did care for her and Tyson. He then broached the question he dreaded, “How is Mom?”

“She is very happy. She gives great hugs when I get home from school and makes the best cookies. But she is also sad. She misses you.”

“I miss her too,” Percy said, solemnly, “Tyson, can you tell her I still love her and that I will make everything better?”

“You are not coming with us?”

“Well, um, it’s hard for me to explain. I’m not ready yet-”

“Percy!” someone shouted. Relieved, Percy went to find Grover, looking at a huge wall of rock with a single passage for their vessel.

Everyone saw the Clashing Rocks coming up on the horizon.

“Alright, Prissy,” Clarisse order, “Get us out of here.”

“Gonna be tricky. I got through because a bird flew through it and I timed it. And it almost blew out my engines.”

“Percy, we don’t have time to wait,” Annabeth said, “Thalia could die any day now. We need to risk it.”

He knew she was right. They were low on supplies and it could take days before he could get expect anything. He knew the extra weight might be an issue, but he needed to risk it. They got as close as they could to the exit, with no indication of disturbance.

“Everyone, hang onto something.”

As everyone got ready, he turned on the motor and moved even closer, as he prepped the currents. He counted to three out loud to everyone and on three, The Melicertes sped through the water as fast as a motor boat. They moved between the cliffs, as giant boulders began to fall from the sky above them. They were nearly in the clear as the motor began to burn. Percy kept pushing the boat and they barely made it out with huge gashes ripping through the paint around the vessel.

“Alright, we should be near Miami now,” he said as he drove the ship. He could smell the engine now burning and figured it be better if he guided the ship until shore was in sight before trying the motor again.

Percy saw the docks and began to guide the boat, until he felt an impact on his skull and everything went dark.

-

Percy woke up, finding himself lying on a soft couch. As his senses returned, he felt he saw he was under fluorescent lights and he pushed himself up, seeing familiar furniture and wall paper.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Percy turned to see Luke, standing against the wall, arms folded.

“How long was I out,” Percy asked, sitting up.

“A good hour or so when we found you. You were lying on the dock and we got you back here. Care to tell me what happened?” Luke said.

“Well, I’m guessing someone must have knocked me out,” Percy said sarcastically, rubbing the wound on the back of his head. He didn’t know which one of the three travel companions hit him, though he had a good idea which one to blame.

“The Fleece?” Luke asked.

“I guess it’s heading to Camp Half-Blood now.” Percy stated.

Luke pushed himself away from the wall and looked down as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “This is not good Percy. Kronos will not be pleased.”

“Sorry,” Percy sincerely said to Luke. He knew that both of them would not be getting a good night’s sleep for a while with the Titan tormenting their dreams for their failures. “But maybe it’s for the best. We are gathering followers, so maybe Kronos doesn’t need to reform.”

“Percy,” Luke said in a dark tone, like a warning, “I’m going to assume you are trying to be positive, and not thinking of defying the King of Titans.”

Percy closed his lips tightly.

“With the Fleece at Camp Half-Blood now, things might get more complicated with the prophecy. You need to be very careful what you say and do,” Luke cautioned him.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell you later, after you’ve settled in. But I will say that Kronos still plans on reforming. The Fleece would make things easy and convenient for all of us. But there are other ways, and I hope Plan B works. I do not look forward to Plan C.”

“I don’t…” Percy began and sat down, feeling light headed.

Luke came up and handed him some ambrosia, “Here, eat up. We have a lot to discuss when you’re ready.”

Percy took some of the delicious food as Luke left. After a few minutes, Percy stated feeling much better and he left the cabin. He moved along the ship, where he was greeted by some demigods, who he trained, and was introduced to a few new recruits as well. He finally reached the deck and looked at the vast ocean. He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze and the spray of the sea. He sensed where he was on the planet and he turned to see on the port side of the ship the beautiful structure.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

A/N: I try to be as loyal to the character personalities as I can be, even with the change in circumstances. I hope you enjoyed the fic. Hopefully I’ll post more in the future.