Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The last thing Apollo expected when he arrived at the family meeting was books.

Five books, to be specific, laid on top of one another, beside Aunt Hestia's hearth.

Apollo furrowed his brows, hopping into his throne with a confused glance at his siblings. They had all gotten here earlier than him, they must know what was going on.

Nothing, simply silence.

Apollo hated having to speak up, especially with the room this quiet, but he was too curious to stay silent.

"Um, Father, may I ask what the books are for?"

His voice rang quietly off the walls of Olympus. His tone was more soft these days, choosing to lower it so the little ones at camp don't get too scared.

Zeus turned to him with a casual smile that did not suit him.

"Ah, don't worry, Apollo, we will explain everything once the other guests have arrived."

Other guests?

Apollo thought, looking around at every throne.

They were all filled, even Hephaestus had shown up, tinkering with an object Apollo thought Leo would be excited for.

Though he did notice that Hera's throne was closer to Zeus's, instead of leaning more towards Aunt Demeter's, and Aunt Demeter herself seemed a bit more chipper.

It wasn't long before the doors of the throne room were open, and the king and queen of the underworld stepped in.

Apollo tried his hardest not to gape, knowing that those two being here was a very, very special occasion.

What in the underworld was in these books?

They were silent, simply bowing reluctantly to Zeus, and taking the thrones now shimmering to life beside Hera and Demeter.

Persephone sat next to her mother, while Hades sat next to Hera, giving her a quick nod as a hello.

It might have been Apollo's imagination, but he saw a tiny smile on his step-mother's face.

It quickly melted once Zeus started speaking again.

Real.

Apollo thought, glancing away from the royals of Olympus before they could start staring at him.

"Now that everyone is here, I will explain the details of our gathering. The Fates have brought these books to us."

Apollo blinked, wondering if he actually heard that correctly.

Dionysus seemed in the same boat as him, snorting with a diet coke hovering over his lips.

Zeus ignored the wide eyed looks, continuing his speech.

"And, they have asked for us to read these books, stating they are here for information."

Information about what, exactly?

Apollo thought.

"Information about what, father?"

Artemis asked aloud, tilting her head slightly. Despite being a god, she still looked tiny in that throne of hers, it made Apollo smile, if only for a second.

"They did not tell us, only demanding that we read, and do not judge the one we read about."

Hera was the one to chime in this time, staring straight at Artemis, unlike their father, who took pride in thinking they weren't worth his gaze.

Artemis nodded, turning to Apollo with a worried press of her lips. Apollo only flashed her a grin, leading to a furrow of her brows.

She was worried for him. He hated it.

Don't. Don't worry about me. I'm not worth it.

He thought, though didn't dare channel it to his twin, he knew that would get him thrown straight into her arms.

"Now that that's been introduced, let us begin the reading, who would like to start?"

Silence across the court room, for once.

Eventually, Athena raised her hand.

"I will, father."

Zeus nodded, as Aunt Hestia appeared through the flames, stepping out of the hearth as if she had just casually rolled out of bed.

She picked up one of the books, handing it gently to her niece, who had joined her near the hearth.

Hestia gave a warm smile, Athena returned it, for just a second.

Once everyone had gotten settled in, Athena began.

"Perseus- excuse me, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The lightning thief."

Groans echoed throughout the corridors.

"Oh, great, we have to read about this brat!"

Ares grumbled, running a hand over his face dramatically.

Zeus looked surprised, and slightly annoyed, but Poseidon had the largest reaction out of all.

His eyes were wide, his grip on the trident next to him could bend steel.

"Hm, so it seems the Fates want our reaction to Percy's version of events."

Persephone murmured, a hand up to her mouth in slight shock. Demeter smiled warmly at her daughter.

Apollo was tense, his hands gripping his arm rests tightly.

Oh, us, no. Please, this kid has been through enough!

He thought, resisting the urge to slam his head into his throne.

"Well, get on with it! I don't want to be here all day because of this sea urchin."

Ares growled, making a shooing motion with his hands.

Apollo breathed, in and out, trying his best to calm himself. At least on the outside.

He hated this, he hated having his friend's thoughts read aloud. But this was the Fates orders.

And he knows better than to attempt fate.

The breathing technique apparently worked, no one commented on it. 

It seemed like Uncle P had the same idea, as his face melted into a hardened glare, at either the books or Athena. Or both.

Athena cleared her throat, making sure no one would interrupt her before she continued.

"Chapter one, I accidently vaporized my pre-algebra teacher. . ."

Chapter Text

Immediately, he heard a snicker from Hermes, as Hera's eyebrows furrowed.

Hades seemed to figure out what the hell the boy meant, the other gods staring at the book in either confusion, or genuine worry.

"Ah, he seems to be talking about Alecto."

Poseidon glared at the god, gritting his teeth in anger.

"You sent Alecto after my son?"

He asked, not yet growling, but certainly not kind.

Hades was about to answer, when Hera interrupted.

"Boys, please, we haven't even gotten to the first line yet!"

The two reluctantly silenced, resorting to glaring at each other when their sisters weren't looking.

"Look,"

Athena started, her voice shifting to a deeper one. She must be trying to "get in character."

"I didn't want to be a half-blood."

A few gasps of shock sounded, Apollo looked at his family in confusion.

Percy literally admitted multiple times that he didn't want any of the wretched life he had, why are they so shocked?

"If you're reading this because you think you might be one,"

"Not a chance, squirt."

Ares grumbled under his breath.

"My advice is,"

"Oh, yippee, Perry giving us advice. This surely won't go horribly."

Dionysus muttered, taking a sip of his diet coke.

Apollo had to admit, that made him smile.

"Close this book right now."

"We kind of can't,"

Hermes said beside him.

"The Fates are the Fates, can't defy them, and all that."

"Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."

Key word on try.

Apollo thought bitterly, resisting the urge to glare at both Zeus and Hades.

"Being a half-blood is dangerous, it's scary. Most of the time it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways."

Silence yet again, even Athena stopped talking, staring at the book with a tint of disgust.

Wow, sorry your kids dying is upsetting your fake stomach.

Apollo thought. He shifted in his seat, propping his elbow against the arm rest, resting his head on his hand.

Hestia looked sad, staring at her hearth with sympathy.

Apollo understood that she had the best attachment to those kids. She, along with Dionysus, had been with them the most out of the gods.

Dionysus held disgust in his face too, but it wasn't aimed towards the kids.

"If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction. . .none of this ever happened. . ." 

Hermes snickered again, the irony of who the sentence was targeted at seemed not lost on him.

". . .Stop reading immediately, because you might be one of us, and once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you."

That awkward silence was back, yet again.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"My name is Percy Jackson,"

"Wow, would have never guessed."

Ares muttered bitterly beside him. Apollo ignored him, focusing mostly on his sister.

She was frowning, in thought. She soon snapped out of it, nodding to Apollo as if she hadn't done anything strange at all.

". . .A private school for troubled kids. . .am I a troubled kid?"

"Yes."

Dionysus, Ares, and Apollo said in unison.

Apollo held a tint of humor, but the rest were glaring like Percy personally punched their grandmother's.

Wait-

Poseidon, on the other hand, frowned at the book.

"They put him in a school for troubled kids?"

He murmured, deep in thought.

Apollo only watched in amusement, knowing the god would see just how much of a menace his son was later on.

". . .I could start at any point in my short miserable life. . .last may, when our sixth grade class took a field trip to Manhattan."

All eyes were on the three gods, Apollo trying his hardest not to glare at his father in general.

Hades looked like he didn't want to be here, Poseidon looked guilty with a head turn, and his father looked unbothered.

Exactly the reactions he expected.

". . .To look at ancient greek and roman stuff. . ."

Athena perked up a little, while Hermes groaned dramatically.

"Sounds like torture."

The god of messages muttered.

". . .I know, it sounds like torture,"

That earned a huff of a laugh from Apollo, Hermes grinning with humor.

". . .But Mr.Brunner, our Latin teacher. . ."

Dionysus snorted, Apollo smiled.

"Mr.Brunner?"

The god of wine sneered.

"You couldn't pick a better name than that, you old centaur?"

". . .Motorized wheelchair. . . you wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes, and let us play games in class. . ."

Finally, Hephaestus looked up from whatever he was crafting, blinking in interest at the wheelchair.

Athena furrowed her brows, muttering something about "unprofessionalism."

". . .He was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep."

Athena looked even more pissed off now, glaring directly at the book.

"He should not be sleeping in class."

"He has ADHD, Athena, he can't help it."

Apollo protested.

"Also, those teachers of his were assholes, so frankly, he deserved that sleep."

Athena looked shocked, as did the rest of the council.

"You know of his teachers?"

Zeus asked, quirking an eyebrow up.

"Well, yeah? He told me stories about them. You know, when I was a human for half a year."

Artemis grimaced, Hera's eyes drooped further.

He was starting to get sick of the awkward silence.

". . .I hoped, for once, that I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy was I wrong."

Apollo grinned, knowing exactly how the events were going to play out.

"Parker is attracted to trouble like a moth is to a flame, him not getting in trouble is a feat worth celebration."

Dionysus said, swirling his soda absentmindedly.

". . .Like my fifth grade school. . . accident with revolutionary war cannon. . .I got expelled anyway."

Apollo could've sworn Ares perked up a bit, his grin sharpening.

Aphrodite giggled into her hand, Athena scoffed under her breath.

". . .I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk. . .our class took an unplanned swim. . ."

Poseidon looked both worried and proud, leaning back in his throne with a glint of smugness in his eyes.

Hades huffed a breath, probably used to his nephews antics by now.

". . .Well, you get the idea,"

"Aw, no, tell us more!"

Hermes whined, his posture mimicking that of a giddy child.

". . .I put up with Nancy bobofit. . .hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of a peanut butter and ketchup sandwich."

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose in disgust, Demeter giving a similar expression.

Dionysus's gaze darkened, his grip on the soda can tightening just a smidge.

Apollo grinned, he was so going to tell Grover about the god's reaction later.

". . .But don't let that fool you, you should have seen him run when it was Enchilada day in the cafeteria. . ."

"Way to blow your cover, Granger."

Dionysus mumbled, leaning back in his throne. Hermes laughed yet again, nudging Apollo.

"That reminds me of the day Aunt Hestia had cooked some bacon for breakfast."

Apollo's face flushed in embarrassment, turning his head away with a sheepish grin.

Hestia muffled a chuckle, sitting next to her hearth, the fire burning bright.

". . .She knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. . ."

"Why does it not surprise me that he's already on probation at school?"

Dionysus asked, rubbing his temples.

Ares huffed a laugh, crossing his arms with a grin. He probably wanted to say something, but Poseidon was right there, and nobody wanted the sea directly on their ass.

". . .Death by in school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly interesting happened on this trip. . ."

Poseidon's brows furrowed, despite the clear joke, probably mapping out exactly where this principle was.

Apollo didn't even sigh, wanting to warn his uncle to get a paper if the god were to continue that, as he would have a list.

". . .'I'm going to kill her.' I mumbled. . ."

The sun god could have sworn the tension in the throne room deepened.

". . .'I like peanut butter!'. . .Grover pulled me back to my seat. . .'You know who will get blamed if anything happens'. . ."

Aphrodite made a soft, yet disgusted noise, Athena herself wrinkling her nose.

Poseidon's face darkened just a little more.

". . .In-school suspension would have been nothing compared to what I was about to get myself into. . ."

Hermes snickered, Ares only rolling his eyes.

Apollo knew what the kid meant, he even related to him, in a way.

". . .It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for three thousand years. . ."

"Probably more."

Athena muttered to herself, wanting to research it, but a gentle poke from Artemis brought her back to the book.

". . .I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because, it was kind of interesting. . ."

"Wow, Pillar actually wants to listen for once?"

Apollo looked over at Dionysus with a confused grin.

"How long are you going to keep calling him by the wrong name?"

"For as long as I'm alive."

He responded bluntly. Apollo chuckled, turning back to the book with a shake of his head.

Everyone seemed surprised, but no one commented on anything.

". . .And every time I told them to shut up. . .Mrs.Dodds would give me the evil eye. . ."

The tension returned.

"I'm going to guess that this 'Mrs.Dodds' is Alecto?"

Hera asked, turning to Hades.

Hades nodded, avoiding eye contact with Poseidon. Apollo had the feeling that Hades wasn't the only brother Poseidon's going to be mad at by the end of this.

". . .She would point her crooked finger at me and say, 'Now, honey. . .' real sweet. . ."

A chill ran up Apollo's spine, he furrowed his brows.

He felt scared, but not at the same time. Like his first few days as Lester. 

". . .I told Grover I didn't think Mrs.Dodds was human. . .'You're absolutely right.'. . ."

Hades almost snorted at this.

"It appears the satyr had very quickly found out."

"They may be fearful, but they aren't stupid."

Dionysus retorted, crushing his now empty diet coke into oblivion.

". . .'Will you shut up?' It came out louder than I meant it to. . ."

"It always does."

Hermes said, a pout on his face.

"Like you have ever tried being quiet."

Ares scoffed, crossing his legs, shifting his arms to his arm rests again.

Hermes whipped his head around with an offended glare, though it was obviously dramatized.

". . .'Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?'"

Hera scowled, tensing in her throne.

"Oh, don't tell me it's that one."

Zeus looked at her skeptically, before he too scowled, muttering an "Ugh,"

". . .'That's Kronos, eating his kids, right?'"

Said children of the incident groaned in somehow proper unison. The only one who kept quiet was Aunt Hestia, who looked like she just ate a lemon.

Apollo too, grimaced, afraid his father was going to spring into another story about how great and mighty he was for saving his siblings. 

Thankfully, Athena hurriedly continued reading, most likely thinking the same thing.

". . .'And he did this, because?'. . .'Kronos was the king god-'"

"God?"

Zeus looked appalled.

". . .'God?'. . .'Titan,' I corrected myself.'"

Zeus seemed satisfied, for once, nodding in acknowledgement. Hera discreetly rolled her eyes, causing Hades to huff a laugh.

". . .'So, um, Kronos ate them right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. . .'"

Poseidon nodded to his son's explanation, as if he was taking notes.

"Yes, yes,"

Apollo heard him mutter. The sun god had to hold back another snort.

". . .'Ew!' Said one of the girls behind me.'"

"Trust me child, it was more than just 'ew'."

Hades mumbled, squeezing his wife's hand for comfort. Demeter, for once, nodded in agreement.

". . .'To paraphrase Ms.Bobofits excellent question, why does this matter in real life?'. . .'Busted' Grover muttered."

Hermes grinned wider, sparkling with joy.

Apollo knew he would be on some type of giddy high by the end of this book. If any of Percy's quests from his point of view were going to be similar to how it went on in real life, mischief is going to follow that kid everywhere.

". . .'And scattered his remains in Tartarus. . .'"

Apollo flinched, hearing the word. He himself never went into Tartarus, but both his son, Nico, Percy, and Annabeth had gone down there. No one made it back without some trauma they had to deal with.

Artemis was looking at him again, frowning harder now.

He waved her off with another grin. She didn't stop her staring, even when Athena continued reading.

". . .'On that happy note, it's time for lunch!'"

"Happy?"

Poseidon quoted, one eyebrow raised.

". . .'Intense brown eyes that could have been a thousand years old, and had seen everything.'"

"More than just a thousand."

Dionysus mumbled, his eyes far away in thought. Apollo didn't ask what he was thinking about.

". . .Mr.Brunner took one long look at the stella, like he had been at this girls funeral."

"He most likely was. Chiron had always respected children of the gods."

Hades mumbled, more to himself than anyone else, but Apollo caught it.

". . .Overhead, a huge storm was brewing. . .because the weather all across New York State has been weird since Christmas. . ."

Apollo snuck another glance at his father, who looked at the book like he could care less.

Of course. No character development in the works for him, it seems.

Apollo knew very well that his father changing would be quite literally impossible, he just. . .had a thought or two. A daydream, really.

". . .We thought that maybe if we did that, no one would know that we were from that school. . .loser freaks who wouldn't make it anywhere else."

Gods, was it painful to hear him talk like that. Especially since Apollo had the same thoughts. He barely held back a wince, and he was already mapping out when he would get to see the boy again.

Just hold in there, Percy. It'll worse before it gets better, but it will get better.

I promise.

Like little Percy could hear him. But something was better than nothing, he supposed.

". . .'Can I have your apple?'. . .I let him take it."

"Wonderful comment, Gracie, I'm sure he feels much better now."

Dionysus sneered, though there was no real heat behind it.

"I hope that's the only fruit he's giving away, that boy needs some more healthy food."

Apollo almost jumped at Demeter's sentence, he had forgotten she was here entirely due to her silence.

Hades sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand—the other hand was holding onto Persephone's—a 'Hear we go again' look on his face.

". . .My mom's apartment. . . I hadn't seen her since Christmas. . .She would hug me, and be glad to see me. . ."

Apollo knew he was hallucinating when he saw his step-mother's face soften.

He absolutely knew he was hallucinating when he saw her look down, at her hands, an almost sad, wistful expression in her eyes.

And he most definitely knew he was hallucinating when he saw her glance over at Hephaestus, for just a second, an apology dancing within her features.

But she blinked it away. Her face hardened, and she looked back at the book like she was stone.

". . .Even if this was my sixth school in six years. . .I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me."

Poseidon hummed in agreement, his own eyes hazy. He was probably looking back on his memories with her.

". . .Dumped her half eaten lunch in Grover's lap. . .'Oops'. . ."

Dionysus tensed in his throne, staring at the book like he wanted to pulverize it. 

Ares snorted, glancing over at Poseidon like he knew what was coming.

He knew Percy's power level, he probably connected the dots that Nancy was about to get her ass beat.

". . .I tried to stay cool. . .'Count to ten, get control of your anger.'. . ."

Apollo felt an undescribable anger fill his chest, his free hand tightened on his throne. His eye twitched, his nose scrunching up.

Artemis glanced up at him with even more concern than normal, pressing her lips into a thin line.

'pollo, are you sure you're okay?

. . .not really, no. This anger isn't mine.

He thought back, wanting to feel some concern, but only feeling rage.

He looked over at Ares, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"The fuck you looking at me for?"

It wasn't him.

Maybe dad?

No, dad was busy with the book. 

What was going on?

Artemis looked ready to say something, but Apollo shook his head.

No, sis. Don't cause a scene, it's just a little anger, I'll be fine.

She definitely didn't believe that, from the frown on her lips, but she said nothing.

Her eyes definitely didn't leave him for a good long while though.

". . .But I was so mad, my mind went blank. . .A wave roared in my ears. . ."

Poseidon's face grew smug almost immediately, Ares huffed in amusement.

No one seemed too surprised, Percy showed way more promising powers than that on a daily basis nowadays, but it still filled Apollo with pride.

Well, tried to, anyway.

". . .I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain. . .'Percy pushed me!'. . ."

Dionysus sipped his coke all nonchalant, but Apollo could see the pride in his eyes.

Apollo resisted the urge to cough 'Father figure' at him.

". . .As if I'd done something she had been waiting for all semester. 'Now honey.' . . ."

The tension returned once more.

Poseidon glared at Hades for a second, but pretty quickly turned his attention back to the book.

The anger was finally gone, Apollo breathed out a sigh of relief, only to immediately tense up when Athena continued reading.

". . .'A month erasing notebooks'. . ."

"No!"

Hermes exclaimed, as if he were about to strangle the boy himself.

"Never guess the punishment!"

Apollo had to agree with that, as did his other siblings. Even Aphrodite nodded solemnly.

". . .'It was me! I pushed her!'. . .'I don't think so, Mr.Underwood.'. . .'You will stay here.'. . ."

Dionysus shook his head, mumbling 'Stupid boy trying to kill himself.'

Apollo filed that away for the gossip session he was going to have with the kids when this was done.

". . .I gave her my deluxe 'I'll kill you later stare. . . How'd she get there so fast?. . ."

"Teleportation."

Hephaestus mumbled, fiddling with something else now. He must have finished with his previous product.

Apollo almost snorted at the bland tone, knowing his brother was simply trying to add to the conversation.

You'll learn how to do small talk someday, bro.

The sun god thought.

Poseidon had gone back to being unbearably tense, his eyes fixated on the book like it was a prophecy.

". . .When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty. . ."

"Oh, great, so no witnesses."

Ares grumbled, shifting in his seat.

"It would frankly be worse to have mortal witnesses, who knows what they would come up with during a presumable fight like this."

Athena responded, though didn't look up from the book.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Ares replied with a shrug, seeming bored already.

Apollo blinked, looking between the two with slight amazement.

Woah, when did those two start getting along?

". . .'You've been giving us problems, honey.'. . .'Yes ma'am.'. . .'Did you really think you would get away with it?'. . ."

Poseidon was literally bending his trident by now, though it immediately patched itself back up.

Apollo, just like before, felt a cold fear begin to fill his chest.

Artemis looked like she wanted to shout something by now, but Apollo shook his head again.

This must be something the Fates are doing to him. They gave these books right?

". . .Thunder shook the building. . .'We are not fools, Percy jackson. . .confess and you will suffer less pain.'. . ."

If anyone heard Poseidon growling, they brought no attention to it. But Zeus was finally starting to look slightly uncomfortable near him.

". . .'Wha-ho, Percy!'. . .Talons slash right next to my ear. . ."

Apollo flinched, his ear buzzed. It felt as though something had just missed hitting him.

Just like Percy. 

He thought.

Oh gods. . .did the Fates. . .?

He didn't think he wanted to finish that thought.

Hermes was looking at Apollo with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, you good?"

He whispered.

Apollo grinned, flashing a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry."

He said, trying his best to mask his trembling voice.

It apparently worked, because Hermes nodded, still slightly concerned, and turned back to Athena.

". . .Mrs.Dodds lunged at me. . .my hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. . .'Die honey!'. . .I did the only thing that came naturally, I swung the sword. . ."

Apollo felt like he wanted to bolt out of the room, his mind was instinctively yelling "Danger, danger!" at him.

Ares was, for once, sitting up in his throne, grinning like a madman.

". . .As if those two, glowing red eyes were still watching me. . .I was alone. . ."

The tension was finally released, everyone either sighed in relief, or slumped back in their thrones with boredom.

Even Apollo was finally able to relax, sending another grin to his sister, telling her he was alright.

Poseidon loosened his grip on his trident, sighing through his nose, though he still sent a glare Hades' way.

". . .'I hoped Ms.Kerr whooped your butt!'. . .I said, 'Who?'. . ."

"Yeah, who?"

Hermes repeated.

It clicked.

"Oh. They're going to gaslight him, aren't they?"

Poseidon sighed in exhaustion. He was definitely going to have some words for Chiron later on.

". . .But he paused first. . .I thought he was messing with me. . .'Not funny man, this is serious!'. . ."

"Of course, the satyr who can act but can't lie."

Dionysus grumbled to himself. Apollo couldn't find it in him to laugh again.

". . .'Percy, there is no Ms.Dodds on this field trip.'. . .'Are you feeling alright?'. . ."

Athena stopped, looking up from the book to speak to Zeus.

"That is the end of the first chapter, Father."

"Ah, I see. Would you like to continue reading, or does someone else want to pick it up?"

Aphrodite raised her hand, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"I will take it, father, if you wish."

Athena nodded, handing the book to the goddess, before shifting in her throne to feel a bit more comfortable.

Artemis looked back at Apollo with pleading eyes, as if begging him to say something.

He only shook his head again, crossing his arms.

He won't care, Arty, it's better to let it be.

. . .okay. But if something happens to you-

You can tell him.

She smiled, but it looked tight. He smiled back.

Aphrodite cleared her throat, scanning the page quickly.

Her eyes widened at whatever she saw, but she began reading anyway.

"Three old ladies knit the socks of death."