Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s not often that Poseidon finds his attentions drawn by a mortal. 

He’s had his forays in the past, of course, though he’s always returned to his truest love in the end. Though Amphitrite has been rather put-out by his romantic escapades in the past (and understandably so, he will admit), the rule she had developed a few centuries before the rise of America had served them well. 

If you wish to take a mortal partner, then I will join you. If one of us does not approve of the other’s chosen mortal, there shall be no such interaction.  

If Poseidon desired a mortal partner, then he would require Amphitrite’s approval. She had given it before, though he had not needed to ask it of her in the past few decades, but her approval (and in some cases, her participation) always let him rest at ease when he found fleeting love in the mortal realm. Any sense of guilt was washed away with the knowledge that Amphitrite would not be upset with him for this. 

“Sally Jackson?” His wife muses, mulling over the image of a beautiful mortal woman with tight dark curls and eyes like polished mahogany. “I see why she caught your eye, but are you sure this is wise, my love?” 

The Oath, he is sure, is what Amphitrite is referring to. “I cannot hope to restrain my desires, my love, but if you wish me to refrain, then I shall not act upon them.” 

“That is not what I asked.” She raises an eyebrow. “Is it wise ?” 

“Is it ever?” 

“I suppose not. But now, more than ever… Zeus will not be kind to these children. He fears the power they may wield, be it turned upon his enemies or upon himself.” 

“A foolish brother indeed. Our children would not resent us so, were we allowed to show them that they are known and loved.” 

Amphitrite sighs. “You truly desire to take this partner, don’t you?” 

Poseidon cannot deny it, and so he is silent. 

“If this is your wish, and if Lady Jackson agrees, then I ask that you allow me to join you. She is… quite impressive, I feel I must admit.” 

He smiles. “You know that I could never deny you, my love.” 

Beautiful, clever, loyal, determined, and already hoping to have a child or two of her own. If Sally Jackson consented, then not one, but two sovereigns of the ocean would act as her lovers. Poseidon only hopes that they are able to avoid the watching eyes of Olympus, not only for the sakes of himself, his wife, and Lady Jackson, but for the sake of the children he hopes to one day meet. 

oOoOo

Perseus Jackson is born approximately eleven months after Poseidon first requested of Amphitrite that they proposition Sally Jackson. With his sea-green eyes and aura of the ocean, he is unmistakably Poseidon’s son… and yet, there is more underneath. A sense of salt wind and siren’s song that does not quite match if one looks closely enough, marking him as not only the child of Poseidon, but of Amphitrite, as well. 

“His name will be Perseus,” Sally whispers, cradling her son with love in her eyes as her lovers lean over her shoulders to watch as the babe blinks sleepily. “For one of the few heroes with a happy ending. Perhaps it will bring him luck.” 

“Perseus means to destroy in the ancient tongue,” Poseidon murmurs, though his tone is not unkind. “Some may take it as a threat.” 

“Then let it be a warning,” responds Amphitrite, “to any who seek to contain him.” 

And if Poseidon’s smile at her words is a bit too sharp, Sally’s a bit too knowing, well. Amphitrite has always been able to keep a secret. One more on the pile won’t be too heavy a burden. 

The citizens of Atlantis may not understand the reason behind it, but they have never been the type to ignore when their rulers are in an abnormally good mood. The ocean is thriving, the waters are calm and pleasant, and the winds are swirling with excitement. It’s clear to the Atlanteans that their monarchs are happy, and as such, Atlantis is happy as well. Even the ever-surly Prince Triton is found to be smiling more often, infected by his parents’ good mood. 

(Though they do not inform the whole of Atlantis, knowing the great risks of spreading the word so far, Poseidon and Amphitrite would not be so unkind as to leave their beloved son in the dark. Triton knows just as well as they do about the reason for their spontaneous celebrations.) 

The sea flourishes more in that first few months than it has in decades, much to the Atlanteans’ delight. Their rulers are happy, their home is thriving, and even when the enthusiasm starts to calm, the state of the seas remains pleasant. 

As Perseus (or Percy, as his mother has taken to calling him) grows from a baby to a toddler, he remains unnoticed by the prying eyes of Olympus, and Poseidon and Amphitrite are able to rest easy knowing that their most fragile child is staying safe. Though they cannot visit often for fear of drawing unwanted attention to the Jackson family, they keep a close eye on Sally and Percy, occasionally sending small bouts of good luck to show that they are still watching over their lover and child. Poseidon would be the first to admit that it is Amphitrite’s idea to do so, never passing up a chance to expound upon his wife’s radiant brilliance and perfection. 

And if Sally Jackson finds herself watching the far-off sea with fondness whenever a day goes her way or an employer cuts her a break, well. It’s nobody’s business but her own. 

oOoOo

Percy is three years old when Amphitrite brings Sally two gifts from herself and Poseidon. 

Though her husband cannot visit too often so as not to incur Olympus’s attention (and therefore wrath), Amphitrite is under a much more relaxed set of rules, and has therefore become the designated go-between for the trio. As such, it isn’t unusual when she arrives on Sally Jackson’s doorstep holding the latest gifts they were able to get away with bringing. 

Normally, the gifts include things such as beautiful shells, small carved toys for Percy (though not too small, not after Amphitrite discovered the human concept of choking hazards), or various blessed charms to make Sally’s life more comfortable. Today, the first of the gifts is normal, a driftwood octopus with prehensile limbs for Percy to play with, but the second… the second is unusual.  

The second is a sleeping baby girl with a shock of black hair that perfectly matches Percy’s own, bundled carefully in a soft blue blanket with lines of green kelp and indigo waves embroidered around the edges. 

Sally’s mouth falls open even as she’s already reaching out to take the baby into her own arms. “Is she…” 

“From the three of us, yes,” Amphitrite confirms quietly, keeping her voice low so as not to wake the baby. “You carried the first child. I thought it was only fair that I carry the second. I have not given her a name yet, though… I have a suggestion that I believe you will enjoy.” 

‘What is it?” 

“You enjoyed the names of heroes with happy endings, yes?” At Sally’s nod, Amphitrite smiles softly, gazing down at the baby with clear affection and love in her indigo eyes. “Then what do you think of Penelope?” 

Sally smiles, giving Amphitrite a nod. “It’s perfect. Just like her.” 

Perseus and Penelope Jackson will not have an easy life, as all of their parents know, but they will have a happy ending, even if their family of five must fight the Fates themselves to ensure it. 

Chapter Text

Grover isn’t paid enough for this. 

Correction, he’s not paid at all, but maybe he should be if his charge keeps trying to slip away in the middle of a crowded bus station. It’s Grover’s job to watch over Percy, so why must Percy make this so gods-damned difficult? First the Kindly One, then the Fates, and now this? The Gods must truly hate Grover, to keep making his friends’ lives so miserable like this. 

(Percy may be his charge, but first and foremost, he is Grover’s friend. Grover wouldn’t be able to fake something like that no matter how hard he tried.) 

He’s positive that Percy must be a child of the Big Three. Hopefully not Zeus, but also hopefully not Hades… honestly, Poseidon is the most likely option, not to mention the safest. The Sea God tends to stay in his own circles, not meddling in others’ affairs unless one of his monstrous children invokes him… in which case he might actually be worse than both Zeus and Hades combined. At least the lords of the Sky and the Dead were marginally predictable, but with Poseidon, one never knows what he’s going to do. 

So, really, none of the Big Three are good options. At this point, Grover is more hoping that he was mistaken and Percy only smells that powerful because of a fluke or a stroke of luck or something. After all, if he really did smell so strongly, monsters surely would have found him before now. 

“Hey, listen, is there anyone to meet you at the bus stop?” Grover asks, tugging on Percy’s sleeve. “I know you know this city like the back of your hand and all that, but… I dunno, I just feel sorta weird making you go it alone.” 

Percy shakes his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Penny’s meeting me there and then we’re going home – according to the last letter, Mom said something about Montauk, so we’ll probably be spending most of the summer there. What about you? You could always come back with us if you need to wait for a ride.” 

He’s heard the name Penny mentioned before in passing – he’s pretty sure she’s some old school friend, but she’s the one that most of the letters come from, so she at least cares about Percy’s well-being (even if her handwriting is atrocious). Grover will have to keep an eye on her when he finally meets her, but he doubts she’s any sort of threat. She would’ve done something ages ago if she was. 

“Oh, I'll be fine! I got money for a cab… but listen, if you– if you need any help this summer, take this.” Grover pulls out his Camp Half-Blood Keeper card, slipping it into Percy’s palm. “Half-Blood Hill, okay?” 

Percy gives him a strange look. “Okay, if you say so.” 

He tucks the card into the pocket of his blue hoodie, and Grover tries to hide the sigh of relief. It may not do much, but… it never hurts to be careful. Especially after what happened last time, he refuses to let a probable demigod just wander around with no safe place to go to when they could be attacked or hunted at any time. He can’t bring Percy with him now, not when he still doesn’t know his heritage, but he can at least start to set the stage. 

“Hey, we’re here!” Percy leans up against the window, practically on top of Grover with his nose an inch from the glass. “I don’t see her, but she’s probably in the crowd somewhere. C’mon, grab your stuff and let’s go!” 

Percy holds up Grover’s backpack so he can sling it onto his shoulders, his own back hanging haphazardly from his arm as he ducks and dodges through the crowd to get off of the bus, occasionally glancing back to make sure that Grover is still following him. Due to the strategy, they’re among the first people off of the bus, and Grover almost immediately loses sight of Percy as he darts off into the crowd. 

Definitely not paid enough for this.  

With a fondly exasperated sigh, Grover resigns himself to following Percy into the crowd, trying to figure out his path based on how ruffled the nearby people look. It’s surprisingly effective, leading him in the right direction until he’s able to catch a whiff of Percy’s scent. 

The problem is, it’s not just Percy’s scent he gets. There’s a second one – definitely not a monster, but a damn powerful demigod, similar and intertwined with the scent of Grover’s friend. The weirdest part, however, isn’t the odd similarity to Percy, but the fact that it seems almost… covered, somehow. It’s like there’s another, painfully human scent layered on top like a shell of frosting on a cake. The two scents at least seem to be in the same direction, which makes things a little easier. 

Grover bursts out of the crowd, looking around for Percy, on edge and wondering if he’ll need to deal with some new interloper, but he abruptly stops short as he catches sight of the scene before him. 

Percy is standing there, yes, but he’s not alone. Tucked away in the entrance of an alleyway are Percy and what looks like a much smaller, female Percy, with the same loose black curls and olive skin, arms wrapped around each other as they both laugh. Percy lets go of the girl only to scoop her up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist as he looks around to see where Grover went. 

“Grover!” He calls out, grinning when he catches sight of him. “Grover, come meet Penny!” 

Oh. 

Oh, aphòdeuma . That’s Penny. She’s not a school friend, she’s Percy’s sister . 

And if his nose is right (and it’s never wrong), then she’s a demigod, and one just as powerful as he is. 

Grover fixes a smile on his face and walks over, catching sight of Penny’s face as he does. She can’t be more than nine, wth round freckled cheeks and the deepest blue eyes he’s ever seen. She grins, showing off a missing canine on the left side. “Hi, I’m Penny! You’re Percy’s best friend, Grover!” 

“Yep, that’s me,” he says. “Does Percy write about me a lot?” 

She snickers. “Probably, but I can’t read half of it. Mom says he does when she reads his letters to me, though, so probably. Did you really pick up a squirrel right out of a tree?” 

Oh, so that’s what he’s known for. Nothing about his personality or quirks, but the fact that he once plucked a squirrel right out of her tree to put her on a higher branch. “Um… yes. She was going to fall if she kept going along such a flimsy branch.” 

“Cool! I wanna hold a squirrel!” 

“Don’t go trying to grab squirrels,” Percy scolds, poking her cheek. “Is Mom here or did you come alone?” 

“Alone! She’s at the candy store, and we’re gonna meet her there, ‘cause Smelly Gabe’s having a poker game and all his stupid friends are also having a poker game. They’re in our living room and they’re making the whole place smell icky and gross .” Penny wrinkles her nose, but quickly loses the expression of disgust as she seems to get an idea. “Oh! Ooh, Grover should come to the candy store!” 

“He might have stuff to do, but… Grover, you wanna come with us to see our mom? She should be getting off work soon, and I’m pretty sure she wanted to meet you. If you have to be home soon, though–” 

“No, I’d love to!” And he really does want to meet Sally Jackson, but more importantly, he needs to get a gauge on the situation with Percy and Penny. He doesn’t smell any other satyrs, so chances are high that no one’s discovered Penny yet. Should he bring them both to camp together? Should he only bring Percy and leave Penny with their mother when the time comes for Percy to join Camp Half-Blood? He certainly can’t leave Percy alone completely, not with the whole… ordeal going on with Olympus. 

Regardless, Percy and Penny are two clearly powerful demigods left with little to no supervision, and Grover won’t pretend that he doesn’t have a few concerns. There are far too many risks for only one lone demigod, even when they don’t know about their bloodline. Two of them in the same place is just asking for trouble. 

Ma Dia , why is it always Grover who finds the stupidly powerful half-bloods? He’s not qualified for this! What if he ends up failing again and gets Percy and Penny hurt, or worse? 

But he can do nothing right now except follow the pair away from the bus station and into the city, allegedly to the candy shop that their mother works at. Mrs. Jackson has come up in conversation a few times, and from what Grover remembers, she’s very close with her son. By extension, that seems to extend to Penny, who’s kicking her feet excitedly as Percy carried her on his hip like a Victorian washerwoman with a basket of linens. 

“Did you have fun while I was away, Penny?” Percy asks. 

“Mhm! I keep getting in trouble for doing stuff that I’m ‘not supposed to do’, or something. It's the teachers’ problems if they don’t like it. They should be nicer anyways if they want me to listen.” 

“Penny.” Percy narrows his eyes, giving her a Look. “Who did you bite.” 

“I have bitten no one , thank you very much, and it was only a sprained wrist anyway.” She turns her nose up, looking rather put-out that she allegedly got in trouble for… presumably injuring another student. “And he had it coming!” 

“Had it coming, huh? What’d this kid do?” 

“He was a meanie, that’s what. His name’s Thomas Cantser and he’s an entitled little rich-boy who thinks he can do whatever he wants just ‘cause his dad owns some stupid company. He dumped juice all over my head!” 

Percy frowns, but Grover responds before he gets the chance to. “Wait, I don’t mean to interrupt, but… how exactly did you sprain his wrist?” 

“...Kicked him.” 

“You kicked him?” 

“Yeah. Hard.” Penny looks to her brother, a mildly guilty expression crossing her face. “And he really did have it coming, but I only got so mad at him ‘cause I was already mad at the substitute teacher for sending me to the office when she was the one mispronouncing my name! It’s just five letters, it’s not that hard!” 

“How do you mispronounce ‘Penny’?” Percy asks, bewildered. 

“She kept calling me Henny for some reason, and it was super annoying, so I was gonna tell her ‘it’s Penny as in Penelope, not Henny as in Henelope’, except I accidentally got my words mixed up and said Hellope instead of Henelope, and then she sent me to the office for cursing even though the hell word is in the Bible and she had a Jesus cross on her necklace.” 

The more Grover is around the Jackson siblings, the more bizarre he thinks they are. At least this explains a bit about Percy and his ability to acclimate to weird situations – Grover would probably be the same way if he grew up with a little chaos goblin like Penny, who just admitted to kicking a boy so hard she sprained her wrist. Not to mention, judging by the matter-of-fact way that Percy had spoken, Penny has probably already bitten more than one person. Maybe he doesn’t need to be quite so hasty about bringing both of them to camp… 

oOoOo

“Mom!” 

Sally turns around at the sound of her son’s voice, a smile already stretching across her tired face as she catches sight of Percy, his suitcase rolling behind him with the handle held in his right hand, Penny wrapped around him like a koala as he supports her with his left. It’s been too long since she’s seen him, even if she got to read the letters sent between him and Penny. 

“Percy, you’re back!” Coming out from behind the counter, she wraps both of her children in an embrace, pulling them close in a comforting squeeze, just like she knows they enjoy. “And who’s this? Is he one of your friends, Percy?” 

“Mhm!” He nods, black hair bobbing. “Mom, this is Grover Underwood. He’s my best friend, and he doesn’t have to be home until later, so we thought he could come along to meet you.” 

“It was my idea!” Penny chirps. Sally isn’t actually sure if it was or not, but Percy isn’t refuting it, so she’ll let it slide. “Grover, this is our mom! Her name’s Sally Jackson and she’s the best, so you should be super nice to her, ‘kay?” 

Sally can’t help but snicker at that. Grover looks a bit nervous, but he holds out a hand to shake regardless, giving her what must be his best ‘I’m meeting a new adult and I want to make a good first impression’ smile. It’s adorable. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Jackson. Percy talks about you a lot, so I, uh, was kinda looking forward to meeting you, actually.” 

Such a sweet boy. The name Underwood is familiar, though she can’t place it. “Pleasure to meet you as well, Grover. My shift is almost over, so if you three want to look around the mall a bit while I finish up, I’ll meet you at the benches outside. Penny, you know where I mean?” 

“Mhm!” 

“All right, then. Sound good to everyone?” 

“Oh, uh… I might have to go soon, actually.” Grover rubs the back of his neck, clearly a bit embarrassed. “Sorry ‘bout that, guys.” 

“Oh, it’s perfectly fine,” Sally assures. “We wouldn’t want you to be late getting home. It was lovely to meet you.” 

Percy steps out of the candy shop with Penny still clinging to him, Grover right on his heels. Sally watches them exchange a few pleasant words outside before Grover heads off in the opposite direction of her children, all of them waving goodbye to each other. Perhaps she can offer for Percy to hang out with Grover over the summer… it’s a bit uncommon for her children to have friends that aren’t each other, so she’d like to try and give Percy the chance to have that experience. 

(She’s putting off a bigger problem. She knows she is, but she can’t bring herself to send Percy’s world crashing down like that. Sally hasn’t seen either of her lovers since Penny was a baby, not after Olympus started sniffing around New York to see what had caught the sea’s attention, or else she’s sure that Percy and Penny would already be aware of the situation. 

She wishes they could’ve grown up as a family together, herself, Poseidon, Amphitrite, Percy, and Penny, but with the other gods being the way that they are… it just wasn’t to be. Still, she knows that the children’s other parents care deeply for them, and that’s good enough for now.) 

When the day is over, she’ll have to go back to Gabe for the night, at least to finish the dip so he’ll let them borrow the car. For most of the summer, however, she’ll get to be with her children, close to the sea and far from all of her problems. For that time, at least, she can enjoy her happiness until the time comes for Percy to join the camp. 

She doesn’t want him to leave, but if it’s for his safety, she’ll endure it. Sally only hopes that Penny will be able to see it the same way. At least her daughter will be able to visit the camp whenever she pleases – perhaps Sally should think about letting Penny spend a few weeks there, as well. 

Who knows? It might be good for them to get a more gradual introduction into the world of the Greek Gods. 

oOoOo

Percy may not be happy about the fact that Smelly Gabe has apparently been using his and Penny’s room as a smoking lounge, but he can’t bring himself to care about that when he finally gets to see his sister face to face after all these months. 

“Did you have fun at school?” Penny asks, bouncing on the lower bunk of the bed in the exact way he keeps telling her not to do. “Did you get to hold the squirrel, too? How’d you meet Grover? Is he weird like Mr. Papatonis next door? Ooh, did you bring back anything cool from the school? I’da taken all their markers for not letting you come back next year.” 

“Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if you’re a kleptomaniac,” Percy snickers. “I didn’t get to hold the squirrel, I would’ve had a lot more fun if Nancy Bobofit weren’t so obnoxious, and I met Grover because we ended up seated together in Latin. He’s not weird like Mr. Papatonis, though.” 

“Cool! And maybe you didn’t bring anything back, but I did!” Jumping up, she darts across the room before grabbing a small paper box off of the dresser, opening it and pulling out a handful of blue glass beads. “I nicked ‘em from the art room, ‘cause they were gonna throw away the whole tin since no one was using them. I thought that was stupid, so I went through and picked out all the blue and green ones. The blue are for you, the green are for me, and I’m making Mom a bracelet. Wanna help?” 

Maybe she is kleptomaniacal. Still, he can’t really pass up the chance to make a gift for their mom, so he shrugs and sits down beside her on the floor as she pulls a length of beaded white string out of the paper box, too. 

“I’m gonna weave the beads in like one of those lizard bead thingies the sporty girls make at summer camps,” Penny explains. “I found a diagram on the internet, only I didn’t get to print it, so we’re just gonna hope I can remember the whole thing.” 

“At least it’ll be interesting either way.” 

“Exactly!” 

Penny hands him a handful of tangled-up embroidery floss and starts working on her own lizard, tapping each bead as if counting them out before she begins to string the next row on. Percy watches, trying to mimic the pattern, but he isn’t having much luck, though he’s fairly certain that the lizard she’s making absolutely does not match the ones that the richer kids brought back from summer camp. They sit in relative silence for maybe three minutes before Penny abruptly looks over, brow slightly furrowed. 

“Hey, Percy?” She asks. “Did… you ever figure out that thing with the math teacher?” 

Blunt as always and still jumping from one topic to the nest like a caffeinated tree frog. If Percy were any less ADHD, he’d never be able to have a proper conversation with her. 

He sighs. “Not really. Everyone was still acting like she never existed, except for Grover who was definitely trying to and was just really bad at it. I probably would’ve kept pushing him if I hadn’t gotten that letter from you.” 

“Well, what was I supposed to do, lie? I remembered the lady from all of the letters you sent me, and Mom remembered them from when she’d read the letters to me, so obviously she must’ve existed, unless you somehow managed to hallucinate for, like, seven months or something. That’s a long time to be hallucinating, I’m pretty sure.” 

“I had old papers she’d graded and everything! Her name was at the top! How d’you explain that?” 

“Maybe it’s a cover-up and she was a wanted criminal and the FBI took her away and brainwashed everyone into forgetting! Ooh, you gotta go into witness protection now or else her accomplices are gonna come and get you!” 

“Accomplices? How do you even know that word?” 

“Smelly Gabe was watching Law & Order ‘cause Eddie said his side-chick wanted him to watch it, so he was making everyone else watch it, too.” 

Percy frowns. He’s not a fan of boarding schools, and this is exactly why: if he’s that far away all the time, he can’t keep an eye on Penny and keep her safe. He knows that Gabe will vent his frustrations on him sometimes, but what if he gets mad while Percy isn’t here? Would he start hurting Penny? Would he hurt their mother? It’s just too big of a risk. He’ll have to try and find a school that’s closer next year, one he’s not banned from yet. If he can find an elementary school nearby, then Penny could go there, and he could be close enough to come and get her if something happens. They’d let a thirteen-year-old pick Penny up from school if he’s her brother, right? 

“Percy?” 

He pushes down the worry, giving Penny a pleasant smile that seems to calm the minute nervousness that was starting to show in her face. “It’s nothing. I just didn’t think you’d like that show, is all.” 

“I don’t.” She pouts. “But I was bored and it was making noise, so I had to watch it.” 

“That, I can understand. Tell you what, when we go to Montauk, I’ll find us a good show on TV and we can pirate the whole series on the library computers and binge it all together. Sound good?” 

“Mhm!” 

There. Penny will have something to look forward to, and Percy will have something to do. Montauk is going to be the perfect trip, and best of all, no Smelly Gabe for a whole week. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

Chapter Text

Penny kicks her legs against the empty seat in front of her as she looks out the window, already excited for the trip ahead. She hasn’t gone to Montauk with her family in years, and she can’t help but feel giddy about the whole thing. She gets to spend the whole weekend with Percy and her mom, with no Smelly Gabe to ruin it and absolutely nothing to do the entire time except whatever she and Percy choose. 

She doesn’t actually remember most of their trips to Montauk all that well. Obviously they went, and obviously she was there, but nothing really sticks out in her head except for one scene. No matter what, she can always remember standing in the surf with the water up to her knees, comfortable despite the chilly temperature, with a handful of shells that she’d picked up out of the wet sand herself. Those shells are still in an empty jam jar on one of her shelves at home, tucked away behind a few textbooks so that Smelly Gabe doesn’t see them and try to throw them away again. Maybe this time, she’ll bring more home to add to the collection. 

“Did you see anything cool on the bus home, Percy?” She asks, poking her brother in the arm. 

He bats her hand away without much fuss, shrugging. “Kinda? There were some really weird old ladies at a fruit stand that I swear were staring right at me, but they probably couldn’t see all that well, so I don’t think they realised there was a person there. Maybe they thought I was a really ugly tree.” 

“You’d be a pretty tree, not an ugly one. Maybe… one o’ those ones with pink and white flowers. Magnolia?” 

“If you’re talking about the one at the street corner, that’s a dogwood.” 

“Oh. I always mistake that for a magnolia. Probably because magnolia sounds prettier.” 

“I guess, yeah. Hey, Mom, if we were trees, what kind of trees would we be?” 

“I’ve no idea,” she responds from the front seat, glancing back for a second before returning her attention to the road. “You know, if you two are bored, there’s a deck of Uno cards in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat.” 

“Wait, really?” Penny reaches in and grabs them, brandishing the pack proudly as Percy grins. “Hell yeah!” 

“Language, Penny.” 

“But it’s in the Bible!” 

“And we’re not Christian. That isn’t nearly as good of an excuse as you think it is, dear.” 

“Yeah, Penny, we’re not Christian,” Percy repeats, snickering. “Aren’t we, like, agnostic or something?” 

“Or something,” Mom agrees. “I’ll explain more later. Why don’t you two play a round of cards until we reach the gas station, and then we can grab a snack to have until we reach Montauk?” 

“Kay!” 

“Kay, Mom.” 

The game of Uno ends as most games of Uno do, with cards all over the floor and bloodlust in the air. In the front seat, their mother sighs, most likely regretting her decision to tell them that deck of cards was available. 

oOoOo

Percy should’ve known something was going to go wrong. 

Montauk is beautiful, just like it always is, and he’s having the time of his life playing in the surf with Penny. She’s already fallen face-first into the water three separate times, as if every time he turns his back she decides it’s the perfect time to faceplant. Still, he’s pretty sure she’s been lining her pockets with rocks, shells, and seaglass, so she’s probably doing just fine. 

The day was going too well, now that he looks back on it. The weather had been perfect, the sea had been calm, they’d managed to find an affordable ice-cream stand to get a cone of strawberry for Penny and a cone of vanilla bean for Percy. 

So of course his day was going to be ruined, because why on earth would he be allowed to enjoy himself? 

The dark clouds gathering above don’t make him feel excited, like they usually do. Percy normally enjoys storms, but this one… this one feels bad. There’s a sense of foreboding filling him, and he pulls Penny out of the water, keeping a careful grip on her hand as he leads her back into the cabin and shuts the door behind them. 

“Mom?” He calls, poking his head into the kitchen. “I think it’s gonna storm outside, there’s dark clouds everywhere and the air feels funny.” 

Penny joins him, nodding her head and making her hair bounce. “The sea’s getting all swooshy, too.” 

Mom turns around, face lined with concern. “If it’s storming out, we’ll have to close all the doors and windows. Did you both bring all of your things inside?” 

“Yep.” 

“Mhm!” 

“Good. Now, come and help me with the windows, and we can–” 

A pounding on the door interrupts her, and she jerks in surprise, head immediately turning toward the source of the sound. 

“What was that?” Penny asks, but Mom shushes her, heading over to open the door. Percy eyes it warily, nudging Penny behind him, though she’s not doing a very good job of staying there. “Who’s at the door?” 

The front door swings open, revealing a familiar form, silhouette cast against the background of the brewing storm. Rain is already beginning to fall in spades, pelting the ground and leaving deep divots in the sand as the torrent only grows. 

“Grover?” Percy feels his face furrow in bewilderment as he stares at his friend, and the lines only deepen as he takes in the unfamiliar part. “What’s with– what’s going on here?” 

“He’s got fur legs ,” Penny whispers, albeit rather loudly. She isn’t great at whispering, and normally he would quiet her down, but he’s a little preoccupied with the whole ‘why does my friend have the lower half of a donkey’ conundrum right now. 

“ Bla-ha-ha! We don’t have time for that right now, you two are in danger!” Grover yelps. “Miss Jackson, there’s something coming–” 

“Is it what I think it is?” Mom asks, her face going pale, and Grover nods. 

“We gotta get them to camp. The barrier–” 

“I know. Percy, Penny, in the car. We’ve got to go, now .” 

Percy frowns, but complies, pulling Penny along and ushering her into the backseat. “But isn’t it not safe to drive during a storm? I thought–” 

“Normally, it isn’t, but we’re in extenuating circumstances right now. Seat belts, both of you. You too, Grover.” Mom turns the key in the ignition and floors the pedal as soon as everyone is buckled in, the car speeding out of its parking spot and onto the road. “Shit, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. Percy, Penny, I need you to listen to me very carefully, all right? Your parents–” 

“Our dad?” Penny interrupts. Mom nods. 

“Yes, but not just him. You have three parents – myself, your–” 

The car hits a bump right as a clap of thunder sounds from behind them, and Mom cuts herself off with a startled yelp. Percy can see Grover’s fingers digging into the leather of the armrest from his place in the passenger seat. Beside him, Penny shoots him a wary look, reaching out her hand for comfort. He takes it, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand in an attempt to keep her calm. The last thing they need is for one of them to start panicking. 

“They’ll explain it at camp, but when we get there, you two need to get across the boundary line and stay there, all right? Just get past the pine tree on top of the hill and you’ll be safe.” 

Percy blanches. “Safe from what? ” 

A resounding boom shakes the car, and this time, it doesn’t sound like thunder. It happens again, and again, and again. 

Not like thunder. Like footsteps . 

Percy turns around in his seat to look out the back window, and through the pelting rain, he can make out an enormous silhouette, hulking and dark. It’s getting closer. 

“Take a left, take a left–” Grover cuts in, and Mom jerks the wheel to the side, veering down a small backroad that had been nearly invisible amongst the trees. “Too much left!” 

Mom straightens out the car, keeping them firmly on the bumpy backroad. “It’s fine. Everything will be just–” 

But before she can get through her sentence, every one of Percy’s hairs stands on end, and a millisecond later, there’s a flash of light as a bolt of lightning strikes the car, throwing them off the road and into the forest surrounding them. 

oOoOo

Penny coughs as she yanks at her seatbelt, barely managing to get it unbuckled at such a weird angle. The car is upside down, thrown from the road by what she’s almost positive was a strike of lightning . 

She knew it was dangerous to go driving in a storm, and now look what’s happened! Crawling across the ground (across what used to be the ceiling of the car), she tugs on Percy’s arms, breathing a sigh of relief when he groans. 

“Ugh, what the hell just happened?” He mutters, undoing his own seatbelt and tumbling to the floor-ceiling right beside her. “Penny, are you okay?” 

She nods. 

“Okay. Okay, good. Mom? Grover?” 

“I’m okay, love,” Mom huffs from the front seat. Beside her, however, Grover doesn’t respond. As soon as Mom gets her own seatbelt undone, she reaches over to help with his, catching him before he can fall out of his seat. “It looks like Grover hit his head, but I can feel his heartbeat just fine. We’ll have to carry him with us.” 

Both siblings nod, and Percy climbs up front to help Mom haul Grover out of the passenger-side door. Penny follows a moment later, and Mom looks around for a minute before turning back towards the road. 

“I can’t see anything in this rain. Stay close to me, all right? We don’t know what–” 

A thud shakes the ground, followed by another and another. Penny inches closer to her brother. “What was that?” 

Mom’s face is grim as she looks behind them, taking a few steps back, away from the sound. “Nothing good.” 

There’s someone out there. They must be huge, standing that large in the rain, but something about their silhouette is off. The head is too big, like they’re holding up a coat or a blanket, but they can’t be holding anything, because she can see their arms hanging by their sides, swinging freely as they stalk towards her family. 

“Penny,” Percy murmurs, “stay behind me.” 

“What is that?” She whispers. “Percy, what is that?” 

But it’s getting closer, and they’re not moving fast enough, even as Mom breaks into a run, followed by Percy, who’s got ahold of her hand and is pulling her along. The silhouette becomes clearer with each passing moment, and Penny feels the blood drain from her face as she slowly realises what she’s seeing. 

“That’s not a man.” She can’t take her eyes off of him, even as the horror creeps into her mind. “That is not a human.” 

Because humans don’t have fur. Humans don’t have protruding snouts or eyes on the sides of their heads, and humans don’t have horns . Whatever that is, it’s not a human, and Penny has a sinking feeling that she recognises it – not from any zoo or animal encyclopædia, but from a mythology book she had read with her mother. 

That’s not a human. That’s the minotaur . 

And it’s getting closer. 

And closer. 

And– 

“Percy, duck!” Penny shrieks, and he does so instantly, barely dodging a swipe from the thing’s enormous fist. It’s so much larger than a normal human even without counting the horns, nearly eight or nine feet tall – maybe more, she’s terrible at estimating – and its body is built to match. 

Her brother yanks her off of the path and books it up the hill, and she nearly trips trying to keep pace with him. Mom is right beside them, carrying Grover, and then– 

She’s not , because the Minotaur has her in its fists and Grover is on the ground and Penny can feel her breath coming in short, sharp gasps as she tries to reach out for her mother, Percy pulling her away even as he watches in horror. 

“Get out of here!” Mom yells, but her voice is already sounding strained. “Get to the top of the hill and don’t look back! Run!” 

But they can’t , they can’t leave her behind– 

The Minotaur squeezes , and Penny has barely a second to see the panic in her mother’s eyes before she vanishes, leaving nothing but golden dust that’s washed away in an instant by the pouring rain. 

“Behind me,” Percy orders, and she complies. “Penny, whatever you do, don’t get hurt . Promise me.” 

She nods, and she can’t tell if her face is wet because of the rain or because of her tears. “Promise.” 

He gives her a smile, but it’s not right. “Thank you. Stay here, okay?” 

Penny ducks behind the tree, just like her big brother told her to, and she watches as he rushes across the clearing, trying to grab Grover up off of the ground as the Minotaur sniffs the air, body turned away from the trio of children. 

But it’s not for long. Percy barely manages to get Grover off the ground before the Minotaur whirls around, nostrils flaring as it starts to advance on them. Penny gasps, pressing closer to the tree and wishing for something, anything that could help her brother, but she’s got nothing. He’s going to be killed by that awful monster and she won’t be able to do a thing to help him– 

Only it’s not going for Percy. It keeps turning, until it’s pointed at her . 

Penny’s eyes go wide as she looks around frantically for something to help her, anything she could use as a weapon. She doubts kicking and biting would help her very much against this thing, btu it’s all she’s got. 

And then, across the clearing, Percy drops Grover, glaring at the Minotaur with every ounce of hatred he’s got. “Hey, ugly! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” 

The Minotaur bellows, turning again at the sound, and Penny feels a drop of relief for less than a second before reality sets in and she realises that, while it’s no longer pointed at her, it’s now pointed at him , and it’s started to run. 

Percy backs up, pressing into the tree behind him as he crouches down, watching the oncoming monster. Penny can’t tear her eyes away as the Minotaur gets closer– closer– 

And in a split second, Percy jumps , launching himself from the trunk of the tree and landing on the Minotaur’s head, grabbing onto one of its horns and yanking . There’s a resounding snap and Percy tumbles to the ground, clutching something shiny and white in his hands. 

He may have told her to stay put and not get hurt, but Penny elects to completely disregard that promise as she bolts across the clearing, nearly barreling right into her brother. “Percy! Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, but we gotta get Grover!” He pants, still clutching what she now realises is the Minotaur’s broken horn . “Come on, help me out.” 

Penny nods, hauling one of Grover’s arms over her shoulders and helping Percy pick him up as the Minotaur stumbles around behind them, still disoriented. That isn’t going to last long, though, and they need to get Grover out of here before he gets trampled or something. He’s still unconscious, a knot starting to form on the left side of his head, and if they don’t get him help soon, it’s only going to get worse. 

But the Minotaur has other plans. Shaking itself out of its stupor, it lines itself up with the trio, swiping its feet across the soaked earth like a bull about to charge, and in less than a second, Penny unconsciously decides to do something very, very stupid. 

Yanking the horn out of Percy’s hand, she drops Grover’s arm, letting Percy hold him up as she bolts towards the Minotaur, running just to the left of its trajectory. Skidding to a halt and nearly falling in the slurry of mud, she throws herself at the beast and slams the horn into its ribs, point first. It bellows in pain, a sound that makes her head ring, and with a last dying howl, it explodes into a cloud of golden dust. 

Penny barely feels the horn drop from her hands as she stares at the sand, tears still tracing down her face. A moment later, she falls to her knees, exhaustion dragging  her into unconsciousness as her eyes slip closed. 

Chapter Text

‘He’s the one. He must be.’  

Percy’s head feels fuzzy, like someone’s stuffed his skull with carded wool and then dumped a bucket of water in his ear. He can barely feel anything, let alone see or hear. 

‘He’s the one. He must be.’  

The last thing he remembers – a blonde girl staring over him as he collapsed, reaching out for Penny, who lay a few feet away. She’d said something, an odd phrase that he keeps turning around in his head. He can’t seem to figure out what she meant. 

‘He’s the one. He must be.’

The one, she’d said. What did she mean? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Everything that happened during that storm – Grover, the lightning strike, the man with the head of a bull– 

Mom. 

Penny collapsing. 

Two explosions of golden dust. 

Percy forces his eyes open with a herculean effort, squinting at the harsh light above him. He’s in a room, that much is certain by the wood panelling of the ceiling and the fluorescent bulb set into the lazily spinning ceiling fan, but where? This isn’t any building he recognises. At best, it bears a vague similarity to the cabin they’d just been in, but that’s not right. The ceiling there is much darker than this, and the lights are nowhere near as bright. 

Or maybe it’s just him, because he’s able to see just fine as a dark blob enters his vision, blocking the horrible overhead light from attacking his pupils. It’s someone’s head, and not just anyone. Leaning over him is the girl with the blonde princess curls, steely grey eyes fixed upon him with such a force that he’s surprised they’re not boring holes in him. 

“What’s going to happen on the summer solstice?” She whispers harshly, leaning in so close that their noses are almost touching. Percy blinks blearily, trying to parse out what she just said so he can translate it into something more conducive to his current state of ‘head empty no thoughts’. “What do you know?” 

Percy opens his mouth, but nothing comes out but a small sound of pain. The girl’s eyes widen, her gaze flicking to the door. A second later, she’s shoved a… cookie, he thinks, in his mouth (it tastes like a cookie, at least, even if the texture is a little more like an airy cake) and darted away somewhere, too far for his blurry vision to make out. He’s suddenly struck with an urgency, the smallest modicum of strength returning to his body, and it’s just enough for him to manage words. 

“Wait,” he croaks out, voice hoarse. “Pen–penny. My sister, she– mh – where…?” 

The princess girl steps back into view again, watching him with an unreadable expression. “If you’re talking about the little girl who came into camp with you, she’s in the next room over and she’s fine. Still hasn’t woken up, but that’s more from exhaustion and overexertion than any legitimate health issue. Don’t you even think about trying to get up and look for her, you’ll fall on your face and give yourself an even worse concussion than you already have.” 

Percy lets his head fall back onto the plush pillow, all of his energy dissipating with the knowledge that Penny seems to be safe. 

(For some reason, his mind can’t even fathom the idea that this princess girl could be lying to him. He doesn’t know why, but she’s… he just knows she isn’t lying. She’s telling him the truth – Penny is in the other room, perfectly safe and in no danger.) 

The room fades in and out in a haze, and the last thing Percy hears before he loses consciousness once more is the blonde girl’s voice, calling for a name he can’t make out. 

oOoOo

Penny, unlike her brother, does not take her time waking up. Like most things in her life, she does it loudly, chaotically, and all at once. 

She sits up like a snapping rubber band, mouth open in a shriek before she even knows what’s happening. Across the room, a blonde girl who looks to be around Percy’s age jolts in shock, nearly falling out of her chair. 

“Di immortales , what the hell was that?!” The older girl shrieks, looking around wildly with what looks like a knife in her hand. Man, Penny wants a knife. Maybe she can get Percy to get her one? Mom definitely wouldn’t allow it, but–

Oh. Mom. 

“Is my mom dead?” Penny whispers, and she’s not sure who she’s asking, but the blonde girl goes pale, immediately stuffing the knife back into a holster hanging from her belt. 

“Oh, I didn’t realise you were– hang on, I’m… I’ll go get Chiron, just wait right there,” she says, bolting out the door a moment later to, presumably, go get Chiron. That name is… familiar, weirdly so, but Penny isn’t doing too hot with the whole ‘processing words’ thing and so she instead finds it much easier to just stare straight ahead of her and let the tears fall. 

Huh. She hadn’t noticed when she started crying, but she’s crying now. That’s… a development. 

Her mom is gone. Isn’t she? Penny watched . She saw her mom disappear. She didn’t think people died like that, but what does she know? She’s nine! She shouldn’t have to deal with this until she’s at least sixteen. 

Why is this happening? Why is it happening to her? And Percy – oh no. No, no, no, if Percy is gone too then Penny is going to lose her mind . She doesn’t know what she’s gonna do exactly, but it’s gonna be atrocious and no one is going to like it, least of all whoever’s fault that Minotaur was. 

Because yeah, there had been an actual Minotuar. A real live Greek-myth-in-the-flesh Minotaur that turned her mom into gold dust and might’ve eaten her brother. Wait, no – it couldn’t have eaten Percy, because Percy and Penny killed it. Right? They killed it. It’s gone. It can’t come back to hurt them again. It can’t make Percy disappear like it made Mom disappear. 

Penny sniffs, rubbing at her dripping nose with a shaky hand. That usually doesn’t happen unless it’s been a day or so since she’s last eaten, but it kind of feels like that, so she should probably eat something soon. 

But no, she can’t eat anything until she finds Percy. If Mom is– is gone, she needs to have Percy where she knows he’s still here and okay. She can’t even begin to think of what would happen if it was just her. No Mom, no Percy, just Penny alone. 

No. No, no, no, she hates that so much. Never, never, never in the history of evers will that be happening. 

“Child?” 

A voice from the doorway makes Penny whip around, forgetting the fact that she’s still all teary and snotty in favour of sheer unfettered shock at the being who’s now standing before her. He’s normal up top, and then– 

Horse. Human torso and then it’s just horse . Four hooves, swishing tail, but instead of a horse head, the collarbone ends under the tails of a tweed coat covering a humanoid upper-half. 

Centaur. 

Chiron.  

That’s who that blonde girl went to go get earlier. That’s Chiron. The actual, real centaur Chiron. 

First the Minotaur, now Chiron. Penny has some serious questions about the workings of the world, and she’s also having some real specific thoughts about that nice lady at the library who always nudges her towards the Greco-Roman mythology books. 

(For some reason, Miss Ama always tells her to read the Greek books first, even though Penny likes both. She thinks it’s probably because Miss Ama is Greek – that’s what the woman had told her, anyways.) 

“Chiron,” Penny deduces, pointing at him in an almost accusatory manner. It’s kind of rude, but she’s a rude child and also she’s incredibly hungry and a little bit very emotionally distressed right now. He can handle some impoliteness. 

The centaur chuckles warmly, coming closer now that he seems to know she won’t freak out. “Yes, I am. And what is your name, child?” 

“I’m Penny. Where’s my brother?” 

“Your brother?” 

She nods, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. “He’s– he looks like me, only he’s taller and a boy, and his name is Percy and he’s got green eyes instead of blue and he was right there when we were up on the hill and–” 

“Peace, child. I know of the brother you speak. He’s safe and sound, resting in another room right now. Perhaps once you both have rested more, we can see about you visiting him or the other way around.” 

Penny wrinkles her nose. “My name’s Penny . It’s short for Penelope. Mom– mom said I got named after Odysseus’s wife ‘cause she got a happy ending.” 

At the sudden reminder of her mother, Penny’s slowly heightening mood drops right back into the gutter again and she rubs furiously at her eyes to try and stave off the tears that she can feel coming. She will not cry in front of the centaur. He’s too cool for that. 

Chiron doesn’t say anything as Penny tries to get herself together, though he does put a glass of some juice-looking drink on her bedside table. Once she looks back up again, confident that no more tears will be seeping out and betraying her, he offers the drink to her. “Drink this, young Penelope. Slowly – it will make you feel better, but too much can have adverse effects.” 

“I don’t know what that is,” Penny mumbles, but she does as he tells her and takes a few sips of the juice. It looks sort of like apple juice, but it smelled more like sea salt caramel, and when it hits her tongue, all she can taste is the candy her mom brings home from the store she works at – the good stuff, the stuff that the three of them always sit on the bed in Penny and Percy’s room to share, huddled together under a blanket and giggling like it’s a secret. 

That did not help the tears situation, Penny decides as she feels a few traitorous drops sneaking out. She sniffs again and rubs them away, and Chiron is kind enough to pretend he didn’t see them. 

“Better?” He asks gently, and Penny nods. “I’m glad. You gave us quite the scare, young one.” 

“...Sorry. I didn’t mean to.” 

“There is no need to apologize.” At some point, Chiron had gotten shorter – it looks like he’s folded his legs to be more level with her, now that she looks, and she’s now appreciating that since it makes it easier for him to reach her and run a comforting hand over her shoulders. “You’ve been through a great ordeal, both you and your brother. I hope you will be able to find safety at camp. For now, however, you should rest.” 

Penny nods with yet another sniff, curling back into the blankets as Chiron rises and exits the room, though he leaves the door cracked behind him. The glass of mystery juice sits on the nightstand beside her, but she’s only able to manage a few more sips before her eyes grow heavy, dragging her back down into unconsciousness before she can even lay down. 

oOoOo

The Jackson siblings, Annabeth has decided, are two of the strangest demigods she has ever seen in her life. 

Ignoring the way the little one scared the life out of her with that shriek, the boy had woken up two days earlier than expected and recovered far quicker than he should have been physically capable of doing. That in and of itself wasn’t too odd – if it had been anyone else, Annabeth would have assumed that their godly parentage granted them some sort of regenerative ability. These two, however, were just bizarre . 

The smaller one was apparently named Penelope, according to Luke – Annabeth hadn’t been formally introduced to her yet, but Luke alleged her to be quite the little terror when provoked. Rumour has it that she’s already bitten one of the Stolls for trying to pickpocket her. 

(Though, she will admit that they sort of deserved it for trying to rob a small child. What would a kid even have that’s worth stealing, anyways?) 

The older one, Percy, seems to only be marginally better. There are no rumours of him biting anyone yet, at least, though he’s already caught the attention of the Ares cabin – an easy mistake to make, though it’s a bad one. He hasn’t shown prowess in any areas at camp yet, either. He could be the son of a more minor deity (and honestly, if he and Penelope are full siblings, then that’s far more likely since they’ve gone so long without being noticed). Penelope is in a similar situation, though she seems to be following along with whatever her older brother does. If Percy doesn’t like it, Penelope refuses to even consider it. 

Regardless, there’s just something about the siblings that Annabeth can’t place. It doesn’t put her on edge, no, but it’s something unknown, and that makes her wary nonetheless. Not a single one of the Athena kids can stand a mystery left unsolved, and sometimes that lack of an answer is worse than any potential answer they could get. 

But maybe she can use it to her advantage. If Annabeth hasn’t figured them out by now, then surely no one else has, either. 

An unknown variable could be pretty useful. The Athena and Hermes cabins usually team up for Capture the Flag, anyways – Annabeth is sure that she could fit both Jacksons into her strategy by counting them as wild cards. Penelope certainly is, if the biting rumours are true. They do get biters at camp every so often, of course, but most kids have grown out of it by the time they get to camp, and those who haven’t aren’t usually willing to try it on anyone older than them. 

She’ll have to account for Percy as well, not just Penelope, and she’ll also have to account for the fact that Penelope is only nine. No one under ten gets sent to a post alone (for the most part, anyways), so she can probably pair the Jacksons together and hope that the elder will keep the younger’s chaotic tendencies in check. 

…Although, she could use Percy to bait the Ares cabin. Clarisse in particular held a real grudge against him after that thing near the bathrooms – Penelope hadn’t been there, still in the Big House with Chiron, but Annabeth had been, and to say that it was weird would be putting it lightly. 

Regardless, Clarisse is pissed about it. If there’s one thing Clarisse hates, it’s being mocked, and getting doused with toilet water is a pretty easy thing to mock. 

If she’s using Percy as bait, though, she’s not putting Penelope over there with him. Nearby, maybe, certainly within earshot, but not even Annabeth is cold enough to put a nine-year-old in Clarisse’s warpath. Besides, the extra presence of a small child might make Clarisse hesitate to take the bait, which is the last thing Annabeth needs. 

It’s not the kindest strategy, not by a long shot, but Athena has never cared about being kind. It’s about results in Annabeth’s experience, and if there’s one thing Annabeth knows how to do, it’s get results. Percy and Penelope will forgive her later, once all is done and the game is won. 

Chapter Text

“Capture-the-flag?” 

It’s not really what Percy had expected from the apparent god camp , but hey, what does he know? At least it shouldn’t be too fatal, not like that lava climbing wall he saw earlier. There’s no way he’s letting Penny anywhere near that thing, no matter what Chiron says. 

Chiron, not Mr Brunner, because Percy’s teacher was secretly part horse . He’s… still processing that. Somehow, Penny seems less shell-shocked by it, but he’s pretty sure that’s because she knows who Chiron is from the myths and therefore has some sort of frame of reference for this. She also didn’t have him as a Latin teacher, which probably helps her perception of him as a centaur instead of a very human teacher. 

Annabeth nods, her blonde curls bouncing with each bob of her head. “Yeah, Athena and Hermes always team up and Ares always heads the other team. We trade chores and things to team up, but it’s mostly a formality by now since the groupings never really change.” 

“Makes sense, I guess.” If they’re used to playing on the same team, it would be kind of stupid, strategically speaking, to split them up. “And me ‘n Penny are in the Hermes Cabin, so we’re on that team, right?” 

“Yep. Penelope will be assigned to a post with a partner, since she’s still in single digits – we’re trying to keep you two out of the way of the flags, since this is your first game.” 

Percy briefly considers being offended by this, but his flash of irritation dies down before it ever reaches proper annoyance once he realises that she’s kind of got a point. Penny is nine and this camp seems to be pretty intense about everything they do, so who’s to say that capture-the-flag won’t be just as deranged and bizarre? Annabeth’s point about keeping them out of the way for the first game does have some merit to it, so Percy shrugs and acquiesces. “‘M not a fan of being sidelined most of the time, but you’ve got a point about it being our first game. Do you guys play it differently or something?” 

“...Somewhat?” Annabeth wiggled her hand back and forth in a ‘so-so’ gesture, looking slightly hesitant. “I assume most mortals don’t play it with real weapons or armour.” 

Percy blinks. “No. No, they do not. Is that–” 

“Safe? Not necessarily, but it’s the best way to practise our skills with real stakes that aren’t life-threatening. We want to win, so we’ll do better than we would during a normal spar, but no one wants to win badly enough to commit grievous bodily harm, so hopefully any injuries will be accidental. That’s actually another reason I put you and Penelope out by the river – that tends to be the outskirts of where we need to guard. There’s a chance you’ll meet someone, but I’ve separated you and Penelope so that there’s less chance of them trying to play ‘newbie pinata’. Penelope will have a more experienced partner, I’d say one of the Stoll brothers but–” 

“Yeah, she bit the shorter one, so maybe not them. Do I get a partner?” 

Annabeth purses her lips and looks away for a moment, making Percy frown. What was that about? “No, you’re over ten so you can have a post to yourself. I’ll pair Penelope with Malcolm, he can make sure nothing goes wrong.” 

“You can just call her Penny, y’know. She barely responds to Penelope anyways.” 

“I… will keep that in mind. Go see Luke, he’s got armour for you to try on.” 

Graciously ignoring the very obvious deflection, Percy heeds Annabeth’s waving him off and heads over to where Luke is waiting, sword in one hand and a water bottle in the other. In front of him, Penny is sitting on a bench and kicking her feet, a large chest in her lap with a few shiny things sticking out of it. 

“Penny, what do you have?” Percy asks, leaning over her shoulder as soon as he’s close enough. 

She turns and grins, moving the box so he can see better. “I got a box of weapons!” 

“They’re not all for you, it’s so you can pick one out to train with,” Luke reminds her, and Percy gets the feeling that they’ve been having this conversation for quite a while. 

Percy gives his sister a disapproving look. “Penny, you can’t take all the weapons, someone else might need one. D’you need help choosing?” 

“Mhm,” Penny nods, scooting over so Percy can take a seat beside her to look through the box. “I want something cool . Swords are cool, but Luke said I’m too short. I asked for a bow like Artemis and Apollo, but he said I was too short for that, too. Can I have a knife? I saw a knife in there and I kinda want it. Kinda really. I really want it.” 

“Are you going to try and attack someone with it?” 

“...No?” 

Percy shoots her another look. “You took a suspiciously long amount of time to respond to that.” 

“I won’t stab anyone! I pinky promise!” 

Luke looks between the pair, his expression somewhere between concerned and bemused. “I’ve gotta admit, I really want to see how you’ll do in combat training, Penny. Your brother’s an ace with a sword when you get him at the right time, y’know.” 

“I know!” Penny grins. “I was watching a few times! And the other times I was with the Apollo Cabin. They won’t let me use a bow, either. Or a sword. Or a knife. But one of ‘em had a scalpel!” 

“You’re not getting a scalpel,” Percy responds immediately, and Penny’s smile drops. 

“Aww, why not?” 

“One, I don’t want to know what you’d do with it, and two, that’s not gonna take out a monster unless you’re, like, one of those battle surgeons who can slice tendons and stuff. You hate medical stuff.” 

“I don’t hate it. I just think needles should be less stabby.” 

“How about we start with a knife?” Luke interjects, taking the box from Penny’s lap and plucking a simple bronze dagger from it, small enough to fit easily in Penny’s child-sized grip. “This one look okay?” 

Penny grins. “Mhm!” 

“Whatever you decide,” Percy shrugs. Luke is the combat instructor for a reason, and besides, he’s been a pretty great teacher with the sword. He wouldn’t be surprised if Luke was good with a knife too. Besides, he’s pretty sure he saw Annabeth with a knife holster attached to her belt, so if worst comes to worst then she can probably lend a hand. Maybe. 

Percy stays on the bench as Penny hops up and bounces into the main arena, followed closely by Luke. The older demigod seems just as cool and collected as always, though Percy swears he can see a hint of apprehension in his face until Penny turns around and it’s quickly masked. Honestly, Percy can’t blame him for being a little wary – a nine-year-old with a knife is bad enough, but an armed and dangerous Penny Jackson is probably one of the most concerning things Percy can think of. Still, that’s why he’s hanging around to supervise – Luke can handle the weapons, Percy can handle the Penelope. 

Luckily, Luke doesn’t seem to be starting with combat just yet, even though he did for Percy. Maybe because Penny is younger? Whatever the reason, he seems content to run her through a few stances to begin with, and Penny doesn’t look like she minds one bit, face a little bit too gleeful as she whips out her new blade and stabs at the air. Behind her, Luke’s brow furrows in mild concern, though he quickly switches it to an encouraging smile when Penny looks back to see his reaction. 

“Percy, look!” Penny yells, doing her best to copy the stance Luke is demonstrating. She’s doing a surprisingly good job, all things considered. “Are you looking?” 

“Yeah, I see you!” Percy yells back. “Good job, Penny!” 

His younger sister grins widely at the praise, gap-toothed and gleeful, and Percy is pretty sure that if his heart could melt into a puddle, then it would have just done so. 

oOoOo

Penny is having the most excellent time ever . She gets to play with sharp objects, no one is trying to make her sit still, Smelly Gabe isn’t here to yell at her, and best of all, she gets to hang out with Percy all the time . The only thing that could possibly make this better would be– 

Well. 

It’d be better if her mom was here. Or at least okay, since Penny’s pretty sure that Chiron said no mortals could come into the camp. 

But Penny doesn’t really want to think about that right now, doesn’t want to keep reliving the second that her mother dissolved into golden dust in the clutches of the Minotaur. She doesn’t like those memories. If she doesn’t think about them… they seem a little less real, if only for a short while. 

She just needs to think about something else instead. Annabeth had told her earlier about their camp-wide game of capture-the-flag, and she’d even said that Penny would get to play, too. Apparently, she had to be paired up with an older camper since she was still only nine, but Penny really doesn’t mind all that much. It would’ve been the best if she’d been put with Percy, but Annabeth had told her she needed to be paired with Malcolm. Penny isn’t sure why – maybe Malcolm needs a partner, too? 

Whatever the reason, it was from Annabeth’s plans and Annabeth is already the smartest person Penny knows, even though she hasn’t even known her for a month yet. Penny will trust in Annabeth’s plans, and if it goes badly, well, then she’ll know for next time. As long as Percy doesn’t get hurt or something, Penny thinks everything should be just fine. 

“Percy, can you help me with this?” Penny tugs on his sleeve, holding up the small bronze chestplate she’d been handed earlier. She knows how to do it in theory , knows how it’s supposed to look in the pictures she saw in all those mythology books, but she’s never really had the chance to try it out in real life. 

Her brother turns, still adjusting his own armour. “Mm? Yeah, sure, just gimme a sec to finish with these buckles.” 

Fiddling with the latches on his own armour, Percy takes only a moment more before he’s done, lifting the armour out of her hands with a practised ease. He slides it over her head so that the straps are resting on her shoulders, just like a real Greek soldier’s armour, before bending down to start fiddling with the buckles on either side. The armour is heavy, but surprisingly enough, it isn’t actually that bad once it’s on her shoulders. Maybe because her legs are carrying most of the weight? Penny’s always been a lot faster than she is strong, so she wouldn’t be surprised if that was it. 

“How’s that?” Percy asks, and Penny grins in response. 

“It’s perfect! Thanks, Percy!” 

“Good. Now, go find Malcolm, Annabeth said he’ll show you to your post, all right?” 

“Mmkay!” 

Penny bounds off to go and find the blond-haired boy that Annabeth had pointed out to her earlier. He’s standing over by a tree right in the middle of everyone, a place that’s nice and easy to see from any viewpoint. She skids to a stop in front of him, giving him her best first-impression grin. 

“Hi, I’m Penny!” She greets him. “Are you Malcolm?” 

He nods, smiling back (albeit a lot more calmly). “Yep, that’s me. This is your first time playing capture-the-flag – well, the first time playing it Camp Half-Blood style, anyways, so you’re gonna stick with me, all right? I can answer any questions you’ve got, and we should be able to avoid most of the more… violent stuff. Some campers like to go after newbies, like a couple of the Ares kids, but as long as you stick with a senior camper you’ll be okay.” 

“‘Kay! I don’t mind fighting, though. I bet I could take ‘em!” 

Malcolm laughs. “Well, we’ll see how it goes, all right? Annabeth asked me to keep an eye on you, so don’t you go running off and making me break my promise.” 

“I guess I can stay put,” Penny acquiesces. If it’s for Annabeth – she likes Annabeth, the older girl had been nice to Percy and she’s super cool – then she can do it. “Only ‘cause Annabeth asked, though. She’s cool , y’know.” 

“Oh, trust me, I know. She’s my sister, plus she’s the head of the Athena Cabin. It doesn’t get any cooler than that, right?” 

Penny gives him a deadpan look. “Yes, it does. Percy’s cooler than that. Annabeth is second coolest.” 

She likes Annabeth and all, but the other certainly won’t be taking Percy’s spot as the coolest person Penny knows, not now and probably not ever. Percy would have to do something really lame to lose that spot, which he would obviously never do or else he wouldn’t be the number-one coolest in the first place. 

After Annabeth and Luke finish explaining the plan (which Penny was only half-listening to – she has Malcolm to tell her things if she forgets them, so it’s fine), Malcolm leads the way into the woods , stopping near a big cypress tree overhanging the smallest part of the river. Penny waits a few minutes to see if he does anything else, but he just… stands there. Doing nothing, like some sort of lazy statue. 

Penny gives him a weird look. “So… now what?” 

“Now, we wait. Capture-the-flag is about guarding posts and being covert, not constant action.” 

“But that’s boring . Do we just stand here all night?” 

“Yep. it’s an important job, y’know.” 

“Is not. They wouldn’t give me an important job in my first game. It’s a lame job . It’s lame . That means not cool .” 

“Yes, I know what lame means. Thank you Penelope.” 

She frowns. “My name’s Penny.” 

“Right, Penny. My apologies. 

“You’re weird.” Penny lets out a huff, rescinding her previous thoughts about Malcolm being an okay guy. No one who just wants to stand there for hours could possibly be normal. And wasn’t this supposed to be the camp where everyone had ADHD like her and Percy? Neither of them could sit still because of it, so how was Malcolm just standing there?  

Penny eyes him carefully, weighing her chances of getting caught if she tries to run away. She probably wouldn’t, but she might get snitched on (and he looks like a snitch, now that she thinks of it), so maybe she shouldn’t. 

She could at least practise her knife fighting while she waits, then. Malcolm can’t snitch on her for that – it’s training . That’s what capture-the-flag is for. Maybe it’s not really the kind of training it was meant to be for, but if that were the case, they should’ve given Penny more to do than just stand here and stare off into space for three hours. 

Jabbing at the air with her knife, Penny shifts her feet to try and get a more stable stance, letting out a quiet huff when she can’t seem to get it to feel right. 

“Move your left foot forwards more, you’re putting too much weight at the front. You need to balance it out,” Malcolm notes. 

Penny shoots him a venomous glare, sticking her tongue out for good measure, but she does as he says regardless. Sure enough, the stance instantly feels more natural, and she finds it far easier to keep her balance like this. 

But still, there’s only so many ways to swing a knife, and it isn’t long before Penny starts to get bored again. “Can I go look at the creek? I’m bored.” 

Malcolm sighs. “You’re supposed to be supervised if you’re under ten, you know.” 

“Well, maybe my birthday was today and I just turned ten. How would you know?” 

“Was it?” 

Penny sticks her tongue out again. “Not telling!” 

“That’s a no, then. Just stay here ‘til the game’s done, all right? You can go do whatever by the creek in the morning.” 

She huffs, crossing her arms and shooting him another dirty look – until she realises a rather pertinent fact, that is. “If I just ran off right now, would you actually be able to stop me?” 

Malcolm’s eyes go wide in a way that Penny knows signifies she’s right, and she grins deviously. 

Before he can say another word, she shoves her knife back into the sheath on her belt and bolts, running right toward where she knows the creek to be. Percy should be there, and he should have something fun for her to do. He always knows what to do. 

She can hear Malcolm shouting behind her, but Penny darts through the trees without a single thought to spare for the annoyed son of Athena she’s leaving behind. Soon enough, the shimmer of the moonlit creek comes into view, and Penny finds herself speeding up at the thought of her brother waiting just ahead. Percy probably won’t mind if she joins him, right? Besides, he’s older than ten, so Penny thinks she should be allowed to stand with him instead of Malcolm. 

But as she steps into the creek, feeling the familiar rush of happiness at the coolness of the water rushing past her ankles, she starts to hear something. Crashing and yelling, like there’s a fight going on, and it’s right downstream where Percy is supposed to be. 

Well. Penny won’t stand for that . She tightens her grip on her new knife and starts to run, faster than before now that she’s following the flow of the water. Soon enough, she turns the corner of a tree and a quartet of campers come into view. Percy’s at the centre, looking more than a little freaked out, and surrounding him are three kids from the Ares cabin, with Clarisse and her electric spear at the head of the group. As Penny runs forward, she watches Clarisse swing her spear right at Percy, her brother barely able to block it with his sword. The force of the blow nearly knocks him out anyways, and Penny scowls. 

“Hey!” She yells, brandishing her knife. “You stop that!” 

Clarisse turns her head, still keeping her spear pointed at Percy. “Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do, brat? Tell on me for ‘maiming’? Oh no, I guess I'll lose dessert privileges!” 

She lets out a rough laugh, and Penny snarls. “I’ll maim you! ” 

Running forward with teeth bared and knife in hand, Penny barely has a second to catch sight of Clarisse’s momentary surprise before she’s being grabbed out of the water by one of the other Ares campers. She twists and flails, yanking his helmet off and loosening his grip just enough for her to get her teeth around his arm. He yells, and at the same time, Percy swings his sword right as Clarisse aims her spear at him again. Penny and the top of Clarisse’s spear hit the water at the same time. 

“She bit me!” The Ares camper yells indignantly. 

Penny bares her teeth even more, showing off her sharp canines. “And I’ll do it again!” She yells, making him jolt back. Grabbing her knife from where it fell into the water when she was unceremoniously manhandled, Penny whirls around and turns to Clarisse, who’s staring at her broken spear with an expression of unfettered fury. 

“You little punk, I’m gonna kill you! ” Clarisse howls, and in a split-second decision, Penny dashes forward and tackles her with all her might – which isn’t much, but is still more than enough to knock the bigger girl into the water with a loud splash. “AUGH! You’re DEAD, Jackson! You hear me? Dead! ” 

Just then, Malcolm comes stumbling out of the bushes, panting heavily as he happens upon the scene of chaos. He freezes for a moment, eyes wide in the wake of the absolute disaster before him, but he recovers his faculties with surprising speed. “Clarisse, what are you doing?!”  

“Teachin’ these punks a lesson, what does it look like?!” Clarisse shouts. “And that bas –” 

“Clarisse!” 

Penny pulls herself up out of the water just as Malcolm starts forward, weapons still sheathed but with a look of chastisement on his face. Before he can take more than two steps, however, a piercing howl splits through the night air, and all of their faces go white. 

“What was that?” Penny asks in a high whisper, glancing first to Percy and then to Malcolm. She doesn’t like that sound. It sounds like danger and darkness and death, and Penny isn’t really a fan of any of those things, especially not right now. She’s had enough of death. She doesn’t need it hunting her down here, too, not after what it’s already taken away from her. 

(The thought of her mother’s wide, terrified eyes bathed in golden light rises unbidden in her mind, and she shoves it back down again with a furious force. 

Later. She doesn’t have time for this right now.) 

The silence stretches across the clearing, not even broken by the surrounding ambience of the forest, before one of the other Ares campers breaks it with a single, whispered word. 

“Hellhound.”  

Chapter Text

Whatever Annabeth had been expecting to happen during capture-the-flag today, this wasn’t it. Not even close, as it happens, and normally that little fact would irk her to no end. This time, however, she doesn’t have time to pick apart the intricacies of the situation, doesn’t have time to wonder the how and the when and the why. Right now, it’s time to battle, because somehow, some way, there’s a hellhound in the camp. 

And it’s going right for the river, where Percy had been stationed alone, where Clarisse and her ragtag band had been headed as according to Annabeth’s plan. 

And it’s big.  

Annabeth’s knife is in her hand before she even knows it, and she’s running alongside Chiron as one phrase loops around and around and around in her head: please, don’t let us be too late.  

Hellhounds are deadly. More than deadly – if they don’t stop this thing before it kills anyone, it’s not going to stop at all . The more a hellhound kills, the more death it evokes, the stronger it becomes. She doesn’t even want to think about how many foes this beast must have felled in order to grow to such a size. 

Annabeth is no stranger to death, but that doesn’t mean she wants to encounter it again. 

(And if that monster kills Percy… how is she supposed to look his nine year old sister in the eyes and tell her that she’s just lost her older brother as well as her mom?) 

The centaur leads the way through the forest as more and more campers join the gaggle, congregating in a bronze-clad horde to hunt the beast that’s invaded their home. The Apollo campers already have their bows at the ready when they reach the clearing, and Annabeth sees their volley of arrows before she sees the actual hellhound. 

The thing must be taller than the trees, with massive black claws and red-stained fangs the length of her arm. Beside her, Chiron draws his own bow and fires an arrow straight at its head, catching the beast’s ear as it shakes its head in anger. 

The Jackson siblings (both of them, she might add, and she’s going to be having a Talk with Malcolm later about not bringing the nine-year-old toward the sound of the monster) are standing in the river, both brandishing weapons but clearly fearful by the defensive stances they’ve taken. Percy is slightly in front of his sister, and surrounding them is a gaggle of Ares campers, including… Clarisse, without her spear. That’s odd, since Clarisse is rarely seen without it during games, but that’s a problem for Tomorrow Annabeth. 

“Aim for the eyes and mouth!” Annabeth yells, and the Apollo campers comply immediately. It’s not even a moment later that three of their arrows strike true, going straight through the beast’s left eye and the roof of its mouth. It lets out a piercing howl that sends a shiver through Annabeth’s very bones before it slowly collapses, dissolving into golden dust before it even stops twitching. 

(And it almost seems too easy. Hellhounds don’t go down that easily – do they? They didn’t when she was young, at least, or was she just that weak as a kid? 

It doesn’t sit right with her. Annabeth will have to think on this.) 

The tension starts to seep out of the crowd of campers’ bodies into a tangible relief, but Annabeth isn’t quite ready to believe the fight is over yet. She strides forward, fear of the hellhound forgotten in the wake of its death, and picks up one of the three fangs it left behind to hand to Chiron. He raises it into the air, and a cheer goes up through the campers. 

“What the hell was that?!” Clarisse yells, waving a hand in the direction of the hellhound’s dusty remains. “That thing shouldn’t have been able to get in here!” 

Annabeth looks to Chiron, who shakes his head. His tone is grave as he responds. “No. It should not have.” 

She has a feeling they’ll be having a counsellor meeting about this later. That, however, is also a problem for Tomorrow Annabeth, so she puts it out of her mind and instead turns to the Jacksons. What a way to be introduced to capture-the-flag.  

Weaving through the crowd, Annabeth reaches the river in moments and steps into the water, trodding through it to reach the sibling pair. Penny is looking from Percy to the hellhound’s spoils and back again, while Percy seems to be trying to get her to come out of the water. As soon as his feet leave the flow of the river, however, his skin pales and he starts to sway, looking as though he’s about to collapse. 

Annabeth narrows her eyes for a moment, thinking about the implications of this, before it hits her like a bullet to the head. 

Oh.

Oh.  

Oh, gamóto . She had better not be right about this. 

“You’re injured,” she accuses, which was probably not the best thing to start with. “What happened? Did the hellhound–?”

Percy twitches, as though not expecting to be addressed, but he doesn’t turn toward her – likely because it would point him away from Penny, and he doesn’t look too inclined to let go of her right now. He also doesn’t look too inclined to continue standing, though. “It’s just a couple bruises. I’ll be fine.” 

“He’s got a bump on his head ‘cause Clarisse whacked him,” Penny says, and Percy shoots her a long-suffering look. 

“Snitch.” 

“Well, you do! And Annabeth asked!” 

Percy sighs. “Fair, she did ask.” 

Annabeth, however, has a different priority. The wound is important, yes, but what’s more important is what it might allow her to find out. “Percy, get back in the water for a moment.” 

“Why–?” 

“Just do it.” 

He gives her an odd look, but doesn’t ask any more questions as he complies, stepping down from the bank and back into the creek beside Penny. Almost instantly, the sickly pallor leaves his face, and Annabeth can practically see the forming bruise on the side of his head dissipating. 

No – not practically. She can see it dissipating. The water is healing him. 

Metrokoites. Annabeth is right, and for once she doesn’t think she actually wanted to be. 

“Chiron,” she calls, and Percy’s expression shifts from long-suffering to confused. The centaur steps through the crowds of campers at her summons, and she points to Percy. “Look.” 

“What is it that you wish for me to see, young Annabeth?” He asks, and she points again. 

“The side of his head was bruised, ‘til I told him to step back into the water.” 

She’s right. She knows she is, because there’s no other thing that could be happening here. And a moment later, right before the eyes of herself, Chiron, and the entire rest of the camp, her suspicions are confirmed as a soft blue glow begins to form above Percy’s head. 

A claim. 

But there are two colours forming. Both blue, yes, but Annabeth knows the difference. Seafoam and indigo aren't exactly easy to confuse, after all, but both colours are forming in a swirl over Percy’s head. Annabeth’s brow furrows momentarily, until her eyes flick to the younger Jackson, and it clicks. Penny is right next to Percy, close enough that if she stepped an inch closer she would be leaning up against him. Two children, two colours. 

And as Annabeth watches, two symbols form in the air, manifested of divine power to lay a claim over the newest demigods at camp. 

Two tridents in two shades of blue, one almost green and the other almost purple, the symbols positioned to reflect each other in a way that’s almost reminiscent of a set of crossed swords. The symbols are nearly on top of each other, but it isn’t difficult to figure out which one belongs to which demigod. 

Chiron steps forward and lowers himself into a half-bow, much to Percy’s surprise if the look on his face is anything to go by. “The claim is laid and recognised. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon Pontomedon Enosigaios , and hail, Penelope Jackson, daughter of Amphitrite Halosydnê Thýellas .” 

Sometimes, Annabeth thinks, she really hates being right. 

Chapter Text

At least Percy now knows what his mother meant when she said they had three parents. 

Admittedly, though, he hadn’t expected the revelation that he and Penny were technically only half -siblings and not full. It didn’t matter much, didn’t stop Penny from being his beloved younger sister and didn’t stop Percy himself from loving her as such, but it was still a little weird . 

What’s even weirder, however, is the camp’s reaction to this… new situation. They’re looking at Percy like he’s the one who just bit someone, and they’re looking at Penny like… like they feel sorry for her. 

Percy doesn’t like that one bit. 

Chiron takes them up to the Big House, explains something , but Percy can’t really process what he’s hearing right now. Poseidon, the god of the seas, is his father. His actual, biological father, who gave him half of his DNA and is his father . And maybe Percy’s talking in circles – thinking in circles, more like – but what is he supposed to do here? Just accept it like it’s completely normal? 

And Percy had also been under the impression that the ‘Big Three’, the highest-ranking triad of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, weren’t even supposed to have kids. There had been implications there, of an exception that Percy can assume didn’t meet a very pleasant end. Implications that Percy and Penny, if they turned out to be exceptions to this oath as well, would find a fate just as miserable. If the Big Three weren’t supposed to have children, if those demigods aren’t supposed to exist… what’s going to happen to Percy? 

Penny, at least, should be spared from whatever fate awaits him – Amphitrite was Poseidon’s wife, a powerful sea nymph and a goddess in her own right, but she wasn’t one of the Big Three. If there was a consequence for being a demigod that wasn’t meant to exist, then at least Penny wouldn’t have to face it. 

“You’ll be moving to Cabin Three tonight,” Chiron says, and Percy blinks. He’s pretty sure it’s the first sentence he’s actually processed since Chiron proclaimed their heritage to the whole camp. “Should you need assistance moving your possessions, I’m sure Luke or another child of Hermes would be happy to help you.” 

“I think we’ll be fine,” Percy responds, feeling like that’s something he’s expected to do here. “We… don’t really have all that much stuff with us, at the moment.” 

It’s then that Chiron gives him a sad, somewhat pitying look, as he shakes his head. “I’m afraid this isn’t a ‘we’ situation, Perseus. You will be moving to the cabin that corresponds to your godly parent, yes, but young Penelope will not be joining you.” 

“What?” 

“The camp only has twelve cabins, I’m afraid. Penelope, as a daughter of a minor goddess, will not be moving to her own cabin.” 

“Why can’t I go with Percy?” Penny pipes up from his side, frowning. She’s still holding his hand – has been for the whole conversation. “Poseidon and Amphitrite were married, right? Doesn’t that make me a stepdaughter or somethin’?” 

“Unfortunately it does not, young one. You will be staying in the Hermes Cabin for the foreseeable future.” 

“Nuh-uh. I’m going with Percy.” 

Now, it’s Chiron’s turn to frown. “Penelope, you cannot–” 

“Yes, I can. If Percy’s moving cabins, so am I.” She sticks her tongue out at him, earning a bewildered look from the old centaur. 

Percy, for his part, decides that he’s not going to do a single thing to stop her. If she wants to argue with the centaur, then that’s her choice, and quite frankly, he’d place his bets on Penny winning. Anyone who’s ever won an argument with a nine-year-old ought to win a medal, in his opinion. 

Besides, there’s very little stopping her from trying to bite him if he continues to deny her (unless Percy told her not to, which… he will not be doing), and he’s waiting to see Chiron’s reaction once he realises that fact, as well. Honestly, what are they even going to do? She’s nine. If they try to give her some kind of punishment, she’s probably not going to care enough for it to be effective, and if they try to harm her… 

Well. Percy doesn’t expect it from Chiron, but he’s used to taking the brunt of the anger. He knows how to keep Penny safe. 

Chiron lets out a sigh, shaking his head. “You will not be moving cabins, young Penelope. You will stay in the Hermes Cabin, or you will stay in the Big House, but you will not be entering a cabin that you do not have express permission to enter. Children of minor deities are only allowed within the Hermes Cabin, nowhere else. I apologise for the circumstances, but that is final.” 

Penny narrows her eyes, and Percy feels her grip on his hand tighten, though she doesn’t say anything else. This definitely isn’t the end of the conversation, but for the moment, at least, Penny seems willing to stop arguing. 

Though, he notes, she still didn’t actually agree to listen – a fact that Chiron seems to be graciously ignoring. 

“I will contact Luke and arrange for your things to be moved,” the centaur states, turning to Percy now that his younger sister is no longer protesting quite so loudly. “Now, Perseus, I believe we have a few things to discuss. Young Penelope, if you would like to return to the Hermes Cabin in the meantime–” 

“I would not.” 

Chiron cuts himself off with yet another sigh. “Penelope, you will return to the Hermes Cabin. I must speak with your brother in private.” 

Internally, Percy frowns. Whatever Chiron has to say, he’s not going to let it go, but Penny won’t back down either unless she’s given a nudge first. Catching her eye, Percy nods subtly to the door, squeezing her hand in a comforting gesture. He knows she’ll understand the message he’s trying to send – just go, I’ll be fine.  

After a moment’s deliberation (during which Percy is subjected to some very scrutinising looks from a rather tetchy nine-year-old), Penny lets go of her brother’s hand and marches out of the room without another word, pushing the door shut behind her with just enough force to be passive-aggressive while still not slamming it. Chiron pauses for a long moment, levelling a long-suffering glance at the door, before eventually shaking his head and turning back to Percy once more. 

“There is something you must know about children of the Big Three gods,” he begins gravely, and oh, this is going to be one of those conversations. Percy almost grimaces, but he catches himself just in time, managing to school his expression into something only marginally more respectful. “Long ago, there were fewer rules and restrictions imposed upon the gods regarding their children. They had more opportunity to interact with demigods, and though they were discouraged from showing favouritism, they were still able to see their children at infrequent intervals. 

“After the fall of Greece, Zeus decreed that the gods must not continue interacting with their children in the same way. They could watch from afar, if even that, but the threat of favouritism was too great. Gods would fall to ruin and despair with every passing death, becoming too attached to short-lived mortals. During the age of Rome, the gods were far more detached, and the Roman Empire thrived for far longer because of it, though the gods’ roots always stayed firmly in Greece. Zeus had not chosen to do this without reason, nor was he pushed to this action by one incident in particular – it had been a steady build of gods becoming too attached to their mortal children, and Zeus chose this as the best way to keep the lives of gods and demigods separate. Immortals are not meant to mix with mortals.” 

Percy frowns as Chiron’s voice grows heavy. Isn’t… isn’t Chiron immortal, too?  

“As time went on, the restrictions held true, and the gods stayed detached from their mortal children. As the age of America came along, however, as did new challenges. It was no longer safe enough for the gods to simply refrain from interacting with their children – instead of the immortals’ grief being a source of danger, the danger came from the demigods themselves. 

“The children of the Big Three gods – Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades – had always been feared and revered in the olden days as some of the greatest heroes of their time. This held true for centuries, until the time of the Great Wars. I believe your mortal history books referred to them as World War I and World War II.” 

“What?” Percy squints. “That doesn’t make sense, are you saying there were demigods involved in the World Wars? I thought you were supposed to stay out of regular mortal stuff?” 

“We are meant to detach ourselves, yes,” Chiron sighs. “But the demigods of that time were too entrenched. Children of the Big Three were present on both sides of the wars, and some of them refused to even pick a side, attacking both groups indiscriminately. The destruction they wrought was… immense. So much so that even Zeus agreed it was too much of a danger to the world for the Big Three to continue having children. There was just too much potential for destruction, and so an oath was sworn on the River Styx – neither Zeus, Poseidon, nor Hades would ever sire another half-blood, for fear of what their demigods might wreak on the world.” 

Percy feels his blood run cold. 

Demigods like him – his siblings, even, if they shared a godly parent – fighting in the World Wars, causing so much destruction that the king of the gods himself declared them too much of a threat to exist. 

What was Percy meant to do about that? What could he do? 

“So I’m not supposed to exist, then,” he murmurs bitterly. “That’s… great.” 

Chiron frowns, looking so much older than he looked this morning when he does. “I apologise for the hand that was dealt to you, Perseus. I wish it did not have to be so.” 

Percy stands abruptly (and when had he even sat down? he doesn’t remember doing that), turning on his heel and heading for the door. “That’s great, thanks. I’m going to my cabin now, unless you needed anything else.” 

He’s out the door before he hears a response. Chiron doesn’t come after him. 

oOoOo

Penny is furious.  

Who does that centaur think he is, forcing her to stay here while he takes Percy away from her? That is Penny’s older brother, and Chiron has no right to separate them. She’s gonna make him regret it – she doesn’t know how she’s going to do it yet, but it wouldn’t be the first time Penny has waged psychological warfare on someone, and it won’t be the last. 

She stomps into the Hermes Cabin (well, as much as she’s going to stomp, anyways, because if she was actually stomping and slamming doors then Percy would be disappointed and Gabe would–), flopping onto her sleeping mat face-down without so much as a word to the other campers. 

“...You good, Penny?” Comes a hesitant voice from above her, and surprisingly, it’s one she kind of recognises. She can put a name to it, at least – Mariquita, a child of Pasithea if Penny remembers correctly. She doesn’t remember Pasithea from the books Miss Ama had her reading, but Penny had never gotten the chance to finish all of them, so maybe she just didn’t get to that goddess yet. All she knows is that Pasithea has something to do with resting because of what Mariquita was always saying about her mother and demigods needing more rest. 

Penny huffs, pressing her face further into the mat. “D’n w’nuh t’k b’ ‘t.” 

“If you just said something, I have no idea what it was. Can we maybe come out of the sleeping mat for a bit? You seem stressed.” 

“Mgh.” Penny sits up, shooting Mariquita an annoyed look. “I’m mad, Mariquita.” 

“Okay,” Mariquita responds calmly, nodding her head and making her tight black coils bounce. “Why is that? Are you upset about your claiming?” 

“ No, ” she says pointedly. “Chiron’s making Percy move cabins and he won’t let me come with!” 

“Oh… listen, Penny, your brother will still be here at camp where you see him every day, okay? Just think of it like… having separate rooms, y’know? Percy’s in one room, and you’re in the other, but it’s still the same house, right?” 

Penny shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. Me ‘n Percy always share a room. And now he’s gonna be in a different cabin, and at a different table, and doing different activities, and–” 

She cuts herself off with a long groan, flopping over again and shoving her face right back into the sleeping mat. Above her, she hears Mariquita sigh in sympathy. “Yeah, I know it feels like it sucks. But… oh, Percy’s the only one in his cabin, right? So that means he gets to pick all of his activities. You can ask him to pick the same ones as the Hermes Cabin, and then you can still do activities with your brother, okay?” 

“‘K’y,” Comes Penny’s disgruntled response, muffled by the mat once again. She turns her head, glaring out into the rest of the cabin and away from Mariquita. “But I hate it. For the record.” 

“Your disdain is noted.” 

Penny reaches down and pulls up her blanket (which thankfully wasn’t stolen – she hasn’t really had any theft issues since she bit one of the Stoll brothers), wrapping herself in it like an angry burrito. She’ll stay here for tonight, just because Mariquita was really trying hard to be nice and make her feel better, but tomorrow, she’s going to scheme . Penny will be getting into the Poseidon Cabin one way or another, permission or no permission, and there’s nothing Chiron can possibly do to stop her. 

Chapter Text

The good thing about having a cabin all to himself is that Percy gets to be the deciding vote on pretty much everything. He doesn’t have to compromise or worry about other people’s opinions – he just gets to do whatever he wants, as long as it doesn’t directly go against camp rules. 

The bad thing – one of them, at least – about having a cabin all to himself is that Percy really misses his little sister. 

It was bad enough when he was at Yancy, but he’d at least had Grover there. Here, it hasn’t even been one night, and Percy is already painfully aware of the fact that he hasn’t slept completely alone in a room since Penny got the flu when she was six and he had to sleep on the couch to avoid catching it. Now, though? Now, there’s no one else in the room, and he can’t even get up to check on her or to ask his mom if he can stay in her room for the night. He’d done that a lot before she’d married Gabe – now, he wouldn’t even dream of it. 

Not that he’d be doing it again either way. It’s kind of hard to ask his mom if he can sleep in her room if he doesn’t have a mom to ask anymore. 

Percy feels the sting in his eyes before he feels the first tear fall, and he rolls over to shove his face into the pillow, hoping to muffle any small sniffles and hide the evidence all at the same time. Why is he crying now? It’s been almost a week since that happened. He should be over it by now, shouldn’t he? 

Maybe it’s just because it’s his first night without Penny. He’s so used to having her around, and so used to not getting upset in front of her, that he’s just… been shoving everything down this whole time. He didn’t want to cry about this in front of his little sister – knowing Penny, it would only make her cry too, and making Penelope cry is the last thing Percy ever wants to do. 

He sniffs into the pillow, pressing his face further into it in a fit of frustration. Why? Why does this have to happen to him? To both of them? 

What the hell did Percy do – hell, what did Penny ever do – to deserve this mess happening to them? 

But Percy already knows that the answer is nothing . This probably has more to do with their parents (specifically, Percy’s father) than it does anything he or Penny ever did. 

(It’s never been about what they did.) 

It’s only his first night without his sister, anyways – his first night completely alone. Surely Percy will get used to it. He’s twelve years old. He can handle having his own room. Plenty of kids his age do, so why would he be any different? 

It will be fine. He just has to stay strong, keep an eye on Penny as best he can, and… not think about his mother. That can’t be too hard… right? 

Ugh. Who is he kidding, there’s no way he can do this. 

— — —

Sure enough, when Percy wakes up, he feels just as miserable as he did when he went to sleep. The cabin feels unbearably empty, not to mention cold (and it’s the middle of summer, how cold could it possibly be?), and Percy just wants to get out of here and go to breakfast as soon as he possibly can. Some blue pancakes would surely cure his ills. 

He pulls on a painfully orange camp shirt and some tattered jeans, tries and fails to get his hair to lay any way that actually looks neat, and leaves the cabin as quickly as possible. The tables are mostly empty, but luckily that means his usual seat at the Hermes table is open– 

Oh. Right. He’s not going there anymore. 

At least he realised before he went to sit down, he thinks as he veers slightly left to land at the Poseidon table instead. That would’ve been way too embarrassing if he’d had to be told after he’d already sat down. 

The Poseidon table is, much like everything else relegated to the ocean god’s children, completely empty save for Percy himself. At this point, he should know better than to expect anything else, but it’s still a bit painful to sit at such a huge table and know that no one will be coming to join him. 

The plate in front of him is empty, but he knows the food will appear once more kids come and sit down. In the meantime, he fills his enchanted goblet up with a blue cola and takes a sip, leaning miserably on the table as he scans the rest of the tables with a mild envy. None of them have to worry about complete and utter isolation because of who their godly parent is. At this point, he almost wonders if it’s better that Penny has a different godly parent than him – at least she doesn’t have to be alone like this, even if he would rather have his sister by his side. 

The rest of the tables start to slowly fill up, and Percy drops a handful of blueberries and blackberries into the brazier in Poseidon’s name, sitting back down to dig into his food as soon as possible. The pancakes are perfect, light and fluffy and a lovely shade of sky blue, but they still feel like ash in his mouth as he sits in the middle of his completely empty table and watches the rest of the campers talk to their siblings and friends (and surreptitiously try to sneak glances at him when they think he isn’t paying attention). 

And then someone comes and sits down beside him. 

Percy turns abruptly to find Penny right beside him, holding a plate and goblet she must have commandeered from the Hermes table and looking inordinately pleased with herself. She’s got the exact same blue pancakes as he does, down to the pile of berries right next to them. 

“Good morning!” Penny greets him, taking a bite of her food. 

Percy stares for a moment, looks around to see if anything is going to happen because of her sitting at the wrong table, and upon seeing that nothing has spontaneously caught fire, decides that he’s just going to let this happen. “Morning, Penny. Aren’t you not supposed to be over here?” 

“If Chiron wants me to move, he can come and make me,” she says imperiously, though it’s a bit muffled through the mouthful of pancake, which kind of ruins the effect. “How’s the Poseidon cabin?” 

“Cold and empty. All the detailing’s blue and green, though, so that’s nice.” 

“Ooh, cool! Are there bunk beds? I think there should be bunk beds.” 

“Some of ‘em are bunk beds. I just took one of the ones that was closest to the door – the cabin has its own bathroom, though, so that’s cool. Don’t have to share with the entire rest of camp.” 

“Cool!” 

“Miss Jackson.” Penny and Percy both look up to see Chiron standing over them, looking rather exasperated and more than a little judgemental. “What is this?” 

“I’m eating breakfast,” Penny informs him, taking another bite of her pancake to prove it. She raises an eyebrow, as if she’s daring him to challenge her. Percy is quite familiar with this look, given that it’s the one she often uses on adults she plans to wage war on. 

(This oughta be interesting.) 

Chiron sighs. “I can see that. And why, pray tell, are you at someone else’s table?” 

“Well, you see, my brother is here,” Penny points out, nodding to Percy. “Everyone else is sitting with their siblings, so I’m sitting with mine, too.” 

“She’s got a point,” Percy agrees. “And I kinda doubt anyone’s gonna mind. The Hermes table looks a little crowded already.” That’s an understatement, but Percy’s trying to be at least marginally polite here, so he’ll let it slide. 

“Miss Jackson,” Chiron warns, voice growing hard, “please take your seat at the Hermes table where you are supposed to be.” 

Penny, in true Jackson fashion, turns up her nose and pops a blackberry in her mouth. “No ‘fank you.” 

Chiron sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose (which Penny resolutely ignores). “Penelope.”  

“‘Penny’ is fine.” 

“You are meant to be at the Hermes table, not at the Poseidon table.” 

“But I'm not Hermes’s kid.” 

“You are the child of a minor goddess, and as such–” 

“I think my goddess mom would get annoyed if she heard you calling her a ‘minor goddess’. That’s rude .” 

Chiron lets out yet another sigh, this one even louder and more exasperated than before. Percy catches his sister's eye and finds that, just as he expected, she looks absolutely gleeful about this turn of events. If there’s one thing Penny loves, it’s annoying people – and just generally being a menace, of course. “Miss Jackson, you will remove yourself from this table–” 

“But you didn’t even say I couldn’t be at this table! You just said I couldn’t go to the other cabin! ” Penny bursts out, jabbing a finger at him, and… yeah, she’s not wrong.” 

“She’s right,” Percy notes, taking another sip of his cola. “You didn’t say anything about tables. You gotta lay down the rules if you want Penny to follow ‘em, you know.” 

“Mr. Jackson, you are not helping,” Chiron mutters. 

Oh, Percy’s helping, all right. It’s Chiron’s own fault for assuming that Percy would be helping him and not his beloved little sister whom he's been protecting and keeping an eye on for pretty much her entire life. 

By this point, they’ve started to attract the attention of a few more people – mostly senior campers from other tables. Annabeth in particular looks like she’s about to have a conniption, and Percy winces internally at the thought of having to explain this situation to her (which he’s surely going to have to do later). Luke just looks amused by the whole situation, but behind him, a tall girl from the Aphrodite cabin (Serena, or maybe Celine, he thinks) is squinting at them like she’s trying to figure out some invisible puzzle. 

Penny, for her part, looks as though it would take an apocalyptic event to move her from her seat. Percy isn’t surprised in the slightest – she’s always been unreasonably stubborn, especially when she feels like whatever rule she’s rebelling against is pointless. If no one explains it (or if she simply finds their explanation unsatisfactory), there’s very little chance that Penny will actually follow a rule, consequences be damned. 

Percy finishes off his pancakes as Penny continues to be resolutely stubborn and refuses to move. Chiron seems to be getting more and more exasperated, but neither of the Jackson siblings are willing to budge on this. If he can’t control a nine-year-old girl, that’s his problem. 

“Well, anyways,” Penny says breezily, looking down at her now empty plate. “I guess I’ll move now that I’m done breakfast. C’mon, Percy, you’re comin’ to do archery with me. Bye, Chiron!” 

Chiron blinks in surprise as he realises that, during the course of his attempted removal of Penny, the girl had simply eaten her entire breakfast. Technically speaking? Penny had just won that fight. Percy isn’t surprised in the least. 

“Why are we doing archery? We’re both awful at it,” Percy asks, taking both plates and stacking them at the end of the table where the dirty dishes are relegated to. Behind him, Chiron is looking from the now-empty seats to the siblings leaving and back again. “We should do something fun like canoeing.” 

“Yeah, but Hermes Cabin is doing archery and Luke said I had to go, too.” Penny frowns. “We should commit a rebellion and overthrow him, and then I can choose the activities. I bet the rest of the Cabin would like canoeing way more than archery.” 

“Probably depends on the camper. I think they’d like archery more if they’re bad at swimming.” 

“Oh. I guess that’s fair.” 

“...Also, I don't think you ‘commit’ a rebellion, Penny.” 

“What? But it’s a crime! I thought people committed crimes?” 

“Fair point. Y’know what, I’m just gonna ask Annabeth about it later. She’ll probably know more than both of us combined.” 

oOoOo

Penny has developed a plan . One way or another, she’s going to get into the Poseidon Cabin, and not even Chiron is going to stop her. 

And as her first test during breakfast had proved, Chiron didn’t actually do anything to stop her. He just told her not to, which is never going to work on someone like Penny. She’s far too stubborn to be held back by something like words. 

She needs to see how far she can push this. Chiron must have a limit ( like Gabe always did, she pointedly doesn’t think), and Penny just needs to see where that limit is. And once she figures that limit out, she can work on breaking it . Who knows? Maybe all she’ll have to do is walk into the Poseidon Cabin and act like she already belongs there. Short of physically removing her, Penny can’t really think of anything Chiron could actually do to keep her out. 

Penny’s been hanging out with Percy all day, but he’d sent her back to the Hermes table at dinner, shooting Chiron a slightly wary glance at the same time as he gave her a reassuring smile. Penny knows that he’s picked up on what she’s doing, but she also knows that Percy was always less likely to push the way she does. And because she loves her brother, she’s willing to take a small break from her pushing. 

Just a small one, though. 

Luke eyes her all through dinner like he’s expecting her to chuck the plate any moment, but Penny has decided to behave for the moment, so she doesn’t bother causing any trouble. That, of course, only makes Luke even more suspicious, but that’s fine. He can’t do anything, either. 

Soon enough, the campfire comes and goes, and the Hermes Cabin’s entourage stands to head to their bunks. Penny, however, has a different plan. Amongst all the chaos of the other campers moving, it’s not hard at all to slip through the crowds and trail her brother across the central field to the Poseidon Cabin up at the top of the slope. Percy doesn’t notice her at first, looking exhausted by the day’s events, and Penny certainly doesn’t do anything to make her presence known. 

But it seems she wasn’t quite as stealthy as she thought, because just before they reach the cabin, a voice comes from behind and interrupts. “Miss Jackson. Where do you think you’re going?” 

Penny stops on instinct at the sound of her name, slowly pivoting to face Chiron. “To bed?” 

“Not in that cabin, you aren’t. Come along, young one.” He holds out an expectant hand, and Penny stares for a solid few moments before turning right back around again and making a beeline for the cabin. She walks right past a wide-eyed Percy, who looks from her to Chiron and back again, before a set of hands gets her right under the arms and scoops her into the air. 

“Hey! Put her down!” Percy cries, stepping forward, but Chiron only steps back, far enough away from him that he can’t easily reach her. 

Penny yelps in surprise and indignance, squirming and scrabbling at the hands, but to no avail. Evidently, she couldn’t push quite as far as she thought she could. 

(But the game’s not up quite yet.) 

“I believe I told you that you would not be going to the Poseidon Cabin, Miss Jackson,” Chiron says severely, raising an eyebrow. He turns and sets her down, leaving her facing the other direction – incidentally, the direction of the Hermes Cabin. “Now go to bed , Penelope. You as well, Perseus” 

Hmph. No one calls us that, stupid. Penny eyes him with irritation, sticking her tongue out for good measure. She takes a few steps towards the Hermes Cabin, putting as much reluctance in the action as she possibly can, and it’s just enough for Chiron to turn away from her with a sigh. The second he’s no longer looking directly at her, Penny turns on her heel and bolts, running straight towards the Poseidon Cabin. She grabs Percy’s hand as she runs past, and he stumbles before falling into step beside her. 

“Penny, I don’t know that this is going to work out the way you want it to,” he huffs, but he doesn’t slow down or stop her, so she ignores it. 

“You shush. I’m gonna be in that cabin whether he likes it or not,” she snaps, and Percy squeezes her hand in reassurance. He only ever instigates but so far, and yet, he never stops her unless he thinks she’s going to get hurt. He hasn’t gotten in her way just yet, despite being fully capable of pulling her to a stop right now, so Penny will take that as a win. 

They reach the Poseidon Cabin moments before Chiron catches up with them, and Penny yanks the door open, practically throwing herself and her brother inside. She waits for a moment, then two, glancing up to the heavens for good measure, but nothing happens. 

“Ha! See, Poseidon doesn’t have a problem with me being in here!” Penny crows, jabbing a finger out the door to point accusingly at Chiron. 

The centaur slows to a halt just outside the door, looking incredibly put-out. “Penelope, get out of that cabin this insta–” 

A loud sound cuts him off, like waves crashing against stone. On instinct, Penny glances out toward the ocean to see the waters churning, the waves growing taller and taller and sweeping further out across the beach. It would be scary – it should be scary – but somehow, Penny isn’t intimidated at all. Somehow, she knows that it’s not going to hurt her. 

Chiron stops, furrowing his brow as he stares out at the suddenly tumultuous sea. He murmurs something to himself in Greek, switching to English to end with, “What on earth?” 

Penny glances to the ocean, then turns to look at Percy behind her. He’s standing at her side like a guardian angel, staring out at the sea with a contemplative expression. “I think… that means Poseidon’s mad about something.” 

“Penelope, remove yourself from the cabin before Poseidon grows any more irritated,” Chiron urges, and the waves crest higher. 

She pauses for a moment, then slowly takes a step past the line of the doorframe, keeping her eyes on the ocean. Just as she does, a swirl of water crashes up against the beach, so close that it sends a spray of seawater at her that gets her right in the face. She scrunches up her face, wiping off the water with no difficulty, but the sea only continues to churn. 

Then, she steps backward so that all of her is inside the cabin, and like magic, the waters begin to calm. 

A step out, and the waves start up again. A step back in, and the sea falls calm again. 

“You know, I’m pretty sure that means it’s not her being in the cabin that he’s mad about,” Percy says quietly, tipping his head toward the sea. He’s giving Chiron a rather pointed look. 

Chiron is quiet for a moment, watching the odd movements of the sea before he shakes his head, looking entirely too exhausted for this situation. “Fine. Fine. She may stay in the Poseidon Cabin, if that is what you desire so badly.” 

He’s not talking to them, Penny’s pretty sure, and her suspicions are confirmed pretty much instantly as the sea falls still. 

The reflection of the stars on the water’s surface really is beautiful when the sea is calm enough to see it. 

Chapter Text

A quest. 

Wonderful. 

Exactly what Percy’s always wanted: a life-threatening cross-country road trip to solve someone else’s problem for them because they can’t be arsed to do it themselves. 

According to Chiron, they’d be leaving tomorrow, and Percy had the choice of two companions. The issue is, he’s pretty sure he’s going to have to pick three. There’s no way he’s leaving Grover behind, not when his Seeker license depends on it, and Annabeth had already invited herself along, citing the fact that this was pretty much her one and only chance to prove herself and see the world outside of camp. That made two, but what about Penny? 

Percy can’t leave her at camp. Not only would it be unfair, it would be unsafe as well. Half the reason he’s even allowed to go on this quest is because Camp Half-Blood had apparently been deemed ‘compromised’ after the attack from the hellhound, so how could Percy ever leave Penny behind in such an environment? Not to mention, even if he tried to leave her here, she’d just find a way to follow him anyways, especially if she learned they were going to the Underworld. If there’s any chance that this quest will let them see their mother again… there’s no way Percy can just leave his little sister behind. All in all, better to bring her along into danger where he can keep an eye on her, than to leave her behind in danger where she’ll be wholly unsupervised (and no, Chiron and the other campers do not count as adequate supervision – not for Penny, at least). 

But that makes three people he wants to bring with him. A quest is only supposed to have three in total , and Percy can’t exactly take himself off the mission, nor would he want to. The quest is gonna suck, sure, but sending Penny off alone is even worse than leaving her here alone. 

Needless to say, Percy is in dire need of a better solution, and for that, there’s only one person he can ask. 

“Hey, Annabeth? Do you have a minute?” 

She looks up from her backpack to see him standing in the doorway, just far enough to not be considered ‘in’ the cabin. He may be a fool sometimes, but even Percy isn’t stupid enough to get himself killed via Athena’s divine hatred for anything Poseidon-related. “Yeah, gimme a sec.” 

Taking a moment to pack away the rest of her supplies, Annabeth sets her backpack down beside her bed and exits the cabin, tipping her head toward the beach with an obvious implication to follow her there. Within moments, they’re sitting on the sand, with no other campers anywhere close enough to overhear them. She leans back on her hands, staring out at the sea for a moment before voicing her question. 

“So, what’s up? It’s not a problem with the quest, is it?” 

Percy grimaces. “Not… directly? I… don’t know who to take with me. I’ve already got three people picked, and I can’t really leave behind any of you, but I feel like Chiron’s not gonna let me have a group of four.” 

“Oh, definitely not,” Annabeth confirms. “Quests are only done in odd numbers because it’s inauspicious to have an even number. Three, five, or seven is fine, but any quests of four or six always come back missing at least one person, if not more. There’s a good reason for the rules in this case.” 

“...Ah. Great.” 

“You said you can’t leave behind ‘any of you’, and I did call dibs, so I’m guessing I’m one of the people you’re debating on bringing?” At his confirming nod, Annabeth continues. “Then who are the other two? Maybe we can find a solution.” 

“You, Grover, and Penny. Grover is my best friend and needs this quest to get his Seeker license, you’re pretty much the most sensible choice overall and you called dibs on a spot, and I can’t just leave Penny behind, not to mention she’d follow me anyways even if I did.” 

Annabeth frowns. “Mm. I don’t think you could really cut any of those people, then – I’d say to leave Penny here, just because she’s so young, but… you’ve got a point about her just following you anyways.” 

“Exactly. Plus… Chiron all but told us that camp was compromised and unsafe. I’d rather bring her with me and be able to protect her than leave her here alone in just as much danger.” 

“True. Camp is probably safer overall than a quest of this magnitude, but it’s still a fair point, and… no offence, but your little sister is a trouble magnet. If there’s danger to be had, I feel like she’ll end up right in the middle of it anyways. As for Grover, I don’t think you should leave him behind either – that license is important to him, and he’s a loyal companion with his own set of skills. He’ll be a valuable addition to the team.” 

“And obviously you won’t tell me to leave yourself behind, so we’re back at square one,” Percy sighs. 

Annabeth pauses. “...Not necessarily.” 

“What? What do you mean?” 

“I said quests were always odd numbers, didn’t I? I never said three was the limit. That was Chiron. If you can find a fifth person–” 

“Then I won’t have to leave anyone behind?” 

“Exactly. Even better, get a senior camper, and you can argue the ‘adult supervision’ card. Chiron loves that excuse. He’ll have no reason to argue if it’s a logically sound decision.” 

“Well in that case, the question is, who should be the fifth member of the quest?” 

oOoOo

“No.” 

Annabeth frowns at Luke, who’s giving her a look of absolute disapproval. “Why not?” 

“I had my quest, Annie. I’m not tagging along on his, too.” 

“We just need a fifth member,” Percy pleads. “And you–” 

“Will not be doing it,” Luke interrupts firmly. “Nuh-uh. Find some other sucker to drag into your craziness. Sorry, Annie, but I told you, I tried questing. Didn’t really go too well for me.” 

“...Oh. Right. Sorry, Luke. I just…”

“I know, I know.” He crouches down a bit, bringing himself low enough to look her in the eyes. “It would’ve been a good decision, logically speaking, but it’s… just not for me, okay? I’m sure you guys can find a better choice, anyways. Why not ask one of the Hephaestus kids? They’re plenty responsible, and good to have on your side in a pinch.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Annabeth nods, grabbing Percy’s hand and turning away from her all-but-brother. She can’t say she’s not disappointed, but… she shouldn’t really be surprised, either. Luke had never really been one for quests, not after what happened on his. “C’mon, Percy. We might be able to catch Beckendorf between projects and ask him if we’re quick enough.” 

Annabeth pulls Percy away, heading towards the Hephaestus Cabin – and by extension, the forge. Percy simply allows it to happen, which she appreciates – it’s always nice when people cooperate with her plans. 

But then Beckendorf says no, too. 

The pair frowns as Beckendorf shakes his head, looking legitimately regretful that he can’t join them. “Honestly, I’m not even opposed to going on a quest, but I’m supposed to be leaving camp for a while to go and stay with my mom now that she’s moved closer to New York. Besides, I don’t know how much help I’d be to you all. I’m more of a support worker than a fighter.” 

“Oh.” Percy’s frown deepens, and he glances away. “We… kind of need a fifth person, though. Do you know anyone else who would be able to come along?” 

“I can do it.” 

Annabeth turns to see who spoke, and her eyes widen as they fall upon someone completely unexpected. I thought the voice sounded familiar, but… why would she want to be on our quest?  

Silena Beauregard is standing in the entrance of the forge, leaned elegantly against the doorway as she looks in. “I’ll join your quest. You need a senior camper to be your fifth person, right? I’m guessing you had a group of four, and didn’t want to leave anyone behind.” 

Percy nods. “Yeah. I’m bringing Penny, Grover, and Annabeth, but that would make four people, and Annabeth and Chiron both said that quests have to be three. Well, Chiron said it had to be three people and Annabeth just said it had to be an odd number.” 

“And if you have five, then it’s still an auspicious number without making you give up one of your people,” Silena deduces. “Clever tactic. If you’re willing, I’d like to join as the fifth member, then.” 

“Why?” Annabeth asks before she can stop herself. “I didn’t think you’d ever wanted to join a quest before. Why now?” 

Silena pauses, tipping her head back to look up toward the sky. “I suppose I just want to help out, that’s all. I know Luke wouldn’t go, no matter how tempted he might have been, and Charlie can’t because he already promised his mom he’d go home this month.” 

Beckendorf nods as he sets down the sword he’d just finished, going to stand by Silena. “She’s right. I’d love to if I thought I’d be helpful, but I’m not really cut out for quests like that, and I’ve got a prior commitment.” 

“I’m the next senior camper after Charlie, unless you count Laurie from the Demeter Cabin, but I know she’d never agree to go on a quest. You know how she is.” Silena grimaces. 

Annabeth does know how she is. Laurie is almost nineteen and will be going off to college before long, thankfully, but she’s also a raging drama queen. The Aphrodite Cabin may have a reputation for being catty and self-centred, but Laurie fits that bill more than any of Aphrodite’s children that Annabeth has ever met. There’s no way Annabeth would have even suggested that Percy ask Laurie to join the quest, even if she thought Laurie would have agreed to it. 

Percy slowly nods, apparently assuming based off of Silena and Annabeth’s expressions that Laurie is not someone he’d want on his quest. He’s correct about that, of course. “Then, you offered because you knew we’d ask you next?” 

Silena shrugs. “I didn’t know, but I had a strong hunch. Besides, you’ve probably heard a lot about Aphrodite kids, but we can be surprisingly resourceful when it comes down to it.” 

“I see.” 

Annabeth watches Percy, waiting to see what decision he’ll make, but to his surprise, he instead turns to her. He doesn’t say anything, but he shoots her a glance, tipping his head slightly towards Silena as though he’s asking her opinion – and somehow, Annabeth can just tell that he’s serious. If she were to shake her head, he’d tell Silena no right here and now, and he’d go find someone else. 

And after a moment’s deliberation, Annabeth nods.  

Percy turns back to Silena, giving her a much bigger nod than Annabeth had just given him. “Okay. You can be our fifth member. Annabeth, are you coming with me to find Penny? I need to figure out where she went so I can tell her to pack her stuff, or else she’s just going to shove a bunch of random things into a bag and say she’s done.” 

“Yeah, I’ve already packed up, so I can come with you.” 

He grins, and before she knows it, Percy grabs her hand to pull her out of the forge and towards the Big House. “C’mon then! Thanks, Silena!” 

Behind them, Silena waves, a faint smile on her face as she watches them go. 

oOoOo

Chiron stares at the assembled group before him, pinching his nose in exasperation. “Mr. Jackson. What is this supposed to be?” 

Percy looks around at his group. “My questing party?” 

“I believe,” Chiron says slowly, “that you were told to limit it to three people in total. I count five here, young Perseus.” 

“Well, yeah. It’s still an auspicious number, but I couldn’t really leave anyone behind.” 

“And you propose to take her along, as well?” Chiron gestures to Penny, who bristles. “A quest such as this is no place for a nine-year-old, demigod or not. It would be better to keep her in camp, where it would be safe for her.” 

Penny scowls. “If you try an’ take me off the quest, I’m gonna sneak out to follow ‘em anyways. You can’t stop me.” 

“And that’s exactly why I was bringing her in the first place,” Percy informs the centaur. 

Grover jumps in, tipping her head toward the rest of the party. “We have a perfectly good questing party right here. We even have adult supervision!” 

She points to Silena, who waves. 

“That is not an adult, young Mr. Underwood.” Chiron frowns. 

“Well, she’s close enough, isn’t she?” Annabeth points out. 

Silena nods, cutting in. “Annabeth’s right. I’m fifteen, so I’m closer to an adult than any of them, and I’m a senior camper, so I’m familiar with responsibility and keeping an eye on younger demigods. Besides, wasn’t fifteen the age of adulthood in plenty of ancient cultures? I’m fairly certain that many Greek women got married around fourteen to fifteen back in ancient times, didn’t they?” 

“Be that as it may, five is an awfully large group to send on this quest. Are all of you absolutely certain that you wish to go?” 

The group nods. Even Grover, usually so hesitant, is firmly determined in his agreement. 

Chiron sighs. “Then I suppose I will allow it.”