Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Poseidon knew something was wrong from the moment the venom entered Perseus’ body. Poseidon tended to keep an eye on all of his children to a certain extent. So he can sense that something is wrong almost immediately. However, this raises more alarm as he can feel that one of his children began to fade rather rapidly.

Which would always be something that tends to get his full attention no matter what else was going on. 

He hadn't stopped to talk to Chiron or Dionysus first. Just walking up to Percy and incasing him in a bubble as he lay in the Big House. Poseidon watched for a moment as Perseus’s breathing seemed to steady out a bit. But only a small bit. Poseidon knew he would need healers as soon as possible.

He didn’t need to know what caused his son to start dying to know that prompt action was needed after all. 

He turned his attention to Chiron. “What happened?”

He originally had thought it was a sword fight gone extremely wrong. That would have made the most sense at the camp, after all. But this was something different.

Swords don’t just leave large welts on a mortal's hand, after all. He didn’t need to be the god of healing to tell that much.

He knew of a few things that could be the origin of it. Most of them shouldn’t be able to get into camp with the barrier in place, and far fewer would respond to being summoned into the forests surrounding it.

(And one of those shouldn’t have reformed yet. Or at least he hoped it hadn’t. This was already giving troubling suggestions.

The thought of any of Echidna’s recent brood being back already. Only a mere couple of months after being dispatched by his son was troubling, to say the least.) 

If it wasn’t for the fact that what had happened was unclear, he might have just skipped asking. But if anything could aid his healers…

“We aren’t entirely sure. A couple of the camp dryads appeared on the edge of the forest carrying a barely conscious at the time Perseus. One of the counselors yelled for me, and by the time I arrived, he was already out cold. All we can figure is something poisoned him.”

Which, of course, Poseidon could have conjectured on his own without the help of the centaur.

“I will be taking him to Atlantis.” Poseidon states rather than asks moving to the door of the house to return to the ocean. Seeing as none of this conversation was going to produce any more information that was actually useful he needed to get to Atlantis.

Chiron moves to walk along side as he asks. “And risk incurring your brothers’ wrath?” 

Poseidon just scowls at that. “I can handle whatever tantrum my brother decides to throw about this later.”

After all, he was partly at fault for this, arguably. If they had addressed the problem that was brewing, to begin with, then the culprit would have been found by now. (Of course one could assume that the two were completely unrelated. However, if they were, Poseidon would be shocked. It being retribution for returning the bolt made too much sense.) And his son would be safe back home with his mother. Not fighting for his life.

Of course, he could leave Perseus here. But he finds himself hesitating on that idea. 

Chiron, he is sure knew how to treat most manner of things. He certainly had been alive long enough to have that knowledge. But Poseidon would only trust a few people to guarantee his child's survival.

(Besides it was the camp under his watch that had allowed this to happen. It would be a while before he fully trusted the camp with his son's safety and well-being after this happened.

They would have to wait and see about next summer.)

“He is a child of the sea, so his best chances of surviving this lie within.”

“He’s not wrong.” Poseidon is mildly surprised to see Dionysus actually agreeing with him on this. “Besides, as good as you are, it's not like either of us are technically fully trained healers.”

“Either way, if he has that much of a problem with my choice, then he came to Atlantis to discuss the matter himself.”

It might be a bluff to say Zeus wouldn’t act at all. It was a bluff that Poseidon felt fairly confident that his younger brother wouldn’t call him on concerning the ancient laws.

After all, if this wasn’t somehow connected to the stolen bolt, Poseidon would be surprised. So thus, in his mind, Zeus couldn’t complain. Not unless he wanted to actually acknowledge the matter he had already declared closed.

Besides, really, what was the worst that Zeus could do at this point?

His son was already dying.

Anything else he might do in reaction would be a moot point.

Poseidon’s just on the outside edges of the palace infirmary at the moment. Having chosen a seat where he could still observe but was far enough out of the way of the healers tending to his son that he wouldn’t interfere.  

Poseidon knows eventually he will have to leave his vigil. That he can only stay down here so long before either Amphitrite or Triton come looking for him.

Or Both.

Considering for the moment he wanted to make sure his youngest was stable before announcing the rather unexpected visit. That limited how long he could be there.

(He knows on some level he is being overly paranoid. To almost a Zeus level arguably. Amphitrite even when she didn’t approve of the child had never been one to go after them. 

Triton despite his issues with his half siblings had never directly targeted one more. Usually preferring to just ignore them. 

But after the past few months and the days events he finds himself more on edge than normal.)

“How is he doing?” Poseidon asks as he notes a healer finally coming up to him. 

The first update he is getting since having handed Perseus over to them.

He must have improved at least for the healer to finally come talk to him. But that doesn’t stop him from worrying. He knows at the very least the worst hasn’t happened.

He would have felt the bond fade if it had.

It might have come close.

But it was still there.

“Stable for the moment. We put him under a sleeping spell to help flush out the toxins from his system and recuperate in peace. While making sure there isn’t anything else we need to be keeping an eye out for.”

“Did you find out what he came in contact with?”

The healer’s mouth pressed into a frown at that. And Poseidon knows he is not going to like this answer. “We did. Though we are quite unsure how it is possible. I know you mentioned he made a trip to the underworld before but this is something else entirely.”

Well he can’t say he’s surprised considering where this had taken place. Whatever his son had come in contact with was bound to be not usually seen he would assume.

Though the mention of the underworld specifically is interesting. 

“What was it?”

“He was poisoned with pit scorpion venom.”

Poseidon blinked and it was only several millennia of restraint that keeps his own jaw from dropping. 

Pit scorpion venom?

How?

He trusted the healers skills really. There was a reason he had her in charge after all. 

It would explain how quickly his son had been reduced to being on his death bed. Far and few things could give that kind of result after all. Especially within his domain.

But just how ?

How could Perseus have come into contact with a pit scorpion of all things?

Those things were only supposed to exist in Tartarus. Only a few beings he knew of even had the ability to summon one period. Let alone within camp boundaries.

This had to have something to do with Father that was for certain.

Though he wonders for a moment if it was this some form of retribution from Hades?

Though as quickly as the thought occurs to him, Poseidon dismisses it. Every action his brother had taken in the past few months had been connected to either the stolen helm or the bolt.

As far as he could tell none of them were in direct response to Perseus simply existing. Yet at least.

It seemed unusually foolish to act that way now.

Especially after Perseus had mentioned before his brother not wanting a war. Trying to kill his youngest would definitely not work towards that goal.

So most likely not Hades.

Zeus would rather just ignore him than go out of his way to target him.

(He may be going back to Camp Half Blood sooner than he expected. Though part of him suspects that the perpetrator had already fled. 

If they were smart enough to be able to steal to items of power from under the gods noses, they were definitely smart enough to not remain at the scene of his crime.)

So it had to be father then.

Great.

So they could now formally add nearly killing his son to the list of crimes that Zeus was insisting on ignoring because he wouldn’t acknowledge father’s return.

What else did they have to look forward to in the coming months if not years if the pattern continued?

The healer’s voice snaps him out of the downward spiral involving his father. “It would be best you informed her before she finds out on her own.”

“I am aware and I will.”

He would. Just as soon as he is sure that Perseus is fully out of the woods so to speak from the day’s events.

Chapter Text

Amphitrite knew her husband was hiding something. She just didn’t know what.

Amphitrite at least knows what she suspects. Since the last time this happened she had found out her husband had gone off and had another child. Breaking a decades old oath in the process.

Amphitrite really hoped this isn’t a repeat of the last time he had been this distracted (and there hadn’t been a brewing war to think about) and that her husband hadn’t found another mortal lover.

The last thing they needed at the moment was yet another child of a broken oath.

(Even if with the way things were going the prophecy would most likely be fulfilled long before they reached 16.)

As it was they already had one. Considering the wording on a certain great prophecy, she doubted that the master bolt incident would be the last time they would be hearing of the child.

They were bound to have enough prophecy related headaches if the child survived until 16. They really didn’t need more of them because her husband had become enamored with some mortal.

As it turns out, the reason for her husbands distraction wasn’t a mortal lover. Though initially Amphitrite isn’t sure how much of an improvement this is. Considering this is still breaking ancient laws.

Amphitrite would forget the reason why she had come down to the infirmary that afternoon rather quickly in the months to come. 

Whatever problem that had been ailing her at the time would grow to look rather small in the fact that somehow her husband’s demigod was in their infirmary.

The fact that she was only just now finding out about this.

Well. At least she supposes she now knows why her husband had been so distracted.

She’s not sure how long she had been there watching the child in the bed before Poseidon joins her and she asks. “When did this happen?” 

Her own tone letting him know just how annoyed she was that she was having to find out by stopping by the infirmary for an unrelated matter as soon as he joined her. Rather then him telling her himself.

They had nearly avoided a war with Zeus just mere two months ago. They were supposed to be ruling together. But she couldn’t do her job as a proper Queen if Poseidon kept secrets like this.

Which she had thought they had addressed before.

The sight of the demigod in the infirmary bed without any prior knowledge to the events however told her otherwise.

She can’t say she's entirely surprised by the situation. She knows how protective her husband is of his children, especially the mortal ones. However a warning that he was bringing him to Atlantis would have been nice.

“Two days ago. Chiron alerted me that there had been an incident at camp and asked me for assistance.”

“An incident?”

“Someone, we don’t know who at this time, set a pit scorpion on him.”

“A-” Amphitrite broke off for a second having a hard time believing the words that had just come out of her husband’s mouth. “ Are you sure ?”

Chiron wasn’t one to lie about such a thing admittedly. She didn’t think her husband would have brought the boy to Atlantis over a minor scuffle in the camp. No matter how protective he got.

And the healers must have verified it.

But a pit scorpion? 

It raised so many questions.

How had anyone in the camp even gotten their hands on it? How had no one realized that there was that much of a security issue that a bug that could be nasty to immortals and fatal to mortals get in the camp?

Looking back at the infirmary bed, for the first time fully taking in the form of the child laying on the bed, rather than just a passing glance at the demigod; The paleness of the skin unusual to a land mortal especially one of her husbands being almost a dead give away something being wrong.

The child definitely had a near death encounter of some sort. She doesn’t need to understand mortals to understand that.

She had just been too incensed at Poseidon at first to notice the signs.

“Healers confirmed it.” Poseidon said. “No one is entirely sure what happened. Some of the nymphs found him dying in the forest and were able to get him to Chiron in time. I had been meaning to ask around but I have obviously been distracted to do so.”

“How is he doing now?”

She could see his condition of course on some level. But she didn’t know what else had been done. Poison was more than just skin deep as the mortals liked to say.

There could be more going on.

“He’s better than when he arrived at least.” 

Amptitrite raised an eyebrow at that almost non answer. “That isn’t exactly telling considering we are discussing a pit scorpion sting.” 

Poseidon sighs after a moment finally saying, “We won’t fully know anything until he wakes up. They got him the antidote in time. The ocean of course has been helping. However, the healers say it will take time for him to fully recover.”

Amphitrite reads between the lines what he isn’t saying. He would most likely be in Atlantis for a while even when he did wake up. Even if he somehow didn’t have any lasting damage from what had happened.

Which considering they were discussing a scorpion sting she wasn’t going to get optimistic about at this point.

This might not be the fondest idea to her, she would admit, she wasn’t about to turn away a child in such obvious need. The only thing that was bothering her at the moment really was, “Why didn’t you tell any of us sooner that he was here?”

She assumed and correctly as she found out later that her husband had yet to tell anyone of the child’s presence beyond the necessary healers. 

Poseidon shifts his weight for a moment and Amphitrite has a feeling she isn’t going to entirely like whatever answer he is about to give. “I wanted to make sure he was stable before announcing his presence to the rest of the court.”

In other words, he wanted to make sure his life wouldn’t be additionally endangered by anyone while he was in the critical phase of his recovery. Including apparently her and Triton if he had purposely kept her from being informed about this.

Amphitrite resists the urge to snap at that simply stating, “I am not my sister in law. It might have been a long time since we had a mortal child around the palace. He will be safe to remain here as long as he needs be.”

Honestly she knows it was more of a sign of how worried Poseidon was that they were even having this conversation to begin with.

Her opinions on her husband's children might vary from child to child if she ever did meet them. But that dealt with each child themselves and how they behaved.

She might have been annoyed at Perseus’ presence at first, but it was more of a matter of again Poseidon not telling her versus the child existing and breaking an oath yet again.

She knows Poseidon must at least somewhat realize this. Or else he would never have brought him to Atlantis in the first place if he truly didn’t think he wouldn’t be safe here.

Its more the principle of the matter that is making her annoyed. She could be trusted not to additionally endanger her stepsons life. 

She was not Hera.

“Just how bad was it?”

 Poseidon opened his mouth to say something but she continued. “I know he was stung by a pit scorpion. I know you managed to get him here in time. I still want to know, just how bad was it?”

Maybe if she knew how bad it was she could better understand her husbands decisions.

Poseidon hesitates for a moment. His eyes drifting back to the unconscious boy in the infirmary bed. Which in some ways was its own quiet answer to the question. 

He didn’t want to talk about it.

So even if they had managed to save the child it had still been bad.

Which, again, considering they were discussing the survival of a pit scorpion. Something that could leave even some of the strongest immortals bedridden for days.

Let alone the effects on mortals let alone young mortals.

Finally Poseidon starts speaking again. “He was nearly corpse gray when I managed to get him to the healers. He lasted as long as he did in part because of Chiron but even he wasn’t enough.” 

There’s a small pause before Poseidon added even more quieter. “They said if I had brought him any later he would be dead.”

And there it was.

Poseidon really hadn’t kept it from her out of maliciousness. More maybe out of a slightly misplaced need to protect the child. And if he was in such critical condition….

Well she still may not be the happiest about this but she at least understands better now. And she feels most of her anger at feeling like she was compared to Hera start to drain away.

They would need to discuss this more later. But for now there were other matters to attend to such as. “Is his mother aware of what has happened?”

She might not know the woman and she could be wrong about her assumptions of the woman, but she does know that if it was one of her children lying on his death bed she would want to know.

“No. I assumed Chiron had done so after I brought him here.”

Well arguably Chiron should and maybe he had. Amphitrite had her own thoughts on this. “I trust Chiron with many things. I am not entirely sure I trust him with the duty of informing Perseus’ mother of what has happened.”

He was a busy centaur after all.

“Do you know where she can be found? I think this might be best to come from me at this point.”

Mother to mother and all that.

She hadn’t met the mortal that had gotten her husbands fancy most recently. However, she knew if it was one of her children laying in the bed, she would want to know.

“Yes I can give that to you.”

Maybe that should be a bit of a concern considering he knew that. Since that could suggest the possibility of him seeking her out again. As much as it could be a means to just keep an eye on the mother and son duo.

But for the moment she won’t try to overthink it. 

They can discuss the technicalities of that later.

“You have no problems with him staying here?”

Amphitrite raises an annoyed eyebrow at that pointing out. “It’s well past that point of my opinion mattering. This should have been discussed before it could even happen.” 

Poseidon had at least the graciousness to look apologetic at that slightly.

“That being said, no I don’t have any issue with him remaining here as long as he needs to.”

Maybe if things were different she might have. But at the minimum they owe the child for stopping a war. 

The least they could do is allow him to safely recover in Atlantis from a threat on his life. In the relative safety of the palace where no monsters should be able to find him.

“Thank you. I do apologize for not handling this a different way in hindsight once I was sure Perseus was safe. I never meant to imply that you would act like Hera.”

She knew truly he probably hadn’t. It just had hit a sore point with her and the thing she could focus on in a mountain of issues that this presented at the moment.

“I know. I just ask that you try to remember that these kind of things should be discussed beforehand. We should have a conversation about this later.”

It would have to wait until emotions weren’t as high. But it was a needed conversation nonetheless.

Part of her would like to hope this would be the only incident like this.

However considering how demigods fates tended to work, she feared it would only be a matter of time before they found themselves in a similar situation.

Amphitrite speaks with the healers about the boys condition before she flashes away to Manhattan. She doesn’t learn much more than what her husband has already said.

But it was still best to be able to present the mortal with what information she could and not leave details out due to ignorance.

At least in her opinion.

(Of course there would still be things not fully talked about. 

They couldn’t tell the mortal everything. For one Amphitrite herself didn’t know all of it. No one knew the entire situation. There were gaps here and there.

For another it was best to maybe not stress the mortal out with just how dire the situation was if need be.

Then again she might put it together herself.)

There’s a flicker of disappointment for a moment as the woman seems to realize Perseus isn’t at the door when she answers. 

Amphitrite can’t even find it in herself to be mad at the first reaction. She probably would have had a similar reaction if Triton had been missing and no one had told her where he was. 

Though it disappears rather quickly in favor of surprise as she realizes who actually is. “Lady Amphitrite to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m here about your son.”

That got her a frown from the woman as she said. “Percy’s not here at the moment. Last I heard he was still at camp so I’m unsure what this is about.”

So that confirmed Chiron indeed had not told her anything. 

She isn’t sure how often things like this occurred where mortal family needed to be kept in the loop. But it still feels like someone should have told the mortal before her. 

What would have happened if she hadn’t taken it upon herself to tell her?

Something to ponder for another time.

“I am aware. He is currently in Atlantis.”

The way the woman pales at that seeming to realize something had gone wrong rather quickly. Makes Amphitrite realize that maybe that wasn’t the best choice in words at first.

She liked to think she was better with words than her husband was at times. But this was a situation she was not entirely familiar with. Arguably the last time they even came close to this kind of situation was many centuries ago.

So interacting with mortals outside of her own occasional lovers had been something that hadn’t occurred in a while. 

But she seemed to have failed here.

“He’s alive. Just dealing with repercussions of actions at camp.”

Which probably isn’t the greatest assurance admittedly to hear. Even if it was the truth. But it is the best one she can give at the moment unfortunately.

Since who knew what mortals might here. Mist or not.

“But some issues have arisen. May I come in? I won’t take much of your time but I feel this conversation is best continued in private.”

Mist probably could shift what the mortals overheard anyways. But considering the difficulty of the conversation. It was still best to have in private.

That got her to snap out of her somewhat stunned state. “Yes of course.”

“I knew something was wrong when the deadline passed and I hadn’t heard from him. Percy’s a lot of things but he does try to keep in contact with me.”

Despite her own occasional relationships with mortals. Demigods of her own were rare. She had only ever blessed a few choice mortals over the millenia with her own offspring.

So this wasn’t something she had to concern herself with in a while. Even by immortal standards. 

But she still could feel sympathy for the woman none the less.

“I do apologize for no one telling you sooner. At the very least if Chiron had said nothing, my husband should have told you. However he’s been rather distracted as of late due to current events.”

Amphitrite knew most likely that the demigods stay wasn’t the only thing weighing on her husband.

She’s still not entirely sure what had gone down in the throne room the day of the solstice. The only people there to witness the conversation were himself, Perseus and Zeus of course.

But if it was bothering him this much than she found herself considering asking him. Maybe with recent events he would actually tell her this time. 

Her husband aside Chiron really should have done so if he had the means to begin with.

“He’s the one that brought Percy to Atlantis?”

“Correct. Though I am not entirely unsure of how he became aware of your son’s condition. He brought him to Atlantis once he was aware of it. And that is where he has remained for the last few days.”

She had her suspicions of course on how he had found out. Poseidon had said that Chiron had alerted him. However she had her doubts considering the ancient laws.

Especially with how demigods tended to sometimes bond with their godly parent. And her husbands protective streak. She had a fairly good idea of how he had come to the information.

All of that to say she was fairly sure it wasn’t through Chiron.

Especially since if he wasn’t keeping the mortal mother who was supposed to be in contact in the loop, there was no way he would have thought to contact Poseidon.

“I do fear at times for the consequences of his actions and not just because of your son’s existence.”

“Because of his brothers and Atlantis I’m assuming?”

Well that was picked up a bit faster than she had become accustomed too. That was a pleasant surprise in some form.

Well she may still have wished Poseidon had told her sooner about all of this. She won’t deny that this was definitely one of the better partners she remembered him picking.

“Correct.” 

“How is he doing really?” She asked after a moment.

“As well as one can expect from this situation.” Amphitrite eventually decided the diplomatic approach to the question was the best. Well aware she is repeating her own husbands words of a couple days ago. 

“That’s not much of an answer.”

“No.” Amphitrite agreed thinking for a moment before deciding honesty was the best choice here. “Truth be told we don’t know fully at this point. He’s no longer in danger of dying at the very least. However pit scorpion venom is one of the nastiest in our existence. The healer in charge of his care has him in a healing sleep for the time being. So it will be a while before we truly know.”

Amphitrite pauses for a second before continuing when nothing is added. “I know it's probably not much of an assurance. However, he has Atlantis’ best looking after him. My husband would accept no less.”

“Thank you. I wish I could see him.”

“I understand where you’re coming from. But I must say that isn’t the best idea for the moment.”

She feels for the mortal she really does. She understands why she wants to come. But things are risky as it is.

The gods do talk on occasion more than just flat out arguing. And one slipped comment from Dionysus would be all that was needed for someone to realize her husband was breaking several ancient laws in an attempt to save his son.

They didn’t need to bring additional risk into it by having the mortal come for a visit. Especially since eyes would be on her even more so right now after her son’s quest.

“Bringing you to Atlantis at this point would endanger the both of you, possibly only work if you were to stay in Atlantis longer term than either you can possible conceive or my husbands intends with Perseus.”

Since putting her there was more likely to draw a certain set of in laws attention even more so. 

She doesn’t know if Poseidon ever tried to protect the mortal. In a similar manner to the way he is trying to protect Perseus by bringing him under the sea to recover.

But if he had she already had a feeling she knew the answer.

Otherwise they wouldn’t be having this conversation in this manner.

Amphitrite isn’t entirely sure when she develops the habit of checking in on the demigod. It certainly wasn’t a request of the elder Jackson. She had said to keep her appraised of any developments.

Something that Amphitrite had been expecting and planning to do anyway.

But probably hadn’t meant to the extent she had. Even if sometimes she found her drifting down the infirmary mostly unintentionally.

If anyone asks she’s keeping an eye on the child because her husband has his own work to do. And to have him constantly fretting over his demigod child’s status won’t do anyone any good. Especially their kingdom.

(Any concerns she might have further than that she will say won’t develop until much later. Whether that’s true is a whole other matter.)

Which eventually leads to her asking about the child's overall condition beyond the scorpion sting. Since naturally she's keeping an eye on him. Knowing only the bare minimum is not the best idea.

And apparently there was more. Though the healer wasn’t entirely expanding on it.

“Most of these things even if we were to get more information on them. Wouldn’t do any good at this point. It’s simply been too long for them to make that much of a difference. And really isn’t our priority for the moment.”

As long as it didn’t endanger the child that seemed at least a bit reasonable. 

Though she won’t deny some curiosity at just exactly what had gotten the healers attention. For another time perhaps.

“And as far as the pit scorpion venom? Is there anything that can be done specifically there? Or is this simply a matter of time and patience and the ocean itself?”

Though she would think that if another action could be taken. The healer would have already made to do so. 

“There isn’t much there to do that we haven’t already.” The healer confirmed. 

“That being said recovery could be simplified if we could have the remains of the scorpion itself. We could brew a specific antivenom to the scorpion and administrate it which would hopefully minimize any complications that might arise. At the very least it would help speed up the recovery process quiet significantly. But we don’t have it or even know if there is anything to use at this point.”

Amphitrite frowned at that. “You don’t have access to the scorpion that stung him?”

Surely her husband would have thought to grab the remains of it before coming to Atlantis? They might not be healers but basic information should tell you to grab something like that.

Unless he had been too distraught at the time to think of it?

“No. When we asked Lord Poseidon about it, he said at the time all Perseus had on him was his clothes and his pen sword. No signs of the scorpion that caused this.”

Amphitrite blinked in surprise at that revelation. There was a remarkable implication in itself there.

Since that implied that the boy had managed to get himself to help. Rather than someone finding him and then calling her husband like she had first assumed. 

That was almost as impressive as managing to survive the sting in the first place in some ways.

Amphitrite had never had the displeasure of nearly fading in her existence. Sure like most immortals she had some unpleasant ruins with ancient creatures. They all did at some point. It came with the long lifespan. 

So she can only guess what her stepson was going through.

But she can’t imagine that unless the incident had occurred close by. Which appeared to not be the case. That it could have been easy to reach anywhere to get assistance with powerful poison coursing through his veins.

“Admittedly he has recovered from poison prior without antivenom it appears.”

Okay that was making her even more curious about the medical history the healer had alluded to. Must have something to do with the quest for the bolt from what she could think.

Though what exactly else he could have encountered was escaping her.

“Those if they had lasting consequences we would have known before hand. And since Lord Poseidon said he had appeared healthy if a bit shaken on Olympus. All it is an interesting factoid in his history. Nothing much else.”

Since she did have an idea on how to possibly get their hands on it.

Triton could slip into the camp boundaries. And get in and out with drawing too much attention. It had been centuries since he had needed to act incognito in any shape or form.

Not since the last uprising against her family.

But he was still able to do it.

He definitely wouldn’t like the idea of being sent after the remains of the pit scorpion for the sake of his mortal half brother. But he was still their best chance at retrieving it.

Chapter Text

Triton indeed did not like being roped into a glorified fetch quest as he called it.

The only thing that seemed to at least dim his anger slightly if that. Was the request was coming from her rather than Poseidon. 

And she wasn’t going to drag him down to the infirmary to see his half brother’s state with his own eyes. That had the potential of possibly backfiring as it did of helping.

Generally with her son they had to get to know him. Before he was anything beyond standoffish to his demigod half siblings. And most didn’t come around Atlantis enough to do so. 

And even then if they did it wasn’t a guarantee they would hit it off. 

Most of the time they didn’t.

And the last couple of adult demigods that had come to Atlantis…well to say they hadn’t gotten along with Triton. Was to be putting it mildly. The dislike between the siblings had been mutually strong. 

So Triton had no real reason to have a positive opinion on the situation. Or his brother being a thing at all let alone in Atlantis.

But in the end he still agreed to go.

If nothing else but as a favor to her. And to maybe be able to get Perseus out of Atlantis sooner than later she suspected.

Triton had his doubts that the demigod had been stung by a pit scorpion to begin with. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the healers skills. Really. It just seemed absurd.

Father’s inherited healing abilities or not. It seemed like a stretch to think of a mere mortal encountering something like a pit scorpion. And living to apparently mostly tell the tale.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was ready to blame this on at the moment. However once he knew for sure there were no pit scorpion remains to be found.

He is sure he would think of something.

For another this was not something he considered a valuable use of his skills. 

Thankfully the local naiads had been willing to point him in the direction that the nymph that had helped saved his dying bastard brother to begin with. So he had been able to narrow down his search zone rather quickly.

Only to nearly stop dead in his tracks as his eyes zoned in on the remains of a very particular bug.

Well Chaos damnit.

That was definitely the remains of a pit scorpion.

Triton didn’t waste anytime returning to Atlantis. And dropping off the remains of the scorpion in the infirmary for the healer’s use before seeking out his mother. 

“I still dislike him being here.” Triton had grumbled to his mother later that evening. But it didn’t quiet carry the heat the comment had before he had left for Camp Half Blood.

He still wasn’t happy about the situation. He didn’t think he ever was going to be happy about anything involving his father’s demigods truthfully.

But as unhappy as he was. He was finally able to concede his mother’s points that had been made before he had left for New York on what he still considered to be a glorified fetch quest.

(Even if it had been fruitful that didn’t make it any less of a fetch quest in his opinion.)

“I am not asking you to. I wasn’t that happy with your father when I found out about Perseus being here myself-”

“Then why didn’t you ask him to send him somewhere else.” Triton barely keeps the whine out of his voice at the question.

The exasperated look he gets from his mother is well earned admittedly. “You know why.”

Of course he did. After all there weren’t many things that could help treat something like pit scorpion poison. And considering he was the son of a sea god. Let alone his father.

Of course his father would have brought him here.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be happy with it entirely.

That doesn’t entirely stop him from asking though. “It really was that bad?”

He hadn’t bothered to actually really look at his half sibling admittedly. When he had dropped the scorpion off.

Maybe he should have. Maybe he would understand this better.

Or maybe he would still be having these same feelings. 

“I only saw him a few days after your father brought him here. So I don’t even know how poor he looked when your father rescued him. But from my own experiences with mortals I can tell even then he didn’t look the best.”

Triton barely kept himself from making a face at the reminder of how they originally had gotten into this situation. Deciding to forego the comment on his half siblings appearance. “How did father find out anyway? This thing was in the middle of the woods. I doubt Chiron had much time to be contacting him.”

Begrudgingly part of him was impressed the boy had survived long enough to get help. Since his brother must have come back to camp rather than been found out there if the remains had been left in the forest.

Especially if his mother said he still looked in poor condition a few days after the incident. 

Not that he was going to actually admit that to anyone.

Parents included.

“I’m not entirely sure how he found out.” His mother admitted with a slight frown. “All I do know is that he came to Chiron rather than the other way around.”

Triton’s face scrunched up in surprise at that. “He didn’t pray to father when it happened?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

Triton blinked in surprise. He had seen demigods pray over far more trivial things in his opinion than something like deadly poison. And yet apparently this one hadn’t.

Curious.

Was this a result of him only finding out he was a demigod recently? Or was this something else entirely?

Maybe demigods had stopped praying to their family members over every little thing like the ones in the past had?

Not that he was curious to consider investigating it. It wasn’t that important in the relative scheme of things. And most likely he had too focused on trying not to die before he received help to pray.

Even if that would have considerably simplified things.

“Well at least this should simplify things.” Triton said after a moment of silence.

Deciding for the moment it was best to just ignore that curiosity. After all it wasn’t like it overall mattered in the grand scheme of things. His half sibling not praying to father could just as easily have been a slipup if anything else.

“It should.” She conceded though he can tell she doesn’t fully believe it..

And even a part of him already knew it probably wasn’t going to be simple.

Not with how protective his father was over all of his children.

And not right after an incident like this.

They were most likely going to be stuck with this half sibling for a while. Even after he woke up and recovered.

Fantastic.

Chapter Text

It was just over a week and a half before the healer finally decided to lift the spell on Perseus. He should be well enough that lifting it shouldn’t add to any possible issues the venom had caused.

What did surprise him slightly was the healer suggesting him being there for when Perseus awoke again. “Why?”

It wasn’t that he was opposed to the idea. Opposite of that actually. He would have most likely been there anyway if they were waking him on a schedule anyway. He just didn’t think it would get suggested.

“He just survived nearly dying and is awakening in a place he has never visited prior. Seeing a familiar face might help him from being scared.”

That was true though if he was being honest, he barely knew the boy. Having only met him once that the child could actually remember.

(And that time had seen him saying something that he realized in hindsight had been said rather poorly. But it wasn’t exactly like he could take those words back now.)

He was many things. But a source of comfort he even had his own doubts on. 

Though admittedly he was more of a familiar face than anyone else in Atlantis.

It was definitely the best option out of all the people in the palace that he actually trusted to be near his son at the moment.

He didn’t even know how much his son knew about his wife and getting Triton involved was more of a recipe for disaster than anything else.

(Just because Triton hadn’t said anything directly didn’t mean he was completely oblivious to his eldests dislike of the demigods' presence.

He just was choosing not to comment on it for now since it wasn’t exactly causing problems.)

Which was probably what she was getting at by making this suggestion at all. The whole situation was probably going to be a bit of a shock to his son’s system.

He had lost consciousness at the edge of Camp Half Blood and was now awakening in a palace that he most likely had at most read about in some of the books Sally owned. 

It would be a shock for most mortals. Even ones who knew their heritage like Perseus.

So yes probably even if he didn’t know him well, probably not having one entirely shocking thing was a good idea.

Even with the distance he had to realize that. 

“Besides I would think you would want to be there sire.”

Of course with his famous protective streak she would realize that.

“I do. I just was curious as for your reasoning.”

Not that he needed it to be there in person.

Percy to be honest was surprised to be waking up at all.

(It wasn’t a matter of having trust in Chiron or anyone else at camp that could heal. He did trust them.

It was just, well.  Luke had kept repeating how long he had. While he had seen Chiron before he had passed out, he knew on some level that he was tethering on the brink before he had lost consciousness.

Not that he was ready to admit that part to himself or out loud yet.)

Though he could tell already something was a bit different and not just with his surroundings that he had never seen before.

(Though that would be something he would come back to in a second after getting over the initial surprise of just being alive.)

The last time he had been out because of injuries from the Minotaur. He had only been out for a couple of days recovering.

This felt longer for some reason. Somehow he felt stiffer in a way he hadn’t last time.

Like he had taken a really long nap and hadn’t moved around enough to keep his muscles loose.

So he must have been out for a while. Though he wasn’t entirely sure how long.

 It isn’t the strange underwater surroundings that surprises him the most. Though he is confused by that. Its the fact Poseidon was here.

He certainly hadn’t expected to see his father again after the incident on Mount Olympus. At least not for a long while since he hadn’t been around before.

It was nice.

Just entirely surprising.

He knew Luke had said the poison was deadly so he must have sensed something. But this seemed to be more of a reaction than to just that.

“Dad?”

There is surprising amount of relief in the gods eyes he’s not expecting and he tries not to think about later. “Perseus. How are you feeling?”

“Okay I guess?”

He honestly had a hard time telling right now. 

Nothing hurt at the very least. Nothing felt like it was on fire. Which was an improvement over the last time. Though his hand still felt like lead.

As his eyes moving down to where his hand was, he got an answer to why that was, as it was wrapped in some kind of bandage.

Poseidon follows his gaze to the hand in question. A small scowl coming across his face at the sight of that before looking away. “We were able to get the poison out but the site is still healing.”

Percy was a bit surprised by that.

Sure it hadn’t worked in the stream but this was in the ocean. Surely that would have made some sort of difference, right?

(Though he already knew that it probably hadn’t.)

“That bad?”

It had taken care of the chimera poison and well okay this obviously was stronger if according to Luke he only had 60 seconds to live. Where as that had lasted in his system a lot longer before he had ended up in theMississippi. 

If anything the scowl deepened at that. “Water normally is enough for children of the sea. However even it has its limits unfortunately.”

Well that would have been nice to know before.

Part of him wondered what could have happened if the river hadn’t healed the poison. Since apparently water wasn’t the catch all he had been treating it as up until now.

Not that it actually mattered. Since he knew in the back of his head what the answer to that question was already.

He just didn’t really want to think about it.

“I am sure you have a number of questions.”

Oh Percy had a lot of questions that much was for sure. But he decided to start with the second most prominent one behind ‘how did I even get here’ (Though he already had some guesses for the answer to that) which was. “Where am I anyway?”

Well him being alert enough to ask questions had to be a good sign in Poseidon’s mind. “In Atlantis. I brought you here to be treated after I became aware of you becoming poisoned by the scorpion.”

It would most likely still be too early to know if most of their concerns were more then just that. The fact he was at least talking and seemed to be aware of his surroundings was a good sign.

Or at least to him.

And he was resisting the urge to ask more about how this situation had happened.

He knew if he tried to push the subject too much the healer would never let him hear the end of it.

They had been picked because of their skills and willingness to put their patients over all else.

Even if at times that meant getting on certain peoples not so happy side.

He at least knew she would do right by his son.

“Man Luke would flip if he knew that he caused this.”

“Luke?” Poseidon asked tilting his head slightly not recognizing the name.

At the very least it hadn’t been one of the people Percy had named as being on the quest with him before. While he vaguely recognized it as someone that had been at the winter solstice presentations prior.

That was all he really knew.

“Yeah he was the one that well...you know...attacked me.”

They had a name. A name was more than he had to go off of before and that meant they could hold someone responsible.

He didn’t need to know all of the details of what had happened in the forest to do that. Even if knowing more about this Luke would certainly help in his quest to hold him responsible.

“He was the one that summoned the pit scorpion.”

“Yep.”

“I still wonder how.”

“I mean. He didn’t say exactly. But considering how much he talked about Kronos, I am guessing he probably taught him how to do that.” Perseus said with a scowl.

Well that was curious. “Kronos?”

“Yeah Luke said that he was the one who ordered to steal the master bolt and the helm.”

Well apparently nearly murdering his son wasn’t the only crime the boy was guilty of then.

Poseidon wondered for a moment if he could let Zeus deal with this officially. Even as he knew he wouldn’t. 

Zeus still refused to believe that their father was returning.

Even as his son had now confirmed he had been ordered to murder another demigod on his orders.

He didn’t need permission to act. It certainly hadn’t stopped him before. It just would have been nice and less of a headache.

He would still be seeking this Luke out boy regardless.

“Mom?”

If that wasn’t clear enough that Percy didn’t want to talk anymore about what had happened in the forest, asking about his mother made it extremely clear.

Well he couldn’t exactly expect Percy to be ready to talk about all of this now anyway.

“Amphitrite has been keeping her appraised of your condition.”

As far as he knew Amphitrite had only visited once in person but had sent some messages along to keep her aware of his condition as he improved.

Now would most likely be the one to tell her that Perseus was awake.

And thankfully doing well.

Well he glanced down at the hand that had been stung, mostly well anyway. The healer had been a bit tight lipped about why that was actually. But had assured him it would heal like everything else in time.

It would probably be a while before things went back to normal.

(If they even could go back to it at this point some part of him wonders. Even if they didn’t factor in there was a traitor demigod and father’s return. The sting alone had already begun changing things.)

“Don’t want to make her worry.”

“She would have worried regardless. That’s in a mother’s nature.”

Besides he doubts Amphitrite told her all of the details about what had happened. Just enough to understand why Perseus was now in Atlantis. And not at either the camp or in Manhattan.

If she had he had a feeling he would have been fielding more questions.

Poseidon ran a hand through the boy’s hair gently pushing some magic into the motion to encourage him to go back to sleep as he can see he’s starting to nod off now. “Sleep for now my son. You’ll feel better when you awake again.”

Poseidon remained in the infirmary for a few minutes more after Perseus had fallen back to sleep easily. Deciding the next best course of action with the new information.

He now knew who to blame for this.

Well mostly.

Luke being a name on its own isn’t much to go off admittedly. But there also were so many demigods in the world and even less than that would have been at Camp Half Blood at some point.

He doubted there were even fewer Lukes had disappeared from camp the same day Perseus had nearly died. In fact he was banking on at least one of them suspiciously disappearing being the lead to finding out who they needed to hold responsible.

He finally turned away from the infirmary. He would come by later to check again. But he had other things to attend to.

And not just his royal duties.

Chapter Text

Amphitrite is waiting for him when he returns to their quarters asking, “How is he?”

“Talking. He didn’t mention having any issues. But that might be something for the healers to catch in time.”

It had been a long time since they had a young mortal in the palace after all.

“I am surprised with everything else you weren’t there.”

“I figured it was best not to overwhelm the boy any more than he would be.” Amphitrite explained.

That wasn’t to say she would be completely avoiding him. She was still keeping Sally appraised of his condition. In order to properly do so, a proper visit to the infirmary was needed.

Just maybe not one right after her stepson had been under a spell for over a week.

And was in Atlantis for the first time.

That might be too much. 

“I need to go to Camp Half Blood.”

Amphitrite frowned for a brief moment before she understood what was going on. “Perseus was able to identify his attacker I take it?”

“Yes.”

“Do we know them?”

Though she was more asking if he did. It had been a while since she had been around demigods. So she wouldn’t know the person who had attacked the boy.

 Considering her husband still attended the biannual solstice meetings, there was a chance he had.

“If I have met him before I do not recognize the name.”

Which was entirely frustrating on its own.

Since that meant he couldn’t just go asking other possible family members as to where the boy had possibly gone off to. Since he didn’t know who the godly parent was.

(Well if they would even answer was another question. He might be the most protective and most would know not to cross his line.

But that didn’t mean there weren’t some other protective Gods.)

“You do realize whoever was behind it is most likely already long gone if he is smart?”

Poseidon was indeed aware of that already. “I know but I have to at least see if they might know where he could have gone.”

Luke was absent. Much to Poseidon’s annoyance.

He can’t say he’s surprised. If this is as intentional as expected and connected to the rest of the quest like he already suspects.

The boy was long in the wind if he was smart.

“Is it possible he went to his mortal mother?”

It was a slight shot in the dark since he understood very little about modern day relationships between demigods and their parents.

(Sally aside, being one example may or may not be representative of all of them. But it wasn’t like he would exactly know.

Not with Sally being his first mortal partner in a couple of decades. Let alone the first partner he had had a child with in even longer.)

Dionysus was the one to answer his question surprisingly. “I doubt it. Unless something changed. His mother is indisposed of.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at that choice in wording. “You mean deceased?”

Dionysus shook his head at that though. “No I mean indisposed. I am not sure what happened because Hermes only brought me in after and refused to share the details. Something messed with her mind so thoroughly even I couldn’t intervene on his request.”

Ah. So something must have happened involving the gods domain of madness.

Well at the very least that meant even if Luke had come to visit her again, she would not be able to tell him accurately. So that was almost certainly a dead end.

And might explain slightly why the boy had turned his back.

(Well other factors aside anyways.)

“For the record I don’t know where he went off too. Just because I don’t care for the demigods doesn’t mean I don’t listen in on their conversations. Kind of hard not to when you’re living among them. But the kid just up and left without any warning. ”

That was entirely fair.

“Why are you so desperate to find him anyway? He’s not one of your kids.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at that. Part of him feeling his interest in this should make it at least a bit obvious. 

“Because he is the one that nearly killed my son and stole the objects of power.”

Chiron is careful at masking his shock at the revelation about the thief. Poseidon could still see he was caught off guard by it.

(He wonders who the centaur thought might be the culprit before he decides it’s not important to know.)

The look on Dionysus’ face says he isn’t as surprised as Chiron however. Apparently his paying attention to the gossip as he had put it meant he had a better grasp on the boys attitude than the centaur did.

(For someone who claimed to not pay attention to the demigods or even care, he seemed to be doing more than at first glance in Poseidon’s opinion.

Then again it wasn’t like he was around Dionysus on a regular basis he supposes.

So maybe paying to the gossip didn’t require actually caring. 

Maybe he had picked up on something that Chiron had missed in the past week.

It was almost impossible to say at this point and again Poseidon didn’t really care about the logistics as long as it didn’t mean he had somehow endangered his son by not acting sooner.)

What it meant in terms of action or rather lack of action though was another thing for another time.

Finally after he finished, Chiron was the one to speak the answer of if they knew just where Luke had disappeared to. “No. Like it was said before, he disappeared suddenly from camp right at the end of summer session. As far as I know no one has heard from him since then.”

Well he knew this would most likely end up being a dead end. That didn’t stop the disappointment at the statement however.

If no one had realized they had a problem to begin with, that the two events were connected with each other, then they wouldn’t think much of not being able to contact the other boy.

“Though if he stole the objects of power than most likely-”

“He’s gone somewhere that will be sympathetic to the Titan Lord.” Poseidon finished with a cringe.

Where that was was a whole other question. His father’s remains should still be in Tartarus and somehow he doubted the thief had gone down there. He obviously wasn’t anywhere that would be favoring the gods normally like the camp.

More importantly, it meant that most likely they wouldn’t be able to find the traitor at this point. Until he was actually wanting to be found in some capacity.

Vengeance for nearly causing the death of his youngest, among other things in the past few months, was going to have to wait for now.

Chapter Text

When Percy woke up next time, it wasn’t his Dad around this time. But rather his stepmother.

“Lady Amphitrite. What do I owe the pleasure of a visit?”

(Thank the Gods his Mom had made sure that he was at least somewhat up to date on his Dads side of the family years ago. Or else things would have gotten increasingly difficult during his stay there.)

That sounded like the right thing to say right? It wasn’t like he was exactly raised on royal etiquette. Let alone whatever Ancient Greek royal etiquette looked like.

(Honestly he was just hoping for something half decent. It wasn’t like the camp had spent much time teaching etiquette on how to handle being around Gods.

Whether that was because they just assumed he would know or they had decided he wouldn’t ever need to know was a whole other matter.

Even though part of him thinks the quest thing could have gone better with something to work with.)

“Coming to see how you are doing myself. Before I pay a visit to your mother.”

Oh right Dad had said before she was the one keeping his Mom updated on how he was doing hadn’t she?

“Mainly tired. Which is weird after sleeping for the last week.”

Amphitrite frowned at that tilting her head in thought. “I always got the impression that is fairly normal after a near death experience for a mortal.”

“Hm. I wouldn’t know. The last couple of times I felt perfectly normal afterwards.”

Percy’s looking at the hand for a second. Not fully realizing what he is saying to her if he’s been honest.

Someone had traded out the slightly larger wraps for a simpler bandage while he was asleep apparently. He still couldn’t quiet see what was under the bandage to know what to expect.

But that had to be an improvement right?

He can almost hear the frown on her face even if he isn’t looking at her. “The last couple of times?”

Oh right.

She probably didn’t know about what had happened before.

“Yeah like after the encounter with the Echidna. It was scary in the moment but once I got pulled into the river by Dad.” Or at least he had assumed it was his dad behind that little stunt,“I felt fine.”

He hoped she wouldn’t really push the subject.

He really honestly didn’t want to talk about them if he had to. It was tiring talking about what had just happened.

Let alone drag up what had happened almost two to three months ago.

Well maybe if he got creative, he could avoid talking about them?

“Well at least this one will give you an interesting story along with it.” Amphitrite offered seeming to try and lighten the mood.

Honestly he could have done without the cool scar story. Though he has a feeling she’s saying that more to maybe cheer him up.

“I really could have gone without it though.”

He noticed the goddess was giving him an odd look at that. Seeming to be thinking something. Though he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Something wrong?”

“No…just remembering something.”

Well that seemed a bit ominous. 

Something she seemed to realize as well since she added. “Do not worry child. You are not in trouble. I swear. I just was noting something.”

That still didn’t really add to his confidence. Considering he didn’t know exactly what she was thinking on. But it didn’t seem like she was in the mood to expand on it right then.

Maybe it dealt with him being a forbidden child?

Sometimes he fully didn’t understand what the big deal of being a forbidden child was. He got the Gods had made the oath about it. But no one ever really seemed to explain why the oath was needed.

(Sure Annabeth had said it was because they apparently were too powerful. But if that was an issue than why had it only become a thing recently? Shouldn’t it have been a thing long before now?)

“Anyway my apologies on assuming that you would view it as a cool scar.”

“It’s not a problem?”

“Perseus.”

Sorry, it wasn’t his fault that this conversation had taking a confusing direction. Was this a gods thing to remember stuff and then apparently be cryptic about it?

It wasn’t like he would know considering the only other god he had ever been with for an extended time was Mr. D.

“It really isn’t I swear. Probably other kids would view it that way anyway.”

He just didn’t. And it wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know that all he felt about when he thought about the incident was hurt and betrayal. Since all he could think about was what had happened with Luke.

“No. I believe most probably would view it poorly considering what had happened.”

Whoops. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud apparently.

“Sorry.”

Honestly considering the way he had talked about Zeus before, this conversation was kind of hilarious if you thought about it long enough.

Then again he didn’t need to at least try to be polite to see his Dad with Zeus.

Then again his Dad did say the sea didn’t like to be restrained. So maybe he was overthinking this. It was a definite possibility considering part of him knew even now being in Atlantis wasn’t a guarantee he would get to see him more often.

Just that it made it any easier.

“You do not need to worry child. You will find I am not like some of my brethren when it comes to how I view my stepchildren. Or even their relationships with their father.”

Well that was a relief. Even if Percy wasn’t entirely sure he believed it.

But he could worry about it later. (And he definitely would he knew) He just was too tired to try and figure out if his stepmother was playing some kind of game of chess with him.

That would be a problem for future him.

Amphitrite stays a bit longer watching the boy sleep having fallen off shortly after their conversation concluded. Before slipping away back to her own quarters contemplating how the conversation had went.

It had gone unexpectedly. But not necessarily in a bad way.

(Well for the most part anyway.

There had been the odd comment about near death experiences from him. That had implied that this wasn’t nearly the first time something like this had happened.

She hadn’t forgotten entirely the conversation with the healer about some interesting things. While he had still been sleeping.)

The suggestion about the scar had been a combination of factors. One, trying to cheer the boy up slightly.

Two, most heroes tended to like to brag about where they got things from. 

While admittedly Perseus seemed younger than most demigod heroes she had encountered which probably played a contributing factor.

It was still such a contrast that she found it hard to completely ignore.

She supposed it could have something to do with the recovery. Maybe he hadn’t time to process or think of it another way.

But it could as easily be not that.

Since while he was doing better of course then when he had arrived. But it would still be a few days before he was released at least out of the infirmary. And into the more proper castle. 

And maybe that was affecting somewhat how he was responding to the situation at large.

But no, she knew already it wasn’t that entirely either.

Either way it was a mystery to dissect at another time as she started to see more of the boy.

For now she had another mortal to visit.

“Thank the gods he’s going to be alright.” were the first words out of Sally’s mouth as she finished updating her on how Percy was currently doing.

Admittedly this time around they hadn’t much to do with her stepsons recovery. Other than Poseidon bringing him to the palace in the first place she supposed.

It was almost entirely on the healer.

“Sorry I know you said Poseidon has the best healers looking after him…”

“You worry for him none the less.”

She honestly hadn’t even thought about how the sentence might sound at first. Understanding the sentiment.

 A lesser goddess might have taken offense at what might look like an offense towards their people. But Amphitrite could see it wasn’t about the questioning of their healers skills.

As much as it was about a worry about her son that any mother would have in their situation.

Any mother deserving of that title anyway.

“I understand. It may have been a while since I had a young one around. But I still remember at times what that worry was like.”

Or what its like even now.

Admittedly her now living children were immortal. So there weren’t many that she had to worry about losing. 

Especially in a time of relative peace.

But she could still sympathize with the mortal about the worry.

“Do you think he will be able to come home soon?”

“I am unsure but I am inclined to think no as of right now.” Amphitrite admitted. “While he is awake. The healer hasn’t fully released him from her care at this point and even then it could be a bit before he is cleared to come home.”

That wasn’t even starting on the fact that her husband was going to be even  more protective after finding out they didn’t know where the culprit behind the attack was.

(He had been looking all along the east coast it felt like so far. 

But as of the last time she had talked to him, every single one of them had resulted in dead ends. If anyone knew of the boy’s location they were as clueless or at the very least unwillingly to talk as the rest.

Which admittedly was a concern into itself since that could suggest more demigods that favored Kronos over the Gods.

At the very least it was something to consider later on.)

“I suppose it was too much to hope that much this soon. Especially considering I’m guessing Poseidon isn’t going to be letting him out of his sight soon.”

“You miss your son. Wanting to see him is rather understandable.”

Honestly all this discussion of missing children was making her miss her own daughters who she hadn’t seen in a while. Maybe she should take some time to pay them a visit after she was done here.

“Give it some days. I may be able to convince Poseidon to let you come for a brief visit at least.”

After all it probably would help improve the mood of Percy. As much as it would help his mother could be reasoned.

Though it would have to be short. Anything longer could risk more wrath from her brother in law if they found out what was happening.

But then again it seemed like they were disobeying enough of the ancient laws at this point.

What was more broken law to the tally now?

It was another couple of days before the healer finally relented to letting Percy move out of the infirmary after a few more check ins from Amphtrite.

(He was still surprised she had come to visit at all. All he knew about godly stepmothers really was based on the other members of the pantheon since there hadn’t been much on her on that.

None of that had proved to be fairly friendly.) 

He hadn’t seen as much of his Dad as he was expecting. It seemed like he was busy with something since the last time he had visited.

Part of him wondered if he was avoiding him for some strange reason. But then again he didn’t even know what actually avoiding him looked like for Poseidon.

After all up until now he hadn’t exactly been in his life.

So for all he knew this was normal for the God.

He could be just that busy.

Amphitrite could be the one paying the unusual amount of visits for all he knew.

“You’re almost set to go. Though there is something else we need to discuss before I release you from the infirmary.”

Great.

Almost nothing good ever seemed to come from that sentence in his experience.

Even less so when it came to anyone resembling a medical professional it felt like.

It turned out to be about Gabe.

Well sort of.

She of course didn’t actually know who his ex stepfather was. Only a few people on this side of things knew that. And he intended to keep it that way.

(It was already bad enough that Grover and Annabeth had seen the whole national tv incident had happened during the master bolt quest.)

It was more about apparently the consequences of having been around Gabe for as long as he had. Since he had managed to avoid his stepfather for a while thanks to boardings schools.

But that hadn’t always been the case.

His Mom had tried to keep him close for a long time after all. It was just when the options had started running low when he had ended up in a boarding school.

(He wasn’t even sure how his Mom had apparently found a school that didn’t seem to know his reputation. Let alone was close to home like she had this past time.

But he hadn’t been about to complain at the time.

He just hoped it was still an option after everything else that had happened.

Though knowing his luck that answer was no.)

Most of the time the threat of punching his lights out had been just that. A threat. But occasionally it had been more than a threat.

Which of course was what the healer had picked up on somehow.

Probably should have expected in hindsight. Of course supernatural healers would know a bit more than the doctors back home about what he had dealt with when it came to Gabe.

He had just been hoping to leave it in the past now that Gabe was a petrified statue in an art museum.

Since it wasn’t like Gabe could do anything to him at this point.

“He’s dead. Been dead for a couple of months now. Can’t do anything more to me or my Mom.” Percy said with a shrug. Hoping that she would just drop it if he told her that Gabe was dead. “I don’t even see why it’s important.”

Gabe was dead. He couldn’t hurt them anymore. Anything Gabe had done to him was now firmly in the past where it belonged. So why was the healer even bringing it up confused him.

“It doesn’t even brother me.”

It maybe occasionally tinged when storms came in. But it was honestly more of a nuisance than an actual problem in Percy’s eyes.

No reason to do anything that would definitely alert Poseidon to what had happened.

Well if he didn’t know already. 

The healer gives him a critical look at that. Obviously not believing that. “You swear that young lord?”

“Yea. Does my father know?”

“No I haven’t told anyone yet. You were here when this was discovered and thus away from whoever had caused it. So I didn’t feel the need to at the time-”

“Can we keep it that way?”

He wasn’t entirely sure what would happen if he found out. But at this point it really didn’t matter to Percy.

Gabe was gone. 

Any concern about what he could do or had done was far in the past. And he wanted to keep it that way. And that meant not telling anyone about it. 

The healer gave him another long look at that before giving a sigh. “Well if you say it really doesn’t bother you and that the source of this is no longer around. I suppose not.”

“Great.”

Eventually after even more testing he was told he would be finally let out of the infirmary in the morning.

Where he was going after that he wasn’t entirely certain. Part of him just wanted to go home.

However something told him it wouldn’t be that simple. Because Luke was still at large. 

Though to be honest Percy just didn’t fully understand what the big deal was.

It wasn’t even the first near death experience he had had in the past few months. Far from it even though he didn’t really like to think about anything about the quest.

Though he can’t say he’s technically been through worse. The closest maybe was the whole incident with Echidna and the Chimera.

But other than a brief scare on the arch it hadn’t felt like he was dying. It hadn’t even really freaked him out at the time!

(Or at least not until way later when he had made the mistake of thinking about it once.

That had nearly sent him spiraling. Until he had found something to distract himself with.

But Percy was just going to ignore that detail for the moment.)

This time around he probably wouldn’t get to ignore it like he had the last time.

For one he was in Atlantis. And as much as he didn’t like to think about it. The only reason he knew that he was even allowed here was because of the whole incident with the scorpion.

(Not even starting on the fact he wasn’t sure how his step family felt about this whole situation.

He hadn’t met Triton.

And while Amphitrite was polite when they had talked in the infirmary. Who knew what she would be like during more extended periods of time.)

Though even if he did get out of Atlantis and eventually go back home to his Mom…

While it had gone down in size considerably since the day of. The welt that he had gotten from the stinger hadn’t quite disappeared yet.

So he had a physical reminder of what had happened in more than one sense of the word.

This wasn’t going to be as easy to ignore as the last time. Though he was certainly going to try. 

He just hoped his Dad didn’t make him stay until they found Luke.

Percy had a feeling they would be waiting for a while if they did that.

Chapter Text

Percy is surprised when its Amphitrite who shows him his room. He had thought it was going to be some servant.

It’s a nice gesture even if he doesn’t get it.

(If Annabeth were here she probably would have some explanation behind it. But she wasn’t so all he could do was guess at this point.

Though he might call her to ask about it later since really he had no guesses.)

“I’ll admit, it isn’t decorated as much as we might normally have for someone associated so heavily with your father. That is partly due to the fact that we weren’t exactly expecting your father to bring you here.”

Honestly he just appreciates the room and not having to stay in the infirmary.

Besides, it was actually a really nice room in his opinion. Even if it was apparently ‘sparse directions’.

His room back when they had been forced to live with Gabe hadn’t been much either. Gabe had made quite sure of it since anytime Percy wasn’t home his stuff had been stuffed into the closet.

It never really had been decorated properly since the few times he had tried to do it as a kid. They had been quickly taken down.

After a certain point Percy just stopped trying.

(He wasn’t even sure if the space that had been labeled his room could even really be called that. But that’s what it technically had been. 

And unless they started counting the cabin back at camp, it was the only thing he had to compare to at the moment.)

But ‘a sparse guest room’ in Atlantis ran circles around it.

Not that he was going to tell her any of that.

Then again this was a royal palace so maybe that shouldn’t surprise him.

He wasn’t exactly going to tell his step mom any of this, about what he was comparing it to.

That would definitely bring up too many questions he didn’t want to answer.

Besides it was all in the past now.

There was no reason to keep bringing up a man that was dead. Even if he had made his life miserable for the time his Mom had been with him.

“It’s great. Thank you really.”

He receives a skeptical look at that and is briefly reminded of what the standards for mortal and immortal standards must be.

Or again maybe it was a royalty thing.

“Isn’t it against the ancient laws Chiron mentioned for me to be here?”

He’s a bit surprised that they’re letting him stay longer.

After all that was pretty much the explanation he had been given. Whenever it came to the question of why the gods never seemed to be around. 

Well obvious exceptions aside anyway.

Yet she was talking about decorating the room.

He would be here longer, however; the healer was going to insist on him being around before she gave him a full clean bill of health.

Though, honestly, part of him was surprised he hadn’t been taken back to his Mom yet now that he was awake.

“It is. But what is done is done at this point. What your Uncle doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

That seemed rather relaxed about it. More so than he was expecting from the goddess.

But he wasn’t going to complain even if he found it odd. Maybe it would make more sense later but Chiron had made a rather large deal about them. 

Here they were breaking them apparently.

“Besides we owe you for helping stop a war your grandfather nearly succeeded in starting. The least we could do was let you recover here.”

“Um…” Percy began in confusion. Not entirely sure how to phrase the multiple questions that brought to mind.

How did she know about Kronos if Zeus had basically said they wouldn’t be talking about it?

Had he changed his mind in the last few months?

Thankfully, Amphitrite seemed to sense the question. “He still declared the matter closed. And he can’t tell the rest of the council about it. But that didn’t stop your father from telling me about it.”

That actually made sense.

“Anywhere I need to be avoiding in the castle?” Percy asked, deciding to change the topic away from him being allowed to stay in Atlantis before he stumbled into something he probably didn’t want him here.

Though that question still might give him that admittedly…

“Not particularly at the moment. You're part of the royal family so you're allowed access to most places. If there is somewhere for some reason the guards will let you know.”

That made sense.

Though calling him part of the royal family caught him off guard. He was his Dads bastard child. He didn’t think he qualified for that.

But if Amphitrite said he did…

Maybe best to not question it, he decided.

“Where is Dad anyway?” Percy asked after a minute.

He still hadn’t really seen him since the day he woke up in the infirmary. At this point it felt like he was starting to avoid him on purpose.

“Ah I believe he has been off looking for the boy you identified as your attacker the last I checked.”

Percy blinked in surprise at that. He honestly hadn’t been expecting that.

Right this was the same god from the Odyssey.

And it may have been a while since he read his graphic novel copy of it. But he wasn’t going to be forgetting the whole ‘sinking a whole armada’ thing very soon.

Probably should have realized he would go looking for Luke.

The first thing Percy does after he is actually left alone is figure out how to send an Iris Message with the stone Amphitrite had shown him. Particularly to his Mom.

It takes a few attempts to figure out the stone. But he eventually gets it working. 

He’s sure others want to talk to him. He’s sure Annabeth has questions about what happened. If she had even seen what had happened.

But right now all he wants to do is talk to his Mom.

He hadn’t seen her in two months. Not since right after he returned the master bolt.

He was desperate to see her face again. Even if he wouldn’t be able to see her in person for who knew how long.

His mother’s face floods with relief when she sees him. “Percy thank goodness you're doing better. I’ve been worried.”

Percy frowned. “I thought Lady Amphitrite was keeping you up to date?”

Had his Dad been lying about that?

“Yes. Lady Amphitrite had mentioned they had finally released you from the infirmary.  I should be expecting to hear from you soon. But mothers will always worry Percy. Even if we know you’re supposed to be safe.”

That made more sense.

“How are you doing?”

“Okay I guess. The poison didn’t seem to do anything to me other than cause an annoying scar. Still feels weird to be here at times. Mainly I’m missing you.”

“I miss you too kiddo. I’m sure we will get to see each other soon. I can’t wait to show you the new place.”

Right. The new apartment he had only read about in the letters.

It still felt surreal after years of living with smelly Gabe to realize he was gone.

And his Mom actually had enough money to start doing things she had always dreamed of, but had never been able to do before.

“What about school?”

It wasn’t that he entirely cared about school. With his track record he would just kicked out eventually again.

At the rate things were going, it was hard to get emotionally invested in a place that never seemed to care about him.

But he knew he had been out for a while.

How long no one had told him quite yet.

He had a feeling it had been long enough to cause problems at the private school his mother had found for him.

Which sucked because finding a school willing to take him that was close to his Mom had always been a task of its own.

He hadn’t entirely missed the way his Mom had struggled with that over the years.

He wanted to at least try to make his Mom proud with his schooling. Even if it was most likely going to end up in some sort of dumpster fire like all of the previous years.

He couldn’t do that if he didn’t even attend the school.

His mom gave a sigh that told him that it wasn’t going to be good news before she even opened her mouth. “The principal already told me that you missed too much and won’t be allowed in this year. Though we are allowed to try again next year.”

“So homeschooling again then?”

“Probably. Unless I can find somewhere that can take you with late enrollment.”

Which was unlikely.

They both knew that.

That had to be a record. Kicked out of a school before he even got a chance to step foot onto its grounds.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Percy baby it’s not your fault.”

“I still feel like I should have known.”

Luke had spent time ranting about the Gods before. He had withdrawn himself to an extent after he returned from the quest.

But Percy had just excused it as him being busy at the time.

He hadn’t even begun to consider that Luke might be the actual lightning thief.

(Part of him had known part of the prophecy for the quest was still in effect.

That he still hadn’t been betrayed by a friend. 

But he had kept ignoring that part. Some part of him had hoped irrationally that the prophecy had been fulfilled somehow.

He had so few friends the idea of losing one to betrayal had hurt so much he hadn’t wanted to think about it.

And that he didn’t need to worry about it anymore.

It was stupid in hindsight.)

“You can’t predict what someone might do. Especially someone you only knew for a couple of months before that happened. People will know each other for years and still do things that catch them off guard.”

“That’s true I guess.” Percy reluctantly agreed. Even as doubts whirled in his head.

Maybe he should have realized it after Luke had kept avoiding him for the rest of the summer?

After all; that had come kind of out of nowhere and should have been a red flag in hindsight.

But he had been having too much fun just enjoying being a regular camp kid to think too deeply about it.

“So what now? I don’t think they’re going to let me out of here for a bit longer. That’s just going to compound certain other issues.”

“We’ve made homeschooling work before. We can make it work again.”

Percy frowned at that. That was true. Arguably it should be easier since they wouldn’t have Gabe breathing down his neck but that being said, “You’re taking college classes now.”

He didn’t want to burden his mother extra. Just because he had been attacked by a pit scorpion.

His Mom already went through so much with him.

He didn’t want to add to it.

Maybe as much as he wanted to stay with his Mom he should consider going back to camp?

But then again who knew how that worked? He honestly hadn’t paid too much attention to that information, having been far more interested in coming home if he was being honest.

She just shook her head though saying in a firm voice. “We’ll make it work. Maybe now that you’re older there are some options for you that weren’t available before.”

Percy wanted to argue about that. But he had a feeling they weren’t going to get anywhere tonight at least. So for now he just let it drop.

And moved onto other things.

Next order of business after getting off the Iris Message with his mother was to call Annabeth.

He tried to reach the Athena cabin but the message had come back empty. Meaning he assumed that she wasn’t there.

Now he wasn’t entirely sure where to start. The only other place he could think of was her Dads.

But when they had last talked about it, she didn’t seem that interested in returning to him.

Maybe she had changed her mind?

Sure enough the call actually connected this time. A relieved Annabeth was seeing through the message a moment later. “Percy! Good to see you, you idiot. You gave everyone quite a scare. Especially after dropping off the radar.”

Percy rubbed the back of his head at that. “Yeah I just got released from the infirmary earlier today. I’ve only had time to talk to Mom.”

“That must have been some nasty poison.”

“Pit scorpion.”

Annabeth’s eyes went wide at that. “Well that explains your Dad showing up definitely then.”

“You saw that?”

“I think most of the camp saw it.”

Oh boy.

That was going to be a not so fun conversation next summer.

“What even happened? The Stolls said they saw you going into the forest with Luke and the next thing you're stumbling into camp sans Luke being carried in by the dryads.”

He was going to have to thank them for the help next summer.

He wouldn’t have made it to help without them.

“I’ll tell you but fair warning: you’re not going to like this.”

Not with how close her and Luke had been anyway.

He had a feeling this revelation wasn’t going to be pretty to deal with.

There’s some silence after Percy finishes. Annabeth just seems to be thinking. 

 Percy isn’t entirely sure what to make of it. Half worrying that Annabeth would accuse him of lying about the whole thing. 

Though he isn’t entirely sure who else could have caused him to get stung.

Clarisse?

But as much as they now really didn’t get along after the fight with her Dad, there was a huge leap from that to wannabe murderer. 

He had never considered Luke capable of that either before a few weeks ago.

“Luke was always angry at the gods. Even when we were on the run he tended to vent to Thalia about them. I just never thought he would do anything beyond that.”

“Don’t blame you. There’s a huge difference between venting and doing what he did.”

It was quite a leap to be making from the Luke they had thought they had known.

“Still felt like I should have seen something.  He came back from the quest really changed. That should have been a sign something was up.”

“Again giant leap from changing from a quest to stealing a god’s object of power. If that happened every time, who knew what our quest would have looked like in the end?”

They technically probably had been walking around with one when they had went to retrieve Ares’ shield.

He honestly doesn’t know if the object of power was the shield or the sword he had seen in the fight. Or both.

It really didn’t matter though.

“True.” Annabeth said, cracking a small smile finally. “Are you really doing okay? I’m not going to deny you looked rough when Chiron got to you.”

“Yeah I felt rough. Getting poisoned by the chimera was no walk in the park, but the pit scorpion was ten times worse.”

There’s a small pause before Annabeth says, “When did you get poisoned by the Chimera?”

Whoops.

He had forgotten he hadn’t told her and Grover about that.

“At the arch.” No going back now. “Thing bit me in the leg while I was fighting it. It was all good though since the river removed the poison.”

Somehow.

He still wasn’t sure how that had worked.

“You should have said something.”

“Why? It was already healed and you two were already freaked out with the fall to begin with. It didn’t seem like something you needed to know.”

“What if the river hadn’t taken care of the poison completely?”

Well he would be dead in that case. He doesn’t say that to Annabeth. 

“I would have said something. But it did so it wasn’t a problem.”

Annabeth watches him for a moment before sighing. “Can’t really do anything about it now anyways. Though now I’m wondering why it didn’t have such an effect on the pit scorpion venom.”

“Strength maybe? Luke did say I had about sixty seconds. The chimera’s took longer. Dad kinda implied that too when we talked. Something about the sea being able to take care of most things but not everything.”

“Probably a good thing he brought you to Atlantis then. Chiron’s good but-”

“It would have been hard for him.”

“Definitely.”

Percy talks for a while longer after that. He wants to call Grover too but he didn’t even know where to start with him. There wasn’t really anyone else to talk to.

So he calls it a night at that point.

Tomorrow will be for exploring.

Chapter Text

While Percy had been settling into the castle. Poseidon meanwhile was dealing with the ever growing frustration of trying to find the demigod that had been responsible for the attack on his son.

As Dionysus had said, the attempt to locate him through his mother had been a complete dead end.

He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to the mortal women. Other than it appeared to involve the domain of prophecy from what little he could pick up in the visit.

But she hadn’t been lucid enough to tell him if the traitor had been by.

In the process of it all he had run into Hermes. Who apparently kept a watch on the mortal.

He hadn’t been exactly happy to find out about the camp incident to say the least.

Unfortunately in the process it became clear. Hermes had about as much clue to where the traitor had run off to as he did.

Which was basically to say none at all.

He would rather not come back empty handed. But he knows eventually he will have to return to Atlantis.

Amphitrite can hold down the fortress as the mortals say and could do it for an extended time.

But he didn’t want to put that much pressure on her on top of her other duties.

It would just breed resentment.

The next morning Percy starts exploring. Though he’s a bit careful about how he does it at first.

While Amphitrite had said he could go wherever he pleased within reason, previous experiences with adults not actually meaning the carte blanch when they said things like that had made him more reserved about the whole thing.

He guesses that’s what to be expected when you have a palace that is home to several gods after all.

He wasn’t entirely sure how much longer he would be allowed to visit Atlantis.

(No one had said anything to him directly about him staying here. Mostly just ignoring that entire event outside of checkups with the healer in charge of his care, Althia.

He had a feeling he knew what his Dads answer would be to that question.

But he isn’t sure if it would line up with everyone else's.

And he’s not entirely prepared to ask yet.)

So for now he tries to enjoy visiting his Dads palace.

 Who knew how long it would last?

Percy’s castle ventures eventually had ended up with him in what looked like a library of some kind. He had been about to turn around and swim out (He spent enough time struggling in class without subjecting him to it in his off time) when he realized his dyslexia wasn’t actually triggering normally.

He still didn’t quite understand what the book that had caught his attention was maybe about. He still wasn’t inclined to read it.

But if the title was any indicator, it would definitely be easier to read than English traditionally had been for him.

Maybe because of his Dad he was hard wired to read this language as well as Ancient Greek? Something to ask about at least.

A god that before now he had only read about in the mythology books, but the twin tails were a dead give away to his identity: Triton.

Not even a few minutes later it becomes quite apparent Triton does not like him being here. The library or the castle, probably both, Percy isn’t sure which one to be precise.

But the comment about coming here to deal with the aftermath of the attack is more than a bit too pointed.

 Percy manages to bite back a comment on how it wasn’t like he asked to be here in the first place.

He had fallen unconscious at Camp Half Blood and then woken up in Atlantis with no conversation in between.

He was trying really hard to not pick a fight with someone he knew he would lose to.

(Though that historically hadn’t always stopped him. He at least knew picking a fight with the god in his own domain was a very dumb idea.

No matter how angry the comments were making him.)

“I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask Dad to bring me here. I certainly didn’t ask to be betrayed by one of like three people who I considered my friend and left to die alone in the middle of the forest.”

While he appreciated it, it wasn’t like he could have told their dad to just leave him with Chiron. He had been too busy dying at the moment to talk to anyone.

Part of him still wondered why he hadn’t been left with Chiron. He seemed perfectly capable of healing from what he knew. He probably could have taken care of it.

It would have been fine.

Or maybe it wouldn’t have?

It wasn’t like anyone had told him anything about how pit scorpion venom worked.

It’s not like he had ever asked his Dad for help with Gabe. Once he actually knew he was alive and not just lost at sea anyway.

But he wasn’t about to say anything related to that to anyone outside the healer. Let alone a god who seemed to dislike him entirely on principle.

 Who knew how he might turn that on him.

“I don’t know if you know what being poisoned is like but feeling like you're on fire while barely being able to move as you can feel the venom reaching your heart is not exactly a pleasant experience.”

That last bit had been more from the Echidna experience. He had been far too tired to even notice it when the pit scorpion incident had happened.

Not that he was telling Triton that.

Percy notices for a second an almost imperceivable flinch from Triton at the comment. Well that was curious.

Instead of continuing the argument Triton swims off to another part of the library leaving Percy more than a bit confused.

That seemed like he knew what poisoning was like. Which Gods could even get poisoned?

He didn’t think that was something that was actually possible.

Triton’s reaction seemed to suggest otherwise.

Well as long as it got Triton to stop bothering him he could live with not knowing.

Eventually Triton leaves for parts unknown. The God hadn’t said anything else after their little conversation had reached a stalemate. 

Percy wasn’t entirely happy where it had ended. But he really didn’t feel like adding anything that remotely could be fuel to the fire that had been the argument.

So he had just ignored him.

After all it wasn’t like he needed to get along with him while he was there.

He would just have to try and avoid the God at all chances.

That shouldn’t be too hard right?

“We’ve had some…issues with your father’s other demigod children in the past. It has made both of us reluctant at times to be around them. Triton especially which has lead to him being very particular with who he chooses to interact that are mortals.” Amphitrite explains when he finally gets a chance to ask his stepmother about the confrontation in the library.

Percy in his opinion thinks this goes beyond just being particular.  Triton was just being outright hostile if anything in his eyes.

He’s glad he encountered him in the library and not somewhere with a sword or something. That might have gone a lot differently.

But Percy doesn’t say that. “And you’re not holding me by these other siblings.”

“No. I am preferring to try and get to know you myself rather than jumping to hasty conclusions first.”

“Thanks.”

Truly he already had one hostile family member he was going to have to deal with because of preformed conceptions about him. He didn’t need two of them.

“Though I must admit undertaking the quest for the bolt put you more favorably towards me to begin with. Then Triton will view it as this point.”

Some part of Percy felt guilty at her thinking that.

He wasn’t that good.

He was just a kid who had wanted his Mom. The quest had been a means to an end to do that.

“I mean, I don’t know about that. I went in looking for a way to get Mom back. Grover had mentioned there was a possibility she might still be alive.  I was more interested in seeing if I could do anything about that rather than trying to return the bolt.”

Maybe correcting his stepmother on why he had taken the quest wasn’t the smartest idea. But part of him feels like if he leaves it alone and she finds out about it later why he had been inclined to take the quest.

The response will be much worse.

However rather than getting mad at that Amphitrite hummed at that. “I would garner a lot of heroes have ulterior motives for going on a quest and usually ones that are far less noble. Though most won’t flat out admit it. Most usually go just for the glory.” 

Luke had said something like that before too.

“I didn’t want glory. Heck I didn’t even want a quest. I just wanted my Mom back.”

Amphitrite stares at him for a moment, almost seeming to be looking for something before she turns away. “Well you are certainly different in comparison to your siblings in that regard.”

Percy has a distinct feeling Amphitrite doesn’t entirely believe his claim. He really has no interest in getting even more involved in their world. Let alone go on quests for glory’s sake.

But as long she doesn’t take offense at what his ulterior motive for the original quest was he can live with it.

“I must ask though how did you get Triton to leave you alone? He can be rather persistent when he wants to be.”

“I might have mentioned what being poisoned for me was like because he kept insisting that somehow coming to Atlantis was my idea in some shape or form?”

Amphitrite’s eyes flash at that for a moment. And he’s worried that he said something wrong again. But all she says is. “Ah.”

Okay so there was definitely something there either he didn’t know. Or was forgetting about judging by that reaction.

Chapter Text

Amphitrite hadn’t planned on seeing Sally again after Percy was out of the infirmary. Unless something unexpected happened he should be able to get information to his mother on his own.

But as tense as Sally had been at some times, talking to someone outside the family without the expectations that came with her position was nice.

(It reminded her of why she did occasionally take her own mortal lovers. Even if she had absolutely no plans to pursue the mortal like that.

The woman’s life was complicated enough without having been involved romantically with two sea deities.)

“No not much has changed since last time. He has been released from the infirmary as you already know. And started looking around which lead to an argument with Triton.”

“Apologies about that.”

Amphitrite waves off the concern though. “I knew most likely that was going to happen. Triton can be…very particular with what mortals he interacts with. More so than most immortals and being put into a space with one that he doesn’t want to be near at the moment can cause both sides to butt heads.”

Though she has a feeling Triton will be avoiding him even more now.

She doesn’t think the boy meant to touch on a sensitive subject. He just seemed to be telling as it was.

Unfortunately for Triton that was bound to drag up memories of encounters with Polybotes.

Maybe it was best to sit Percy down and explain why the topic of poison can sometimes cause reactions with the family. Before he gets more of a response from Triton than simply being ignored.

“ Percy can be rather argumentative when he wants to be. It’s gotten him in trouble before with teachers and other kids.”

“That is always something that comes with children of the sea. Part of the lack of wishing to be restrained tends to apply to certain ideas as well.”

Which in hindsight…that might explain another family incident.

Telling a child of the sea to tone down their power usage. Well meaning or not wasn’t the best move by either her or Poseidon knowing how little children of the sea don’t like to be restrained.

It was well past time they tried to rectify that situation. It shouldn’t have taken her this long to realize the core of the issue.

But it wasn’t like she could go back and tell her younger self what the problem was.

Just work on the now.

Though whether she would be willing to talk after the last time was a whole other matter.

A couple of more days passed without incident. Triton seems to be ignoring Percy as much as Percy is ignoring him.

 He is perfectly fine with that.

“What’s the date anyway? I haven’t exactly had a chance to look at a calendar since I got here.”

“September 5th I believe on the land calendar most use. You’ve been here almost a month now.”

Percy blinked in surprise at that information. 

It hadn’t felt like it had been that long. Sure he knew it had to have been a while since his Mom had said he wouldn’t be allowed at Meriweather this year.

But nearly three weeks caught him off guard.

Guess he had been asleep longer than he realized.

“Just how long was I out for?”

“A little less than a week and a half. Healer Althia was taking no chances and admittedly it took a bit to brew the specific antivenom to the scorpion you were exposed to.”

That explained a number of things.

Including apparently how he had already been kicked out of a school. Before he even had stepped foot on said school ground.

After all there was a bunch of overlap between that and when he was supposed to be in school.

His birthday had come and past. He hadn’t even been awake to realize it.

“Is something the matter?”

“No just thinking about something that’s all.”

(Part of him had kinda realized it before then. After all he had been told he had been out for over a week. And of course most likely that meant he had slept through his birthday.

But it was another thing to have it confirmed.)

It wasn’t that big of a deal really. Birthdays had always been a small affair with his Mom. Gabe certainly wasn’t going to want to celebrate it. And before Grover he never had any friends to celebrate it.

So it wasn’t like he had missed that much by sleeping through it.

Besides who knew if Atlantean people even celebrated it.

There was always next year to celebrate anyway. Or maybe he and his Mom could do something after he went home finally.

Whenever that might end up happening.

Percy had discovered the training grounds pretty quickly after he had started exploring the castle grounds. But before now hadn’t made much use of it.

(The first couple of times he had been by he had seen Triton. And considering he was trying his hardest to avoid the God.

That also meant he couldn’t use the training grounds.

Unfortunately.)

He isn’t sure who retrieved Riptide from the camp. But he was grateful.

Since training with the sword was already proving difficult. Even as much as water was part of his element.

It still made the sword move differently.

(Or maybe this was some after effect of the scorpion sting that no one had told him about.

Though he was more inclined to think that wasn’t the case. As much as this was supposed to be his Dad’s element.

Water changed how things moved. And he had never spent so much time in it before. Let alone with a weapon.)

And that wasn’t starting on the fact that his arm still felt kinda funny after the scorpion incident.

Althia, his healer, had warned him that it might be a little while before he felt completely back to normal.

But everything had been feeling so good that he hadn’t even considered. That it might impact his sword training form until now.

Triton made a face that looked like he had swallowed a lemon at seeing him. But chose to ignore him rather than get into another argument or make him leave.

Rather opting for the other part of the arena that was furthest from Percy.

Fine.

That would work.

After all they had been technically in the same castle for weeks now. And had gotten by whatever issue Triton was holding onto.

By just ignoring one another outside the library incident.

This could work Percy reasoned as he swung the sword down. Only to do something not entirely right as pain shot through where the scar was making him drop Riptide.

As it was it just kind of floated there. Just past where his now seizing hand had dropped it.

It wasn’t so much the pain but the surprise that caused the reaction.

He hadn’t expected the scar to hurt when he tried to use the sword. It hadn’t bothered him before. Why was it a problem now?

Honestly the most surprising thing wasn’t even that. It was when Triton was suddenly right next to him. Somehow picking up on that something had happened. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know.”

This had never been a problem before. But then again it wasn’t like he had been stung on the hand by a scorpion before either.

“We’re taking you to Althia.”

Percy starts protesting this almost immediately. He hadn’t even been out of the infirmary a full week yet. He didn’t want to go back. “I’m sure it’s fine-”

“Let’s let her determine that.”

This honestly felt over the top ridiculous.

He hadn’t even hurt himself from what he can tell.

Just overused the hand probably.

It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Why was Triton of all people reacting like this?

Triton’s hovering honestly was almost as confusing. As was the fact that this had happened in the first place.

(For a God that seemed to hate him. And whom Amphitrite had told him to give him time before he might eventually warm up. 

This whole incident was sending very mixed very confusing signals.

Maybe it was a guilt thing? 

Like there was no way Triton would actually change his entire opinion on him over one little incident.

This had to be some weird guilt thing. Or worrying their Dad would somehow get mad at him for causing this.

He doubted he would get an answer out of Triton anyways.)

“Honestly it hurts more than anything. It doesn’t look like I did something funky.”

“Of course it hurts. You tried stretching the scar tissue far too soon and too much. And it was going to have consequences.”

“Sorry.” He muttered.

“I am not mad at you. I am mad at a certain someone else for provoking you.” She said her eyes flickered back to where he presumed Triton was hovering. 

Which was confirmed by the fact he could hear the God grumbling under his breath something Percy couldn’t quiet make out.

“It’s fine really.”

“Perseus-”

“He didn’t actually do anything though?”

Well he had made him more grumpy. But other than sulking at the other end of the arena he hadn’t done anything.

Though the skeptical look on the healers face tells him she doesn’t believe anything he’s saying.

(And considering the existence of Godly auras. He guesses it isn’t impossible Triton did have a hand in this even if he hadn’t said a word until he had overstretched said hand.)

Well its not like he can really do something to change her mind about this.

Hades have no fury like a healer scorned Triton was reminded as he got a rather lengthy lecture of his impact on demigods.

“I understand you have a strong dislike for demigods. I understand the reasoning behind it. But I ask you to not cause reactions to my patient almost died from a sting to his prominent hand.”

“I won’t do it again.”

Or at the very least he would be avoiding it. 

Though how he was going to pull that off without changing his own training schedule he wasn’t entirely sure. Percy seemed to show up places rather sporadically at times.

(Part of him knows thats not the demigods fault he doesn’t know his routine. 

He just got here. Of course he won’t know that.

But Triton still finds himself annoyed at the idea of having to change his schedule at all because of the demigod.

Even if it temporary.)

And while Triton had managed to avoid the demigod a lot.

They still did occasionally run into each other in an unavoidable place.

Like the training arena.

“I am not apologizing over this.”

It wasn’t like he had actually done anything.

Okay maybe he had executed his godly aura a little too much. Which may or may not have lead to the incident.

But he hadn’t done it intentionally.

She pinched her nose at that letting out a deep sigh. “Fine. Just don’t do this again or else I will get your mother involved.”

He did not feel guilty about this.

He did not.

Okay maybe a little.

After all even he had to admit this wasn’t his best moment if it was his aura that had caused this.

He did wonder how much of an issue this might become going forward if Perseus was this susceptible to auras. 

Since if Perseus was down on the training arena on a fairly regular basis. Than it was only a matter of time before they encountered each other again.

He was just going to have to be more careful.

Well at least he probably would only have to deal with this for another week or two hopefully.

“So how much longer until I can actually work on this issue?” Percy asks once Althia returns from talking to Triton.

If he wasn’t a demigod this would be a nuisance. But not a problem.

But he was a demigod.

And with that came the potential of monster attacks. 

And if he couldn’t use Riptide to properly defend himself. Because he couldn’t properly grasp it without some pain.

Than they were going to have a problem.

Admittedly this was something that could be taken care of back in Manhattan. But as weird as things were Percy had a feeling he wasn’t going to be allowed to go home.

Until the healer came him a full bill of health.

Which included dealing with this thing he had to think.

“That depends on how long it takes us to find a therapist who can help with this.”

“You don’t have one already?”

“No your father is careful with who he picks to work in the castle. And we haven’t needed someone with that specialty in a while.”

Great so just more things he had to wait on.

He seriously couldn’t catch a break it seemed.

At this rate it felt like it was going to be Christmas before he got to go home again.

Chapter Text

When Amphitrite had first offered to show him how to weave. Percy had hesitated. Not because it wasn’t a chance to maybe get to understand his stepmother better.

But because well weaving didn’t seem like a good with the level of ADHD he dealt with on a daily basis.

The activity definitely involved more energy use than he had expected that was for sure.

“Oh right I forgot to say this before. Thanks for keeping my Mom updated while everything is happening. I know I’m not an easy kid and she worries sometimes.”

A lot really.

At least they wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of Gabe anymore.

“You’re welcome though I was doing it since as a mother I understand what she must have been going through. Especially since no one was informing her of your condition before then.”

Percy frowned at that. “Chiron didn’t tell her anything?”

“No. I honestly wasn’t sure if he had the means to reach her to be honest.”

“He does from what I know. Or at least Grover knows and I think she mentioned a couple of people saying I should get sent to camp. And the only other person I can think of she could be talking about is Chiron.”

Amphitrite pursed her lips at that. And he had a feeling that she was thinking something rather non complementary about the centaur.

“I wonder why he chose not to contact her than.”

“I’m not sure.”

Honestly there was stuff looking back on now that he didn’t understand why Chiron had done it. Him not contacting his mother wasn’t even that big of a surprise all things considered.

“Chiron says and does stuff I don’t get at times. He’s a good camp leader. But sometimes-”

“You wonder if he is making the best decisions.”

Percy nodded at that. His mind flashing back to finding out apparently the only punishment for being maimed was no dessert.

Was that actually the case?

If Clarisse had injured him that badly and he hadn’t been able to get to the creek. Or worse if he had no healing abilities whatsoever. What would have happened?

Why had Chiron had made such a light punishment?

“I get I’m just a kid. And he’s thousands of years old so he has more wisdom than me.”

Amphitrite hummed at that in consideration. “Sometimes age doesn’t always bequeath the best wisdom. You can look at your uncle for a good example of that.”

“True.”

“Admittedly I would assume that he would be better since he has been a trainer for so long. But maybe being a good trainer doesn’t translate into other things as it should.” 

Maybe Chiron was overdue to have a discussion about his decision making skills Amphitrite thought.

Amphitrite examines the weave Percy started when he does leave. More out of curiosity than anything else.

It was sloppy work of course. The boy is a beginner and she wouldn’t have expected much else especially with the hand still not being back to normal.

But the neatness wasn’t the point of the lessons. The point was to try and get a better understanding of the boy while helping him casually stretch the injured hand. 

They still didn’t have someone who specialized in that in particular. But Althia had said that it should be safe enough to do. Until they did have someone. Without overextending himself.

And it wasn’t entirely about the practice. Though that was definitely part of it.

Perseus she had to admit was a better conversationalist than she had truly expected.

There was nothing really formal about it. And she hadn’t expected it. He hadn’t been raised in royalty so he wouldn’t know certain mannerisms.

Honestly she hadn’t been sure what to expect from him. When they had first started talking. The well known story of his fight with Ares seemed to suggest they might have some issues.

But so far none of that had occurred.

So she was starting to think his reaction was mostly because of Ares being himself. Rather than a godly thing.

Finding out the true reason behind the quest…well she can’t say it was unexpected. From what she has been able to gather from her conversations with Sally for a long time they’ve only been really had each other for support.

So him going on it to hopefully return his mother wasn’t a surprise.

Besides she had been sincere when she had said it was a good ulterior motive. Ulterior or not.

The boy again continued to surprise her at most turns.

Part of her wondered if or when he might end up disappointing her. As so many demigods had done in the past.

Though part of her hoped not.

It would be nice for once if things didn’t tend to go the way they seemed to always do with demigods.

“Your form is horrendous.”

Percy scowls at the comment from Triton. It wasn’t his fault that his form wasn’t great. He only had a week at most of training before he had been sent off after the master bolt.

And then when he got back Luke had started ignoring him when he had got back from the quest.

And since none of the other kids had felt comfortable training with a sword with him.

He had to make stuff up as he went along after that.

(And after everything that had happened with Ares and his kids he certainly wasn’t going to ask them to train with him. Even if they might have been willing too.

If for no other reason than an excuse to pulverize him.)

So to say the least his sword training was lackluster.

“What are you? Self-taught?”

“Mostly.” Percy admitted with a shrug.

No point denying it.

Triton blinked, staring at him for a moment before asking. “Seriously?”

“Yeah the only person who was willing to train me was Luke. And he started avoiding me after I came back from the quest for the master bolt.”

“I’m afraid I seem to have lost a piece of context here. Who exactly is this Luke and why exactly would he have started ignoring you after the quest?”

Oh right no one had probably told Triton the details of the day in the forest. And Triton definitely wouldn’t have asked about it.

“He was my former swordsmanship teacher at camp. Though after I got back from the quest he kind of stopped teaching me to be honest. Left me to learn on my own”

Which yeah in hindsight had been a red flag he had wanted to ignore at the time.

Triton frowns “That seems foolish to just stop training because of one successful quest.”

“Yeah well it probably wasn’t over the fact he thought I could make it on my own. He was probably avoiding me because it must have been hell of awkward to train the person that had thwarted his plans.”

“And you had no one else to teach you?”

“Not really? Most of the other kids were being taught by Luke. Chiron doesn’t really do swords. So I kinda had to make it up as I went along.”

Part of him wondered what they would do next year now that Luke was gone.

“That seems even more foolish.”

Percy just shrugged at that. Triton wasn’t wrong. Not having someone teaching him properly probably had been foolish.

But he hadn’t been entirely sure who to turn to when Luke had started ignoring him.

Luke was well liked at camp. And some of the other campers probably wouldn’t take to teaching him because of him avoiding Percy over some slight that didn’t even exist.

“Yeah well considering he was the one who set the scorpion on me. I don’t think he was that invested in my actual safety.”

Triton stared at him in clear disbelief. “Your teacher was the same person who left you to die via pit scorpion?”

“Yep.”

“And you didn’t see him stopping as some sort of red flag as for something else going on?”

Percy shrugged. “Look I was in denial. I knew the prophecy said someone who called me a friend would betray me. But I have so few friends at camp I couldn’t stop to think about it.”

If he had he might have become overly paranoid about the whole thing.

Which was just foolish in another way.

Eventually Percy collapses on top of his bed a few hours later. Arms a bit sore but as least doing better than it had when he had first started visiting the arena.

That had been both useful and confusing.

He had assumed that eventually Triton would get bored and swim away. Leaving him to practice on his own.

But he had stayed. Seeming to have taken some affront to the fact that Percy’s only other teacher was the one who had turned traitor. As an excuse to get him to better his form.

And it had been useful.

Maybe not friendly.

But useful at least.

His hand still felt weird when it had been stung. But at least this time it didn’t hurt.

So he saw that as an improvement.

He knew Althia had given Triton an earful after last time. And he guessed some of what was said had actually stuck with Triton. Since he had approached this an entirely different way this time.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of having Triton as a teacher. Since they still weren’t getting along. If he stuck around for longer than one lesson anyway.

But then again Luke had been the one teaching him before.

And he had been the one to nearly kill him.

So maybe he shouldn’t be so worried about Triton being the one to teach him. Since he might not like him.

At least Triton was honest about it.

Chapter Text

At a certain point, as much as Poseidon disliked admitting it, he had to give in and return to Atlantis.

“Any luck locating the traitor?” Amphitrite asks as he settles back into the castle. She’s fairly confident she already knows the answer. She would have heard some word before now, and her husband’s mood tipped in the direction of a lack of luck.

“No, everything came back with dead ends. The one lead I got from Dionysus didn’t go anywhere. If any of Father’s other minions are acting for him, they’re keeping it very low to the ground.” It had been a frustrating few days to say the very least. When the mother had turned into a dead end, he had tried checking other possible places. Even if some of them were unlikely, and now he was out of options.

When combined with how long he had already been away, meant he could waste no more time on a cold trail.

His son, back on land where the murderer was still at large, was not something he found comfort in. Even though he knew keeping him here was not an option.

That was more than what he was expecting, to be honest.

“How is he doing?”

“Well, all things considered. Althia has released him from the infirmary and he’s now settled into one of the guest rooms. Triton and him got off to a rocky start.”

“That’s to be expected.” Poseidon said with a sigh.

“Though I caught him training Percy in swordsmanship, so I’m not entirely sure now where things stand between them.”

Triton’s dislike for his demigod half siblings usually meant he avoided them when they were visiting. Let alone interact with them enough to be helping with training.

Just how had that happened?

“It’s especially surprising with how much those two got off on the wrong foot.”

“Oh?”

“There’s been a couple of relatively minor incidents. Nothing entirely troubling, but to say the least they both touched on rather sensitive subjects for the other.”

She really needed to have that conversation with Percy, before he got more of a reaction out of his brother even if unintentionally.

“I am not sure what caused the change. Maybe Triton is doing it out of spite. But so far I haven’t seen any complaints from Perseus about the new arrangement when he’s been learning weaving with me.”

“Well things certainly could be worse with those two.”

“True and as I mentioned I’ve been teaching him weaving, so I’ve begun to get to know him a bit as well.”

Poseidon frowns for a moment before it clicks. “The scar tissue.”

Amphitrite nodded. “Althia has still yet to find a suitable therapist, but she said it should be safe enough.”

Plus as she had said there was the added benefit of having time to actually get to know her stepson.

Though even after a couple of lessons with him, she still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the demigod. Learning to know him better rather than what she had come to expect when dealing with heroes.

The comment about not being in it for the glory had been surprising. Even if it had made some sense off the heels of finding out why he had been so inclined to go on a quest to the underworld to begin with.

At first she hadn’t believed him, had no real reason to believe him.

(Just because the motive of his quest had been noble, did not mean that it would be the case for any other quests he might end up going on.)

But the more she got to see of him, the more she got to understand him. The more she realized that there was probably some truth to it.

It was still a foreign concept with a demigod to her at least, but she was starting to realize she might need to treat Percy differently from other heroes that had come before him.

She was starting to make an effort to separate what she was used to from demigod heroes, and whatever Percy had going on.

A millennia of habit, however, wasn’t going to disappear overnight. At least she was trying. 

Something Triton still had yet to do. Even with the training, she wasn’t entirely sure if he would ever.

Things with Triton had been weird ever since he found out Percy was basically self taught. At least in Percy’s opinion.

The God still didn’t seem to like him. The glares had toned down quite a bit now, but Percy did not need him to be outright glaring to know he still wasn’t fond of him. In spite of still not liking him, Triton seemed to have made it his mission to teach Percy proper swordsmanship.

Which Percy was going to be honest now that the initial shock of the entire situation had worn off, he had had some reservations about.

His last swordman trainer had been Luke. Luke, someone thought he could trust. Luke, who left for dead with venom coursing through his veins.

He wasn’t even near ready to trust Triton. He was just putting up with the God because even knew he needed help.

(Triton's straightforward dislike of him was appreciated, though.)

When issues finally did arise during training, he was reluctant to even admit to what was going on

“Your form is off today.”

His wrist was acting up, not that he felt the need to tell Triton that. Thankfully, it wasn’t that bad. Just a bit more annoying than normal. Just enough to cause a problem. Certainly not enough to stop training, though. He had worked through it before. He would do so again.

“I’m just having an off day.” A part of Percy knew his own stubbornness was adding to the situation. Not being willing to tell Triton what was actually going on, but he did not want to think about how Triton would possibly hold it over his head at this point.

“An ‘off day’ usually means you're behind on your swings. Not favoring your non-dominant wrist.” 

He had hoped Triton hadn’t picked up on that, but the God was very perceptive when he wanted to be.

“I’ll be fine.” Percy wasn’t ready to tell anyone about the old injury. Let alone the God he had just barely started to know.

The only people that were currently aware of it were him and Althia, and he would very much like to keep it that way.

Besides, even if he did tell Triton the truth there wasn’t really any point to it. Unless the healers knew how to repair a nearly six year old injury that the doctors told him couldn't be fixed without some time and decent money. There was no point in getting worked up about it.

He would just learn to work around it, like he always had.

“Perseus I do not see the reason why you are so strongly opposed to getting your wrist checked out.” There was some of that old hostility in Triton's tone.

Great, there went any mood he had for training.

He wasn’t entirely sure what had set off his brother this time. Why he even seemed to care about this. Sure he had brought him to Althia back in the beginning, but it wasn’t like that was a regular thing.

He wasn’t going to stick around if the attitude was coming back. If the shift between them had been too good to be true.

He can figure it out another day when his wrist isn’t being a nuisance.

Well that could have gone better. Triton notes as his brother storms out of the training hall.

He doesn’t quite understand what caused that level of reaction.

Triton had been trying to be better with the demigod. Even if he wasn’t the most pleased about any part of this situation.

It wasn’t exactly the demigods fault that they had limited teachers, and his brother apparently had only ever received around a weeks worth of training.

That was entirely on someone at the camp as far as he could see.

It had been his own disapproval about the demigod's form that had won out over his general dislike of his half brother. That had lead to this entire situation after all.

He still wasn’t fond of the boy, and was pretty sure that wasn’t going to change anytime soon if ever.

But he had been trying to tone it down a notch when training him.

Apparently not enough though, if Perseus wasn’t going to admit to having an injury however.

Like his half brother could hide it all he wanted. Or try to at least. But as bad as his form was. Triton could still tell when there was a difference from what he was seeing normally.

And whatever had been going on today.

And surely Perseus must know he can tell the difference right?

So why even fight him on this?

Why was it such a difficult concept for the demigod. That actually going to a healer when injured was not a bad thing.

(There’s also some mild disappointment lingering in the confusion. That he won’t entirely admit to. 

This is the first time he had seen Perseus really behave anything like the old heroes. Or at least around him.

Maybe it had been a fool’s hope to think things would be different this time. After millennia of examples in the otherwise.

But he had let himself entertain it even if briefly.)

“Mother.”

She looks surprised to see him. Which considering he is back in the communal area earlier than normal. She probably is. “Triton. I thought you were still training with Perseus normally?”

“We were and then we got into a bit of an argument over something. So it ended up finishing earlier than normal.” That was the more polite way of phrasing what had happened at least. Deciding it was best to not linger on that for the moment he asked.  “Did father ever find the culprit?”

He assumed no because he should have heard something before now. He hadn’t had a chance to talk with him since returning the previous night. Between godly duties and Poseidon’s own pile of paperwork to get through since he was gone.

Though to return empty handed was rather unlike his father…

“No.” Amphitrite confirmed. “He tried to follow a few leads. But apparently every one of them came up as a dead end.”

“Figures.” Triton said. “You have weaving with Perseus later, correct?”

Though if something was wrong with his brother’s wrist. He wasn’t entirely sure he would show up.

“Yes.”

“Can you make sure he gets this back?” He said holding out the capped version of Riptide.

He’s not entirely sure why it hadn’t returned to its owner. Maybe because he had picked it up. Honestly it was just one more thing to deal with.

“He doesn’t normally leave that behind.” Amphitrite said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Must have been one argument.”

“I may have pushed some buttons of his that he didn’t appreciate being pushed. Though I don’t fully understand why.”

It was a wrist injury. Why was his brother so opposed to seeing a healer over this?

Why had he decided today to act like an older hero for the first time?

“Triton.”

“I didn’t mean to. I don’t even understand how I pressed the buttons to begin with.”

Mortals could be so confusing at times.

“Then what happened?”

“One of his wrists seemed to be causing problems. I tried to get him to visit a healer and well here we are.”

“Ah.” His mother frowned at that. “That is a bit of an unusual reaction from what I’ve seen so far.”

So he wasn’t the only one that thought it was odd.

“I would have chucked it up to heroes being heroes.” Especially in the olden times. “But so far-”

“He hasn’t entirely engaged in that sort of behavior.”

“Which is why this whole thing confuses me.”

“He may have been just having an off moment. He is a child at the end of the day. Things are bound to happen. I wouldn’t be too worried based on one incident.”

True.

“Could you at least make sure he is fine. The last thing he needs is a persistent injury considering everything else.”

The boy was already going to attract enough problems being at the center of the Great Prophecy. They did not need to be adding to it just because he was being stubborn.

“You are hoping I may be able to convince him to go?”

“You are on better terms with him.”

While he wasn’t entirely sure if they were what anyone would call close. He wasn’t entirely oblivious to the fact the demigod tended to be more relaxed when dealing with his mother than when he was dealing with him.

It honestly didn’t bother him. Mother could do what she wanted. And he didn’t need to fully get along with the demigod to work with him.

Though it could be a nuisance like it had been today.

“True. I’ll at least make sure he is receiving the proper treatment for that.”

That was all he could ask for really.

Chapter Text

Talking with his Dad about what had happened involving the scorpion and the sword. Was both nice and somehow weird at the same time.

And he wasn’t entirely sure if it was because they were having the conversation. Or because he wasn’t used to anyone caring enough outside of his Mom to do something like this.

Not that his Dad had found Luke. Which Percy honestly isn’t surprised by.

If that sword of his could really open a portal to just about anywhere. Then even if someone could find him. He probably wouldn’t stay there very long.

But even if he hadn’t found Luke there was something appreciated about the fact someone had tried to find him.

Since a few months ago he was pretty sure if this had happened. No one would have cared if he even lived. Let alone gone after the person who had nearly killed him.

The change to him was weird.

Nice.

But still weird.

Though it did bring up the topic of why now . After years of just being ignored. After seeing most of the camp being ignored by their godly parents. Why was this changing all of a sudden?

Poseidon sighed. “Your uncle has lashed out at others he considers a threat even if they aren’t currently one. I was afraid if I paid you any sort of attention it would get his attention and that would end badly. It has in the past with some of your half siblings and cousins.”

“Well that makes me glad that Uncle H took the long road with the fury I guess.”

That actually made sense.

“I’m sorry your uncle did what?”

Whoops. No one had told his Dad about the fury apparently.

“Sent a fury to spy on me for months at my last school because he thought I had stolen his helm?”

Poseidon massaged his head at that with a sigh. “What is with my brothers and thinking I would send someone to steal their objects of power.”

Percy just shrugs at that. He didn’t understand it either. He was just used to it by this point. Just because the stolen objects of power was on a whole different level. Didn’t mean he hadn’t been accused of doing something he hadn’t done before.

“And she didn’t do anything around you for months?”

“Well other than being a bad teacher, no.” Though that wasn’t exactly unique to Mrs. Dodds admittedly. “It wasn’t until I accidentally used my powers on a bully at school that was harassing Grover that she made a move.”

“This suggests your other uncle knew about you long before this whole mess started.”

“I dunno, maybe try talking to him? Things are bad enough that he just assumed he couldn’t tell anyone about his missing helm without it being used against him. That doesn’t seem good.”

“No it’s not.” Poseidon agreed with a sigh seeming to be considering something. Before ultimately switching topics. “I will say for the record I do wish I could have done things differently however no matter what the ancient laws dictate.”

“And yet we’re breaking one with me being here.”

He still didn’t fully understand what the difference between the past and now was. Everyone seemed to just go with he was already here and things were fine because of it.

But really what was the difference.

“Yes because of the fact your uncle is choosing to ignore the problem with father. It has opened some unexpected doors for us that would be closed otherwise.”

“Meaning…?”

“In order for your uncle to acknowledge the fact you were attacked and thus your current location. He would have to also acknowledge the fact there is a demigod working for Kronos. And thus also admit that father is rising.”

That actually made some sense.

“And because he won’t he can’t say I’m here because that means acknowledging everything else?” Percy finished. Earning a nod from his Dad.

Percy’s not entirely sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, time with Dad. Something he had always wanted even when he thought he wasn’t alive. On the other hand, ignoring the rising threat was also a bad idea.

“Do you think he’ll change his mind anytime soon?”

The other question of, will I need to leave Atlantis anytime soon, is unspoken but still lingers in the air. He wants his Mom and he wants New York. But also he isn’t quite ready entirely for some of this to end maybe.

Poseidon shook his head at that. “Your uncle can be a stubborn fool unfortunately. I doubt this will change anytime soon.”

“Most of the family is stubborn in some aspect. Though your brother is admittedly taking it to a whole new level.” Amphitrite said as she approached the two of them. “Triton wanted to make sure you got your sword back.”

Whoops, he must have been more agitated than he had realized. To leave Riptide behind.

Admittedly it should have just returned to his pocket. Maybe it hadn’t because Triton had been holding onto it?

“What exactly happened?”

“Wrist was bothering me. Triton wanted me to see a healer about it. But really it's fine I swear I don’t need to see a healer.”

“ Perseus.” Amphitrite says in exasperation.

“I mean it’s not like she can probably help with it. It’s an old injury. Years old at this point. It sometimes flares up over the stupidest things and it was doing that during the lesson.”

Amphitrite is still staring at him with narrowed eyes. “And you chose to ignore it?”

“Yeah because it wasn’t that bad. And if I stop everything the minute it gets mildly bothersome it's going to get old real fast.”

Seriously, he had learned to live with it years ago. It was fine. They just needed to stop worrying over something like this. Or else it was going to get old.

“Then why have you not had treatment for it before?”

“Because those kinds of things get expensive real fast back home. And we’ve never had a lot of money. So I just learned to live with it and never told Mom.”

About it or the other old injuries.

Though he suspects she already knows about the wrist one already.

But they had never actually talked about it.

“That doesn’t seem the wisest.” 

Percy just shrugged. He wasn’t entirely expecting a family of royal gods to understand the concept of what was too expensive. Let alone everything else that came with the topic 

His Dad frowned slightly, seeming to be thinking for a moment. “If one of the healers here could do something about it, would you be willing to do it?”

Percy frowned at that thought. “I don’t know, maybe?”

It would be nice to be free of having to deal with it. That he won’t deny. And it wasn’t like using mortal methods to fix it had gotten any easier or cheaper.

So magic might actually be his only option.

Though who knew if this was nearly as complicated to do with magic as it was with mortals. Maybe it was just a simple matter of a spell being cast. 

Though he had his doubts about it.

“Can I think on it?”

“Of course.”

“Poseidon, what were you thinking?”

“What?” He was thoroughly confused on what apparently now had upset Amphitrite.

“What were you thinking suggesting a healer heal that wrist? We don’t know if they can do that.”

Giving false hope to a child was just bad practice in Amphitrite’s opinion.

“No.” He agreed. “But if they can't, I have a backup plan.”

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at that. Already skeptical that whatever that plan was any more solid than the first plan. “Which is?”

“He mentioned how taking care of it is some expensive process right?” Amphitrite nodded slowly at the question. “Well Rhode does have enough investments in her own island that she has a fairly decent amount to her name in the mortal world.”

After all, it wasn't like Rhode needed the money to survive. Being a goddess and all that. It was just something that had helped keep her connected to the mortal realm and in people's minds.

He doesn’t know how much ‘expensive’ is by Percy’s standards.

But he is fairly sure she would cover it if they explained the situation.

“That might actually work.”

“I still would rather go with the healer of course.”

“Of course dear.”

After all, they had a built repertoire with Althia at this point. She had been working for them for centuries now. It was natural to defer to her first.

But at least if she somehow couldn’t fix the issue.

Then all might not be lost.

“No, it's doing better. Honestly most of the time it’s just a nuisance. Really.”

Him and Amphitrite were together for another lesson. And she had been asking if his wrist was better.

His Dad hadn’t come back to him about the suggestion again. So he wasn’t entirely sure where they stood now on what would happen. And honestly he had multiple questions about the whole thing even if they could do it.

He wonders how healing it might go. Like would this be an instant fix. Or something that had to be taken care of over a few weeks like humans did?

Meaning he wouldn’t be able to fight.

Could they even take that time off as a demigod?

(I mean he guessed in a way they did when they weren’t at camp. But they still had monsters to deal with outside of camp borders.

And in Atlantis he knew he was relatively safe. No monsters could breach the outer walls. So he had no one to worry about it here.

But he didn’t know how much longer he was going to be allowed to stay here.)

If the healers could even help with the situation to begin with.

Which would be whatever it was going to be.

He had been getting by for years now just dealing with it. He had handled it just fine in camp. Even if they couldn’t fix it for some reason. Then he would be fine without it.

“How did you injure it anyway?”

“I took a bad fall a few years ago during winter. Landed wrong, spraining it, and it just never been entirely the same since then.”

Amphitrite narrowed her eyes at that. “Must have been one bad fall to cause such issues years down the line.”

Nope. He still hadn’t told his Mom the truth about how Gabe had treated him. He certainly wasn’t going to tell his newly acquired stepmother about it. If he had it his way the only person who would ever know why he even had the injury. Would be him and Althia.

And technically Gabe for obvious reasons.

But he was dead so it didn’t really count.

It wasn’t his fault that Amphitrite was the first person to actually see through the lie that he had been spinning for years. 

Percy just shrugs at that, saying. “Like I said, it was a bad fall.”

The way she stares at him for a moment longer. Makes him think that she probably doesn’t believe him. And his mind is whirring through possible other excuses he could maybe use in its place. Though he doesn’t know if she’ll believe them either.

He had never had to make up another excuse before. So fabricating another lie had never been a problem before.

Amphitrite finally seems to drop it after a moment longer. Instead saying. “There is something else we need to discuss while we have you here.”

So apparently he wasn’t the only family member who had a history of bad experiences with poisons.

Whoops.

That definitely explained Triton’s reaction to him explaining what being poisoned was like. And probably why even during their occasional arguments while training Triton had just avoided the overall topic of the poisoning altogether.

With poison being instrumental to his family’s bane. The entire comment had probably hit in a way that he honestly hadn’t intended it to.

He had just been getting Triton to understand how it really hadn’t been his choice.

Not to hit a sore spot.

He probably should do more research on his Dad’s side of the family. Now that he actively seeing them in some sense so this doesn’t happen again.

“I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t. And I’m fairly sure he knows you didn’t or else he would have brought it up by now.”

Yeah that was definitely true considering how well the two were getting along at the moment.

Honestly in hindsight he’s surprised Triton hadn’t given some sort of biting retort back. 

Maybe he had been genuinely surprised at the details?

Eh it didn’t really matter he supposes.

It was just another thing with poison in its veins that he might have to deal with.

Great.

Meanwhile, Amphitrite was visiting Sally again. At some point along the lines even as their need had faded. She had come to enjoy the weekly chats. 

Their first meeting might have been under not the best circumstances that was to be sure. And the first couple of meetings after that as well had been slightly tense.

But as Perseus had improved so had the atmosphere of the meetings.

And at some point in the month and a half since this had all begun. Before Amphitrite had really realized it she had come to enjoy the conversations.

Even if something always seemed to be happening during them.

And Sally didn’t seem to mind the company.

So she still kept popping in.

Of course if things had happened normally. And Percy was in school she would be seeing him regularly. But being attacked by a monster because of a camper had shut that down fairly fast.

At least the school had refunded her the tuition Sally supposed. So she had it as a means to possibly pay for another school if they could find someone to take him.

(She really would rather not put them both through the stress of home schooling again.

While it should go better with Gabe no longer around. There had to be another solution.

She just hadn’t found it yet.

She was hoping that she couldn’t find something for the fall. Maybe she could find somewhere that would take him at the start of the spring semester. Once things had calmed down some and Percy was finally home.)

“I’m fairly certain he will visit soon enough to discuss just that. If not I will make sure to get on his case about it.”

“Thank you.”

“There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you about out of curiosity. Do you know how Perseus injured his wrist?”

The wrist hadn’t caused any direct problems since Percy and Triton’s argument. But curiosity about how it had occurred had made Amphitrite ask Sally.

Since it had become apparent Percy was only going to ever give vague answers for what had happened.

(Admittedly she wasn’t sure if Sally would know either. But it was worth asking a bit at least. It might give some insight into something she hadn’t thought of before.)

Sally gave her a surprised look. “You found out about it?”

“Him and Triton got into a bit of an argument. Because Triton wanted to get it checked out. And Perseus just simply wouldn’t. So yes to say the least.”

“Ah and to answer your question, no. It happened while I was at work. Percy wouldn’t tell me what happened and my ex was even less helpful on that front.”

“We didn’t have a lot of money for anything that was considered extraneous. And a lot of times when Percy was away my ex would convert his room into a space for him.”

Which ended up reminding Amphitrite about Poseidon’s other backup plan.

Hm maybe shopping with Rhodes would be a good idea in the future. Since then they probably could figure out how to convert drachma to mortal cash. It would be simpler to use her existing funds. 

“Sounds like there is a reason he is your ex.”

“There were several. I got by because I needed help protecting Percy from your world. But it certainly wasn’t easy to deal with.”

“Somehow I doubt based on what you said he would intentionally or willingly protect Percy.”

“He didn’t. It was more of a circumstance thing.”

Ah. So an unpleasant mortal in a very literal sense of the word then. Well it seemed to have worked, she supposed. Even if it didn’t have the best effects in other manners.

And it's not like Amphitrite can fully judge this situation anyway. Considering her own lack of experience there. Having the Oath sworn by her husband had changed quite a bit on how they might have handled things.

And as long as no one got hurt (though part of her did wonder about the wrist. There was no way to confirm it. Maybe it had been an accident. Even as part of her doubted that.). She supposes it works.

Though she really does hope that something doesn’t come out eventually showing otherwise.

Chapter Text

The first training session after their whole wrist argument is awkward to say the least.

Or at least more awkward than normal.

And Percy admittedly probably doesn’t help the situation he realizes. When he decides to apologize for poking the bear essentially by mentioning his poisoning.

(He doesn’t really need to apologize. He shouldn’t have to arguably. It wasn’t his fault no one had told him. And it was his trauma. 

But for the sake of leaving things not unsettled and being the bigger person he decided to anyway.

The last thing he needed was something like this hanging over their training.)

Triton gave him a long look for a moment and Percy wonders if he should have just kept his mouth shut before he finally says. “Mother told you about Polybotes, I take it?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like one can be expected to know of certain topics if one was never educated on it prior.”

Percy is fairly sure Triton just called him dumb in some roundabout way. But he really isn’t in the mood to try and read between the lines of what his half brother is saying.

“Though I must say since we are talking about this if you knew it had reached your heart I am surprised you lived long enough to receive aid.”

“That makes two of us. I honestly didn’t think I was going to wake up again. I wouldn’t have if the nymphs hadn’t found me and gotten me to Chiron.”

He had no clue how he had looked when Chiron had gotten to him. But he can’t imagine it had looked good. After all Luke had said he was only supposed to have sixty seconds to live.

He still wasn’t sure how he had made it to the Big House. Because he was fairly sure he had been over the sixty seconds by quite a bit.

“Yes about that. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. Can’t guarantee I’ll answer it though.”

Triton inclines his head at that. “Fair. Mother said when you were stung you didn’t reach out to father for help. Why? He would have come.”

True after all he had come without Percy even asking they both knew.

“Honestly it comes down to I’m just not used to even being able to reach him.”

Also he isn’t sure if anything he could have constructed while he was dying the second time could be construed as a prayer. The first time for sure. The second time? Not so much.

But Triton didn’t even know there were two incidents at this point. And he would rather keep it that way.

“Really?”

“Yeah look I spent the first twelve years of my life being told Dad was lost at sea. Not dead but lost at sea. Which to me was pretty close to the same thing. I’m not used to any of this yet.”

Triton tilted his head slightly at that. “Mother was right, you certainly are proving to be different from other demigods.”

Percy’s pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear that. But he just shrugs and says. “Yeah I’m starting to get the impression that I’m a bit different from the other heroes without intentionally trying.”

Triton tilts his head at him in a stare that is mixed with confusion and partial disbelief. “You're not trying?”

“No, just putting on an act like that would be exhausting. Besides, I'm used to people not always liking me for being me. I would rather the dislike be over that. Then over some lie.”

“That is fair. Though now knowing more I must ask now why you chose to take on the quest for the master bolt since it's not an act.” 

Well he had walked right into this one hadn’t he.

And he really didn’t want to elaborate. Just because Amphitrite had taken that bit well. Did not mean Triton would take it well.

When he doesn’t answer he sees Triton give a huff before muttering. “I knew it.”

Huh, Triton almost sounded disappointed. Now he is really wondering what the family history is.

Percy still hesitates but finally says. “I mean it’s probably not actually the reason you’re thinking. I went on the quest for the master bolt more wanting to get my Mom back than finding the bolt.”

Triton snaps his head back to stare at Percy in clear disbelief. “You went on the quest…because it would give you a chance to save your mother?”

The incredulousness in Triton’s tone matches the disbelief in his face. 

“Yep.”

“ Your mother.”

“Is that really so hard to believe?”

He’s surprised though rather than answering the question when Triton actually starts chuckling. “And here I thought-” Triton breaks off for a second. “Completely had that wrong. Nothing about glory, all about family.”

“Hey my Mom is a great person.”

Triton holds up a placating hand at that. “You misunderstand me brother. I have no doubts she is if you were willing to walk into the underworld for her. That’s not one many would do, demigods or not. It’s just in comparison to some of the other reasons we’ve heard. Yours is surprisingly noble.”

“Okay both you and Amphitrite had that same reaction to me telling you this. What gives?”

Maybe he was risking something happening by asking this. But at this point he really wanted to know what the deal was that had led to that reaction.

Triton raises an eyebrow at that. “Do you want a list of what other heroes have done, ranked by worst incident or in alphabetical order?”

That he was pretty sure was supposed to be sarcasm and not an actual suggestion. But… it wasn’t actually that bad of a suggestion.

Not to Percy at least.

“I mean…”

Triton gave him an exasperated look at that. “You can’t be serious.”

“Come on. All Amphitrite has told me is you guys had bad experiences with other heroes. Not what happened. And myths miss stuff sometimes.”

“If this is about trying to purely please us-”

“It’s not.” Well at least not entirely. It would help to know how to not set off the other two gods preferably. Especially since who knew how long he would be around. But it wasn’t the only incentive. “I just don’t like operating on only pieces of information when people seem to expect me to just flat out know everything for some reason.”

And with the way some of the conversations Triton had gone he definitely seemed to have that expectation at times.

Triton continues staring at him for a moment before saying something almost too quiet for Percy to hear. “Sometimes I forget that you’re just a child.”

What was that supposed to mean?

But before he can ask Triton he actually speaks up. “Truth be told, I'm not sure how good of an idea hearing some of the stories at your age are. Some of the things on the list are…rather unpleasant.”

Well that gives him some guesses already.

“Yeah I kinda guessed that if it made you two not want to be around heroes. And I’m twelve, not exactly a little kid anymore.”

“Twelve is still a child.”

Percy can’t help the pout at that. 

Triton sighs, seeming to consider something for a moment. “You truly want to know?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll see if I can’t talk to my mother about putting together an age appropriate list.”

“But-”

“I am not going to be the one responsible to have to explain to father if I gave you an uncensored list and somehow you get traumatized by it.”

Okay that was reasonable. Though-

“Is it really that bad?”

He knows that what he’s seen has to be toned down. Like Triton says he is twelve. His Mom wouldn’t be reading some of the worst parts of myths for the most part.

But that only makes him wonder just how much he doesn’t know.

If they were really as bad as Triton was implying…then his reservations about heroes made a lot more sense.

He might have had the same ones in Triton’s shoes.

“Yes. Some of the things…lets just say even with a watered down version. You most likely will not be looking at some heroes the same way again.”

That’s a warning and a challenge if Percy ever heard one.

“I would rather know the truth than keep believing whatever lie I read before.”

Triton gives him another look at that. Seeming to be thinking something before sighing. “Most likely what you’ve read isn’t entirely a lie. It just didn’t have all of the truth either.”

“I mean that’s not much better?”

It did make some more sense now that his Mom was always emphasizing the not all heroes are heroes. And not all monsters are monsters despite telling the stories in hindsight.

Since with the limited resources she had to definitely work around that narrative.

“True.”

“I mean you can’t exactly do better than the previous generation. If you don’t even know what the previous generation did wrong in the first place.”

It’s only after they’ve finished training that Percy realizes something.

That was the first semi reasonable conversation they had managed to actually have with each other since he woke up.

(He doesn’t usually count their conversations during training as talking usually. Most of the time they really aren’t talking. Except for the occasional thing. Like with the wrist augment. Or today apparently.)

Percy really hopes it won’t take another near death experience. Or talking about it to get on better terms with Triton.

He’s already had enough of those in the past few months.

Amphitrite had just about the same thoughts as her son on Percy’s request. Which is what he had figured.

“He wants a list of hero incidents.”

“Yes.”

“ Please tell me you tried to talk him out of this.”

“I tried, he just kept doubling down on it.”

A polite doubling down. But doubling down nonetheless.

Amphitrite gives a sigh at that. Rubbing her forehead slightly trying to think how to go about this.

“I will admit. He actually made a decent point during the conversation for giving him the list.”

“Which was?”

“You can’t exactly do better than the last generation. If you do not know what the last generation did wrong in the first place.”

…that was actually a valid point Amphitrite had to admit. While she had herself been trying to deconstruct a bit of what she was seeing from Perseus. Versus what they had dealt with some of the older heroes.

They couldn’t exactly expect a child to just know if they were in the wrong. If they never told them.

She still wasn’t sure about this. There’s a reason why some of these mythos were kept out of children's reach entirely.

And when they did show up you got an entirely off base difference like some of the most recent adaptations of their myths it felt like.

Heracules alone…

And he wasn’t the only hero whose bad side had been forgotten by the modern mortal media.

This was difficult with a child Perseus’ age. But it was a needed task she was realizing much like Triton already had.

Maybe running the list by Sally as well would help. She would have a better idea than the two of them what was actually age appropriate for mortal children.

“This will be a challenge. But I’ll find something if he truly wants it.”

Triton had yet to produce a list. Something about Amphitrite needing time to construct it and wanting to talk to his Mom before handing it over.

If the old stories were that unfriendly…

Like he had read some of them before. Usually in graphic novel versions. But he has a feeling that some things might have been left out to make it more easy to digest for kids.

“I’m not even really trying actively if we’re being honest. Or if I am trying I sure am not aware of it.”

He was just being himself.

Which apparently somehow was an improvement from other heroes.

It felt like they were talking about old heroes and comparisons a lot lately Percy mused. As he found himself in another talk about it with Triton.

The idea of him being an improvement was absolutely a wild concept to him. Considering the amount of things he had been called over the years.

Different circumstances or not.

The only person he could ever really remember calling him different as a good thing. Was his own mother.

“Sometimes beings put more effort into actually being horrid. Though that can have its own problems.”

“Yeah I know. I’ve definitely seen that in people before. People being bad isn’t exactly unique to the heroes you encountered. You know?”

“I am aware of that. Though for the most part I’ll admit I will have to take your word on that with land mortals. I wouldn’t have enough experience.”

“I am surprised you have any.”

“There are some exceptions or reasons I might encounter one. Mostly heroes but there are others. But it definitely isn’t something I make a regular habit of.”

“Makes sense.”

“Though if I may inquire in one question?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you seem so surprised that just being yourself is somehow not making things worse with mother and I?”

Percy hesitated for a moment looking for a way trying to think what to say. “It’s…complicated.”

“Complicated?” Triton repeats frowning.

Technically it probably really wasn’t too complicated Percy had to admit.

It just went back to the whole thing of most people being annoyed at best at him being just himself. The entire concept of that not happening with someone that wasn’t his mother.

Was just a foreign concept to him.

But he didn’t want to tell Triton that as part of him was scared that it would give Triton fuel to the fire of their arguments.

(Just because things were getting better between them. Just because they had been arguing less. Didn’t mean he trusted him to not do anything like that yet.)

But just like he had told Triton that it was unfair that he couldn’t be expected to be different from other heroes if he didn’t know what they were like. Triton couldn’t exactly know if he misstepped if he didn’t know what had been said before.

And yet part of him just wanted to be a hypocrite for one moment.

“Perseus.” Triton’s voice snaps him out of the confusing spiral that is trying to make a choice. “If you truly do not want to talk about it…”

…that felt unusually nice to not push the matter.

Maybe Triton was just as tired of arguing as he was?

Percy sighs. “I just feel like a hypocrite if I don’t tell you.”

“Why would-” Triton began in confusion only to cut off coming to the realization. “Because of the list.”

Percy nodded. “I know I should probably just say it. It’s only fair. But for you guys those heroes are in the ancient past. For me some of this is recent, really recent.”

Like within the last year. After all, the fury wasn’t the only bad teacher he had to deal with at Yancy.

Just the only one that had been a literal demon apparently. 

“Look, maybe at some point I can tell you why. But hypocrite or not I’m just not ready for that.”

He needed to know and trust Triton more than he did right now.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure if they would ever reach that point.

If this caused some set back with him then so be it. He didn’t want to talk about it.

Triton stares at him for a moment. And Percy can’t help but tense slightly. Fully expecting him to put up some kind of nasty stance over not telling him something. But all he says is. “Fine.”

Huh maybe Triton really was tired of all the arguing then.

He wasn’t going to question it though.

“Anyways since we are already on this topic of differences with ancient heroes. It should be noted that we might not be the first immortals you encounter that have a dislike for heroes.”

“Like?”

Triton considered something for a moment before answering. “Well it’s unlikely you’ll encounter them. But the Lieutenant for the Hunters of Artemis, Zoe Nightshade is another example. She had a rather bad falling out with Heracles due to his actions.”

“What happened? Or is this one of those not kid friendly things?”

“Most of the things with Heracles is not admittedly but this part can be shared. Though I take it you do not know the history of your sword?”

“No all Chiron told me was that it had a tragic history when he first gave it to me.”

“To say the least. So to simplify this. She gave Heracles assistance in one of his labors.”

Percy blinked, once then twice. He knows the myths aren’t entirely accurate. And he knows his Mom wouldn’t have given him anything but the kid friendly version of them. But-“I don’t remember hearing anything about that in any of the myths.”

“And thus you see part of the problem. Heracles never gave her credit for her assistance. Which would be bad enough as it is arguably. Before we add in the fact that she was banned from the Garden of the Hesperides and disowned by her family for assisting Heracles. To say the least she has a rather strong dislike for all male heroes due to this.”

“Yeah I can’t exactly blame her for that.”

If he had gotten kicked out of his home and family. For helping someone only to be just discarded like that. He probably would be angry at them too, maybe not the entire group that person fell under, But still angry.

“Also it does not help that Heracles as a whole is not entirely the best person.”

“Isn’t?”

“He achieved godhood. Don’t worry about it too much though you shouldn’t be encountering him.”

“How can you know that?”

“It deals with his domain.”

“ Triton I went to the underworld, remember?”

“Point taken. But this would be even outside of areas most demigods visit for quests.”

Alright Percy wasn’t entirely sure what about the subject that had his brother seeming to dodge why he wouldn’t be encountering the hero. But he could take a hint of dropping it when he saw it.

“Besides all of this I am not entirely one to judge your choice of going on a quest.”

“Really. Why?”

“I probably would have done the same if I were in your shoes. I love our father, do not misunderstand me. But I have always been in a way as you mortals put it I believe a ‘mama’s boy’.”

“Really?”

Well that was unexpected. Considering how much Triton looked like their father. He had completely pegged that wrong.

Well if Triton was at least trying to be open. Guess he should at least clarify the other thing.

“It’s an old wrist sprain.”

“Hm?”

“You were asking me the other day when we had that argument. About why my form was off. I sprained my wrist when I was a kid. It never quite healed right. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me. And I’ve learned to work around it. That day was just a bad day.”

Ah.

Well that explained why his brother had been so opposed to the whole healer visit at least in part. Old injury meant it wouldn’t be fixed overnight.

He wondered if his parents were aware of it.

Though there is some irony in the fact that this whole argument had been started about the thing he had been concerned about having already occurred.

This was progress of a sort.

Maybe not the one he had been expecting earlier. When he had inevitably let his brother drop whatever it was exactly that made him hard to believe that being different apparently normally worked against him.

(Triton is fairly sure whatever it is isn’t a demigod thing but a mortal thing. Either way it's a mystery for another time he has already decided.)

But progress nonetheless.

“Why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?”

Perseus just shrugged at that. “I don’t know. Stubbornness, old habits. I’ve gotten used to just dealing with it at this point. Drawing more attention to it wasn’t really going to do anything.”

Okay that wasn’t entirely unfair.

“Would the healers here be able to fix it? Or is it just past the point of that.”

“I’m not entirely sure. Dad said he would ask but if they’ve said yes they haven’t told me yet. I technically could have had it fixed in the human world. But there’s a lot of things going on there that make it pretty much impossible.”

“Such as?”

Perseus pauses for a moment, seeming to be considering something before answering. “Triton, I appreciate trying to be more friendly. Really. I appreciate the more openness and I’m trying to do the same. But there are some things I just don’t want to talk about. Some things that will all due respect you won’t understand.”

That seemed a bit presumptuous.

“I am a millennia old being Perseus-”

“Yeah and you’ve never lived on land. And your experience there You’ve definitely not dealt with some of the things I’ve seen. Trust me.”

Triton still wasn’t entirely sure what his brother was dead set on him not understanding. The only real difference he could think here was status-

Which actually would explain it he realized rather belatedly.

Perseus was considered a member of the royal family here. But on land as far as Triton was aware he was just some random commoner.

Which meant yeah he did have a point as much as Triton did not want to admit it.

Triton had never had to deal with being a commoner. He hadn’t been as unlucky enough to endure time as a mortal.

All he had known was royal immortal life.

“Fair enough.”

He still didn’t quite understand why this prevented his brother from getting his wrist fixed. All he can figure is some land commoner thing he doesn’t know about.

Maybe someday he will.

Maybe someday there won’t be this seemingly invisible barrier between him and his brother between them that he knew he was partially responsible for. When it came to certain topics. 

(Though he is at least partially responsible for that barrier. Moving past old habits tended to be difficult. 

And honestly until he knew his brother better. He was reluctant to completely let go of them.)

Since just as Perseus had yet to tell him things.

He had yet to tell him things as well.

And he wasn’t entirely sure if they would ever reach the breaching point of those topics.

Some things just weren’t ready to be talked about.

On that he agreed with Perseus with.

Chapter Text

Honestly even though he had asked for one. And Triton had talked a bit already about problematic heroes like Heracles. Percy hadn’t been entirely sure if he would be getting the list. 

They were gods after all and while Triton and Amphitrite did take time to teach him. He knew knowing more about heroes had to be fairly low on the priority list.

Plus some things he could probably have figured out on his own. Or wouldn’t have been something he would have done anyway.

(He can’t imagine not giving credit to his friends for their help on the quest. But then again he isn’t Heracles.)

But knowing the truth versus what was constantly being told was the truth. Was greatly appreciated. 

And maybe he could use this next summer to correct some misinformation along the way as well.

“We haven’t had children around the palace in a while so it’s been some time since we had to consider age appropriateness. Plus I figured your mother would know best what you still needed to be told. That’s why this took as long as it did.” Amphitrite explained as he continued flipping through the folder.

That explained it being in English he supposed. Honestly part of him expected it to be in Greek. But even with lessons at camp from Annabeth that still wasn’t the best.

And for once this was actually in a font style that didn’t make his dyslexia hurt. So his Mom probably had custom made the papers along with sorting through Amphitrite’s list and stories. 

He would have to remember to thank his Mom about it later when they talked over Iris Message. Since he’s pretty sure Atlantis had never heard of different font types. Even if most of the books he had encountered so far seemed like he could have some basic understanding of it.

“There’s a lot here.”

Not that he wasn’t expecting it to be a thin list. The way Triton talked told him that was pretty much impossible.

“And that’s only a fraction of it. Theseus could be his own folder arguably.”

And again that was before they got into the non child friendly aspects of that hero. If they included all of those that could be its own book.

In fact she was fairly sure there were books about the former Greek hero turned king.

Most of the old hero's truths could be if she was being honest.

Though how much the mortals knew about the truth was a whole other matter. After all, certain myths did spread in time. Some never made it outside of certain locations.

“That bad?”

Amphitrite nodded to the question. Among other things she had hoped to maybe regift it to his son when he was old enough. However the fates had other plans on that front. Theseus’ life and the people around him had ended very differently than it had begun.

That much was for certain.

“He wasn’t always.” A look comes across Amphitrite’s face that almost looks like grief to Percy. He guesses losing the version for Theseus that she had apparently cared for hurt as much as losing the hero himself. “However, being in a position of power changed him. And not for the better.”

“Honestly I’m surprised Odysseus isn't in his own folder.”

“There was definitely a consideration of that.” Amphitrite admitted after a moment. “Though your mother gave me the impression that you were fairly well informed on his story already.”

And while they could add to it. Most of the feud was already public knowledge. And had been something Perseus had already been told according to Sally.

Ironically the hero that you would think would take up the most room in the folder. Is the one they really had nothing else to add on. He was still in the folder. 

But more as a reminder of what the family history was. And just to make sure Perseus knew all of the details there. Since she had no way of knowing how much that version he had read had covered.

“Yeah I read a more kid friendly graphic novel version of the Odyssey a while back. I know Dad’s whole opinion on him.”

It wasn’t something he would easily forget. After all it was the thing that tended to spring to mind most. When his Dad’s protective side came to mind.

Well he had the folder at least. Just reading it might just take a minute.

The folder was a bit intimidating to go through, Percy had to admit. 

There was a lot of information.

(At least it wasn’t like he was going to be tested on this. So there was no need to rush it really. Plus the dyslexia…well even with the friendly font it was still going to take time. 

Just to maybe keep in mind the longer he didn’t know something. The longer he still might not understand certain reactions.

Even if he still isn’t entirely sure if he will ever understand Triton at the end of the day.)

And he was still trying to process what he had been through in the couple of days since receiving the folder. But from what he can tell dealing with Theseus’ turn probably had been a turning point for his stepmother.

Which did make sense admittedly.

He was now fairly confident that what he had seen on Amphitrite’s face during their conversation was some kind of grief. And reading through what had happened he actually does understand why.

The Theseus that had been king and the one that had been hero were almost total opposites.

Almost.

Since the Ariadne thing still had happened. And probably was a hint at what Theseus would eventually become in the end.

Triton’s turning point he wasn’t as clear on. Or at least not yet. Maybe it dealt with taking the slights against his mother on a deeper level?

But even that didn’t seem entirely right.

Admittedly like his stepmother had said. Theseus could be his own folder. And part of him wonders if Theseus might have had an impact on Triton as well. And that was the things he wasn’t allowed to know about until he was older.

(Which boy that was going to be interesting to learn about once that happened eventually.) 

There was a note from Triton at the top about not mentioning Theseus around Dionysus. Not unless he apparently wanted a long rant about heroes. Apparently the god was the only person that bringing up Theseus around was worse then his stepmother.

(And honestly considering what he had read about the Ariadne incident…well for once he actually agreed with Mr. D. on something. Particularly about being angry at the old hero.

Leaving her like that just wasn’t right.)

There were a few notes like that in the folder. Warning of who just to not mention around certain deities unless he wanted to provoke their wrath.

If they brought it up was one thing. But only if they brought it up.

Heracles also had several ‘do not mentions’ on his part. Including the huntress Triton had told him about before.

And that was just what he had made it through so far. Yet there was so much here that he had to wonder how they had even managed to get from what apparently had actually happened. To what people tended to tell now adays.

(He knows the whole thing of history tending to be written by the victors, or in this case, the heroes. But still the disconnection is impressive.)

Maybe something to ask either members of his stepfamily if they were willing to answer? Admittedly they hadn’t said they wouldn’t answer his questions. But they hadn’t flat out told him no either…

So maybe there was some hope there?

“So have you been reading the folder mother gave you?” 

Mother had given him a copy of the folder she had given Percy. Wanting to make sure they were on the same page as to what was appropriate to actually mention around the demigod.

And what they needed to be avoiding until he was at least a bit older.

(Of course there was a chance that he would find this all out on his own anyway. But at least with this they weren’t going to expand into certain territories.)

He would rather have not read any of this over again or even skimmed it over like he had. He had already lived through dealing with these mortals once. He did not need to be reminded of their actions a second time.

But he did if only because if he said the wrong thing he would never hear the end of it from his mother.

“Yeah though, why do you care if I am?”

Admittedly it had been Triton’s suggestion that had gotten this whole thing rolling. And Percy had been hoping he could maybe answer some of his questions.

But he also hadn’t expected Triton to actually question whether he was reading the folder.

Triton shrugged. “Call it curiosity about how you are processing it I suppose. It’s not often that many would be presented with this kind of information on a grand scale.”

Okay that was fair.

“It’s been a lot sometimes. I can’t read it quickly as it is but even if I could. I knew Theseus was going to be bad when Amphitrite said he could be his own folder but…”

“You weren’t expecting it to be quiet at that level?”

“Yeah. Heracles I was expecting to be honest. After you told me about the Lieutenant and all that. Theseus caught me a bit more off guard. Especially since he isn’t talked about in modern media as much as the former.”

Ah. That was reasonable, Triton had to admit.

“I am not entirely sure how Theseus managed to escape that treatment.” 

Though he had some theories he would admit.

Maybe it just dealt with the demigods story being less interesting in comparison to Hercules. Not that heroic feats were probably boring to mortals.

Just on a different level of entertainment he had to assume.

“You probably won’t be too surprised to hear this. But Theseus managed to get on the bad side of most of the council. Which is rather impressive in a bad way in hindsight.”

Admittedly getting on the bad side of the council wasn’t unique to Theseus. It certainly had happened with others in the past, Tantalus being a prime example of that.

But usually most heroes managed to stay on at least one or two gods good side. And Triton was fairly certain by the end even the ones who hadn’t as vehemently disliked him. Were quiet done with the hero turned king.

“Really?”

“You’ll read about it if you haven’t already. But it started with what happened with Ariadne for Dionysus. And just continued to evolve from there.”

“Yeah I saw your note warning me about bringing him up around Dionysus. Thanks for that by the way.”

“It seemed pertinent considering Dionysus’ role at the camp. While Father is most known for his protectiveness of his children. Dionysus can be as well of those he view as family of which Ariadne is.”

Percy was more than a bit surprised to find this out. But then again it wasn’t like he had spent much time around the twins last summer. And he hadn’t had any real motivation to get close to the wine god for multiple reasons.

“He always just seemed cranky when he was at camp.”

Triton gave a thoughtful humming noise at that. “He probably isn’t enjoying it considering he is cut off from his main domain. That can be unpleasant at best to say the least. However, considering most Gods wouldn’t be allowed near their children normally.”

“He’s probably taking some advantage of it?”

“Most likely. You just most likely aren’t seeing it.”

Okay that was fair. Especially since he didn’t know the twins all that well. Maybe something to fix next summer.

”Would getting to know the twins help?”

”Are you trying to get on his good side.”

”Not really. Mr. D and one of his domains I haven’t had the best encounters with. And well it took a while for things to quiet down after Dad claimed me. By then I had already become content in my friend group at the time. So approaching the twins just never occurred to me.”

”Ah.”

”I wasn’t trying to avoid them on purpose. It just kind of happened.” Which admittedly was not a good excuse.

And to be honest he wasn’t sure if he would approach the twins next summer. But he wasn’t completely dismissing it. With Grover gone and Luke…that. The only real friend at camp he had left with Annabeth.

Who was great but she still had her own things to do. Making more friends would be nice. Even if he still worried about it blowing up in his face.

”Why change now then?”

Percy just shrugged in uncertainty. Not entirely sure if he wanted to explain just how lonely last summer had been at points. 

Thankfully Triton doesn’t push it. “I am honestly not sure how he would react. He might view it as something else other then your intentions, even if it's genuine. He does not have a lot of faith in male heroes after what Theseus did.”

“Good to know.”

“I’m surprised you included anything about Heracles on the list. Like I get he’s the easiest to counter it but man even the kid friendly stuff is messed up.”

It was kind of impressive that the only major god he knew of that hadn’t managed to get in bad graces with the god was Hades. And that was because the hero may have been foolish.

But he wasn’t foolish enough to mess with Cerberus.

That would have been a death sentence.

Percy wonders how the other gods put up with the hero. Since apparently now they were stuck with him for eternity. Because of Zeus elevating him after his death.

He can’t imagine it was a popular choice.

“Again that is more because of the huntress you may or may not encounter.”

“Because he didn’t give her credit.”

“Correct. And you are more than likely going to have a conversation with her about it due to the nature of wielding Anaklusmos.”

“Riptide? What does it have to do with her and Heracles?”

Triton stared at him for a moment. “Please tell me Chiron informed you of the sword’s history.”

Admittedly the story should also be in the folder. Since that was tame enough for children he was fairly sure. So he was just going to assume his brother hadn’t gotten to it yet.

(He had only had the folder for a day or two. Triton wasn’t going to be unreasonable in thinking that he had read all of them. Let alone could remember all of them at this point.

That would take more time.)

“All he said was it had a long and tragic history. And that we didn’t have time to go into it because he gave it to me right before leaving on the quest. Though he never did expand on it.”

“Of course he did.” Triton muttered, pinching his nose.

“Sorry?”

Though it wasn’t like Triton had told him either.

“I’m not mad at you, I'm annoyed with him. He should have told you this after the quest's conclusion. Should have maybe told you sooner arguably but that’s another topic entirely.”

Even if the likelihood of his brother encountering the huntress was low. It was not impossible. Especially on a quest that had him going from one end of the country to another.

And yet his brother had never been taught its history.

“Anaklusmos was the weapon she gave to Heracles prior to him completing the labor of stealing a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides.”

“So the whole reason he even succeeded in that labor was because of a sword she gave him? That no one ever said who it was from?”

“Correct.”

Okay Percy knew the lack of credit was bad. But this felt like a whole new level of information. He had thought maybe he had gotten some major help. But he hadn’t thought it was on the level of ‘He wouldn’t have succeeded.’

That’s a different level of messed up.

“Does no one really know what actually happened?”

“It depends on what circles you're in. I’m fairly sure Artemis and the hunters are aware of the proper story. Much of Atlantis knows the truth. Outside of those circles however I’m not sure.”

“I’m guessing not considering I only just found out about this.”

“Probably.”

“Well I can see why she is mad. Even before the whole banishing thing. Should I consider returning it if I do run into her?”

“Do you want to?”

“I don’t know. I tried other swords at camp and they never felt quite right. Riptide always worked for me. Do you think she will ask for it back?”

Well it is a blade of the sea at the end of the day Triton supposed. It would make sense a demigod of their father would gravitate towards that. 

Though that might mean they would have to look in another armory to find a replacement if he ever needed one.

“It’s unlikely. She has long since moved onto other weapons. But you may have to defend your choice in using it.”

“That makes sense.”

“I don’t get how some of these even classify as heroes.”

Unlike with Amphitrite and Triton they hadn’t exactly started doing lessons. But Poseidon was obviously trying to some extent. Though it was a bit obvious neither of them were entirely sure what to do at this point.

They definitely didn’t match what he would have thought of them as such. And now he was starting to understand even better what his Mom had always said growing up.

‘Not all heroes are heroes and not all monsters are monsters’

She had always put so much stress on it. And he had seen some of it when he had read the graphic novel version of the Odyssey when he was younger. And he definitely had seen it on full display last summer when Luke had turned traitor. And even more so with the folder since some of these definitely didn’t deserve to even remotely be called a hero in his opinion.

Even by the loosest definition.

And apparently this was the kids friendly version.

That was still something even after a few days he was having a hard time wrapping his head around. Like he always knew Greek stories were riddled with all sorts of bad things.

Mom while she had been careful of what he had been told growing up. Had always tried to tell the stories within reason. And he wasn’t sure if the information she hadn’t mentioned before was both from other people not knowing.

(Like with Heracles and the Lieutenant.)

Or she had been waiting until she got older to tell some of them.

Because some of them he had known. Just maybe not to the full extent it was described in.

Which was shifting a world view that he honestly had thought he had a fairly good understanding on up until now.

“Modern times has definitely warped what makes a hero a hero. Into almost an entirely good thing. Ancient times tended to be more complex and thus how heroes behaved tended to be different.”

That actually made sense. He remembered someone telling him once that words and their meanings could change with time. And he guesses what makes a person a certain kind of person would also naturally change as the times did.

And well he had enough lessons with Annabeth to realize how different Ancient Greece was.

“That makes sense I guess. Explains what Mom was always saying to say the least about not every hero is always a hero. And I saw that first hand with Luke.”

Since he had very much been a hero. In his and other people's eyes. Right up until he tried to kill him. 

His Dad scowled at the mention of the other boy. “I still wish I could have found that boy.”

“I don’t know even if you had managed to find him you would have been able to get him. His sword could make portals.” Percy offered.

Well he had been fairly out of it during that conversation. So it made sense he had forgotten to mention it.

And a lot of other things had been going on during their second conversation in Atlantis. So mentioning it had slipped his mind.

“Sorry?”

“I am not mad at you.”

He couldn’t entirely blame his son for not remembering every detail from the standoff. And maybe if he had waited a little longer to track down the traitor he would have gotten better information.

But angry he wasn’t. Maybe a bit of frustration at his own lack of foresight though.

“This is a Kronos thing again isn’t it?”

“Yes it unfortunately is. He is the titan of time which means he and objects associated with him can do things most would not.”

“Including creating a portal?”

“Especially creating a portal.”

That had been a particularly frustrating thing to deal with during the Titanomachy. Which raised another concern. Was his father already regaining enough strength?? That a prototype of the scythe was already in existence?

(Not for the first time he cursed the fact that Zeus just wanted to ignore the problem. Whether it came with its own unexpected benefits. Ignoring it was still a problem that he wished his brother wouldn’t participate in.)

“I mean he has to have some sort of limits right? Or else he could just show up anywhere?”

A lot of things had changed since the last time his father had been around. Which should also impact how he would interact conceivable. But then again maybe not.

“Can you tell me anything else about what happened with the traitor?”

While he doubted that Percy was told anything that might end up being actually useful. Beyond now knowing about the potential proto scythe was in existence. But it was still worth asking about.

And anything useful was needed at this point.

Chapter Text

“I’m more surprised that this isn’t somehow breaking some kind of Ancient Law.”

Oh it definitely was. Percy was well aware of that.

But he wasn’t going to tell Annabeth that. At least not without having talked to Dad about it first. Since probably mentioning the fact they were just ignoring Ancient Laws. Even to a close friend. Probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go with.

(Though part of him suspected she probably already knew they weren’t in compliance with the Ancient Laws. But neither of them were going to say anything to entirely confirm or deny it at this point.)

Him and Annabeth were talking about the whole family situation. Him and still being in Atlantis even after what he had to assume was well over a month at this point.

(He really didn’t have a good judge of time passage down here. And hadn’t asked Amphitrite for a date since the last time.)

And she is trying to deal with her Dad’s side of the family that she was with for the first time in five years.

Instead Percy just shrugs at that. “I don’t know. I figure they know better than us what falls and doesn’t fall under the Laws. And whether or not it means I can be here.”

A half truth at least since the full one wasn’t an option.

“That’s probably true.” Annabeth agreed after a moment. “Plus after last summer he probably isn’t looking to start another fight with your Uncle by directly disobeying him.”

Well that wasn’t entirely true but he didn’t need to really clarify it. 

“Honestly while I’m enjoying it. To be honest it’s weird to go from him not being around at all to suddenly being this overprotective.”

He understood that he had almost died. He got that Poseidon was notoriously protective of his children.  And you combine the two and it was probably going to get the result they were dealing with.

But it still took some adjusting.

“At least as weird as it is, you're getting along with your father and your stepmom is being okay. I can’t exactly say the same for me.”

Percy cringed. “Things are not going great with your stepmom again?”

He had been hoping for her sake. That enough years away might soften things up. Apparently not.

“To say the least.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. I knew I was taking a risk coming back but my own pride didn’t want to admit that this all might be more difficult than I had anticipated.”

Yeah but Percy felt like he was somehow at least partly responsible for Annabeth trying to reconnect with her father and stepmother. And it failed spectacularly.

The relationship he was slowly establishing with Amphitrite was the complete opposite of the one Annabeth had with her stepmother.

Even as his relationships with his Dads side still were far from perfect. As seen with Triton. At least he didn’t have the threat of maybe getting kicked out of Atlantis over something.

Or at least he hoped he didn’t have to worry about that.

“Are you going back to go back to camp then?”

Annabeth frowned a bit at that. “I haven’t decided yet. Part of me wants to try to tough it out a bit longer.”

Percy frowned at that. “Annabeth, don't go making yourself miserable just because you feel an obligation.”

As much as it hurts to think about Luke. And what he had done to him. Luke had a point in that they shouldn’t feel an obligation to their parents just because they were their parents.

(Admittedly that had been referring to their godly parents he was pretty sure. But the point still stood to Percy.) 

“I will be fine, Percy. If I really have to go back I can always contact Chiron about this.”

Percy wasn’t entirely sure how much he thought Chiron might be able to help with this. Considering he vaguely remembered him mentioning getting to camp being some sort of test. But then again maybe it changed if you already had been to camp?

Either way Annabeth would know better than him if he would be able to help her. Since she had known the centaur for five years.

“Also I remember last time we talked you said you and your Mom hadn’t found a solution for it yet?”

Leave it to wise girl to be asking about that, he supposed. “No. It’s looking more likely I’ll be homeschooled for the year again.”

Which was annoying but not surprising. Considering they were already almost to the middle of September. And his Dad was just now only starting considering letting him go back to NYC.

And that might still be a short term thing with how protective he was being.

Maybe this would work out somehow. Maybe he would actually learn things better if he wasn’t in a classroom. Last time it had been hard to tell if he had. But last time they also had Gabe to deal with. Which had made things increasingly difficult.

(Especially since Gabe had been demanding his time off to be used to fund his habits at every chance.)

But Gabe was gone now.

Things were different.

So this had to go differently right?

“Wise girl I’ve been kicked out of every school I’ve ever attended since I was five. Of course finding schools is a bit difficult. It is for most kids of the gods. You know that.”

Of course Annabeth hadn’t had the experience before this year. But she had definitely heard it from other campers he would know.

His might be one of the worst track records in a while. But he definitely wasn’t the only one that had been expelled from school. For demigod related problems.

That could have gone better, Percy thought to himself after Annabeth had disconnected the call rather abruptly.

At some point the conversation between the two of them had finally drifted away from school. And towards yet another contentious topic for them.

Luke.

He had thought since the last discussion around Luke had gone okay. It coming up again naturally would also go okay. Apparently not.

Part of him was angry at Luke. Angry at what had happened. Over losing a friend he thought he had. Part of him wanted to think maybe Annabeth was right.

(Though even if she is.  Even if they do manage to get Luke back from Kronos somehow. He doesn't think he will ever fully trust Luke again. Not in the same way he used to at least.

He had left him for dead in the forest. That kind of thing changes things even if he did turn back now.)

But even if she was…he wasn’t sure how being in the same place with him again would go.

The mere thought of doing so right now just made his heart clench in fear. Go figure he could be around gods on a regular basis. One of whom up until recently had very vocally hated him. And somehow didn’t feel as scared as he felt of being around Luke right now.

He would call Annabeth back and apologize later. After they’ve both had time to calm down. Even if part of him really didn’t want to if he was being honest. He wasn’t going to risk losing another friend over Luke.

Not if he can help it.

Percy’s not sure how long it's been before Amphitrite comes by. “Are you alright? I came looking for you when you didn’t show up for our lessons.”

He hadn’t even realized he was supposed to be in them. Too distracted by still trying to get mentally through that whole argument with Annabeth.

Honestly he probably should have anticipated this argument in hindsight. Just because the conversation with Annabeth had gone okay the first time. Didn’t mean every discussion that revolved around Luke would go okay after.

He just thought they would be okay with that.

(At least he was done with Triton for the day. So he didn’t have to worry about his half brother trying to ask questions. One immortal family member doing that was enough.)

“Annabeth and I got into an argument. And it's just been on my mind ever since. Sorry I lost track of time.”

Amphitrite raises an eyebrow at that. “Must have been quite the argument.”

Percy just shrugs at that. “We got onto the topic of Luke again.”

“The traitor?” He nodded at the question. “What did she say exactly?”

“She thinks he can still be saved. And that we should do something about it. I am a lot more conflicted to do that I gotta admit.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Luke to maybe be able to get out of Kronos’ influence. He just wasn’t sure how well he could accomplish doing that if the idea of being in the same room already freaked him out.

That seemed like it would cause more problems.

Amphitrite frowns slightly at that. “May I ask why? Is this dealing with the difficulty of the situation?”

“More because I’m not sure how easy it's going to be around Luke again after what happened. Even if he does make an about face with Kronos. He lured me into a forest-”

He can still remember the pain. The burning. The fight to try and stay conscious long enough to get to someone, anyone that could help. Let alone the confusion and some of the fear that had followed at first when he had awoken in Atlantis a week and a half later.

“Perseus,” Amphitrite’s voice breaks him out of the internal spiral he had entered. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just got caught up in some old memories.” 

“It’s okay. No one is expecting you to be over this. Let alone not have mixed feelings on what to do now.”

“Tell that to Annabeth.”

Amphitrite gives a small sigh at that. “Athena and her children have not always historically had the best grasp on their emotions. You aren’t the first person I know of that one of them has been hurt by their incapability to understand that just because they had a certain reaction. Doesn’t mean everyone else will.”

That sounded like they had some sort of personal experience there. But Percy wasn’t sure if she would elaborate if he asked. So he doesn’t ask.

“I honestly hadn’t realized that.”

Maybe he should have. While this was their first major argument. They had had a few others over the summer. Nothing that might break the friendship. But still they had happened. Maybe they went back to that?

Amphitrite hummed at that. “I believe most don’t. Or at least not at first. It can be hard to see something like that outside of certain circumstances. And if this is the first time you two have had an argument like that. It’s natural you would have missed it before. I’m assuming you haven’t had much contact with the other Athena children?”

“Not really but that feels like half the camp. The only friends I really have are Grover and Annabeth.”

Which is why the whole Luke thing had hit so hard.

Amphitrite gave a frown at that. “That is interesting. Is there a reason for that?”

Percy just shrugged at that. Not entirely sure if he should tell her about how camp had first treated him after he was claimed. Or just let her come to her own conclusions.  

Not like she could do anything about it either way.

Chapter Text

“School is important. Even if land schools are different from ours I would assume. I feel that would be a universal truth. Learning things beyond just basic survival skills is important for anyone.”

Percy can’t entirely recall how they got into the conversation of schools. And what his plans were for the rest of the fall. But somehow they had ended up on that topic.

(Amphitrite had offered to let him skip the lesson today. But he just wanted an excuse to get his mind off the argument with Annabeth.

And Amphitrite hadn’t pushed the topic of the argument and Luke more after their initial conversation. So maybe that’s why he felt okay with doing this. .)

Maybe because he had mentioned actually somewhat liking learning from her? Which was so far from the norm with teachers and him he still isn’t sure how to process it.

He can’t remember the last time he not only liked learning about something. But the teacher he had wasn’t turning the whole thing condescending because of history. Or his difficulties with learning the material because of having ADHD and dyslexia.

Which tended to happen more often than not.

And yet Amphitrite hadn’t done any of that.

Despite the fact Percy is fairly confident in saying his things look like crap. But Amphitrite never actually says anything during the lessons.

(And maybe that’s why he’s so willing to come back.

With Triton he expects less than complimentary jabs during their training. And as long as it seems like he is improving he can take it. Because at least with him he is learning. Which he can’t say the same for other teachers who had pulled the same kind of thing in the past.

Amphitrite never says anything though. Or at least not directly from what he can tell. She’s redirected his motions before but there hasn’t been a comment on the finished product yet. Good or bad.

Which Percy wasn’t going to deny was a bit nice compared to his old teachers.)

“Yeah I know that. It’s just me and school historically get along very poorly.”

Amphitrite tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” Percy trailed off, not entirely sure where to start with this.

How do you even begin to explain to a goddess that you had been kicked out of every school you had ever been put in? Could you even begin to explain it? He’s pretty sure this isn’t something that his immortal family members ever had to worry about. 

(Well unless one of his half siblings went back when had done badly in school he supposed. But he doubts that it is the same.

Especially if Triton’s behavior was any indication. If they had problems he doubted it had been brought up to them. Since they probably wouldn’t have been too helpful with that.

Even in ancient times.)

It wasn’t like he had much control over the events that had led to it. But he wasn’t entirely sure how to explain that.

“Lets just say while I don’t I go looking for it. Trouble usually finds me instead. At school. Fairly frequently.”

“Such is the life of a demigod.”

“Yeah and you get that. Mortal schools on the other hand…very much don’t.”

“Sounds like there are stories there.”

“Yeah a lot of them.” Percy agreed with a sigh. 

Some he didn’t even really remember. Just had the stories from adults talking when they thought he couldn’t hear them. Or remembering his Mom getting into another argument with school administration. 

Of course there was the memorable stuff like the swim in the shark tank. Or the time the cannon he had been next to had hit their school’s bus. He still didn’t get how that had happened.

“Doesn’t help that half the time when stuff happens I don’t understand how or why it happened.”

Even knowing the fact that the Mist was a thing now. And that had definitely had an influence over things when he was younger. Some things still didn’t make sense.

While other things now did. Like looking back he probably had accidentally heard a shark when the swim had happened. And boom they had all ended up in the tank by accident.

“Also doesn’t help that half the time because I didn’t know Greek myths existed. I didn’t realize why some things were happening. So I couldn’t explain why something had happened to me. Made for a pain when things like the canon incident happened.”

Amphitrite tilted her head at that with a frown. “Cannon incident?”

“Yeah so I’m not entirely sure how but a fully loaded cannon up at the old Saratoga battlegrounds got aimed and fired at our bus. I got blamed because I was next to it of course. Even though I don’t even remember what happened.”

Amphitrite frowned at that in confusion. “Why would you aim a cannon at a ‘bus’?”

Ah right she might not know what it was did she?

“It’s a form of transport.” He said rather than answering the actual question.

“Ah, my question still stands however. Why would you aim a cannon at it? Or did you actually do that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even remember setting the thing off. Or why it was even loaded to begin with. I just remember next thing I knew there was a hole in our school bus and I was getting blamed for something I don’t even remember really happening.”

Looking back maybe it was a mist thing again?

He knew there had definitely been other incidents of him encountering the Greek world. Before Grover had shown up at Montauk. But that had been dismissed in the past as an overactive imagination.

See also the sharks in the tank in the aquarium talking to him probably. And just not realizing what was going on at the time.

“Anyways that’s why Mom’s not been able to figure out what to do with me and school. Between being gone for a few weeks because of this.” Percy motioned at the scar on his left hand. “And my track record at other schools. Finding somewhere that would take me has been difficult.”

“I thought she had a school for you already for the year?”

“Oh no she did. They just told me I couldn’t come this year because I had been gone too long and that was a couple of weeks ago.”

Now approaching late September there was definitely no way they would take him. Even if he could produce a doctor’s note about this. There was no real way of doing so.

Or he didn’t think so anyway.

“That is certainly a choice.”

Percy just shrugged at that. He can’t say he was surprised when his Mom told him about the decision. Not with his school record.

“If it helps I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference. Like I said I tend to attract trouble at school no matter what I do. Even if I had been well enough to go home and go to school. Something probably still would have happened.”

Again six schools in six years. And Yancy had been the closest to seeing a full year through and he had still managed to fall short on that. 

Honestly part of him was surprised at this point his Mom could find a school for him. Let alone one close to home. 

Which only raised the question more he guessed of what they would do for this year. Since it wasn’t exactly like schools were jumping over themselves to let him into them.

The opposite really.

Poseidon had an idea.

Whether that was a good idea was up for debate at the moment. He thought it was personal. However, whether anyone else would, he would have to see. 

Amphitrite had mentioned him in passing the conversation she had had with Perseus. And the entire school situation for Perseus. Or rather lack thereof.

And with it had come the idea of why not have Perseus do schooling under the sea. It would solve multiple issues. Not just the schooling problem. But also a chance to make sure Perseus was actually trained in some of his abilities.

(Since as he had found out from Triton he was sorely lacking in swordsmanship. He definitely had a lack of training in other areas. And Perseus being here could be a chance to fix all of that.)

First things first thought was to try and get Sally on board with the idea. Who he was at this point was worried about being the larger obstacle to pulling this off.

There was still an issue with Amphitrie and Triton admittedly. But considering everything that had been happening recently he felt confident they would go for it. Though it might take a little bit of persuading, he did think they would agree in the end.

Amphitrite was already developing a soft spot for the youngest from what he could tell. And while Triton was still fairly firmly in the didn’t like Perseus camp even if he was showing some progress. He was at least willing to train Perseus.

But then again there was a difference between what was supposed to be a short visit and an extended stay.

“It’s not the worst option.” Sally admitted after a moment of thought after he had finished explaining. “We are low on options with everything that has happened. And Percy’s track record certainly doesn’t help things.”

Even if Percy couldn’t control when things happened to him because of the Greek side of his family. The schools certainly didn’t know that and seemed to think otherwise.

Which was how they had ended up with technically now seven schools in as many years.

“What were you considering for him before now?”

“Homeschooling and then hopefully finding a school that would take him after the winter break had ended. Which wasn’t entirely my favorite option but like I said there is a strong lack of them for us.”

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t want to spend time with Percy helping him learn things. It was just that she was concerned she would be able to make sure he was learning what he needed. Between work and classes it would be a tight fit.

It was better than nothing. But it still wasn’t her preferred choice if she could find somewhere to take him.

The problem continued to be finding somewhere though.

This would be a solution to that problem admittedly. But she still had her own thoughts holding her back from agreeing to it right then and there.

Mainly seeing Percy.

“I still want to be able to see him, Poseidon. I get your reluctance to let him go out so soon after everything that has happened. And I do support you being cautious. But I don’t want this to lead to me not seeing my son for who knows how long.”

That was fair.

“And I’m not saying keep him in Atlantis entirely. I know how my children are. I know that will not go well no matter how I mean it.”

“So what are you suggesting then?”

“Weekends and major holidays with you. Weekdays with us.”

“It’s not just about education though that is part of it. He needs training, proper training. And being in Atlantis would give me a chance to help control more of his powers.”

It would give his son a better chance to deal with whatever the prophecy meant by ‘against all odds’.

Zeus definitely would not like it if he ever figured out what he was up to.

But Poseidon had no intentions of that ever happening.

“And you’re sure Amphitrite and Triton will go for this. While I appreciate the help, Poseidon, I don’t want him to be somewhere he’s not going to be comfortable because it’s the best solution we can come up with right now.”

“I am sure. Though if it is a problem we will talk again before doing anything else.”

Though if they didn’t go along with this he wasn’t entirely sure what the new plan could be. He didn’t know enough about mortal education to even begin tackling that topic.

But even he knew the last thing they needed was even more hostilities in the palace.

So everyone had to be on board for this to work.

Amphitrite frowned at that. “You want Perseus to attend lessons here for the year?”

Amphitrite isn’t entirely sure what to think of the suggestion at first glance if she is being honest. The suggestion is unusual for multiple reasons. 

For one considering ancient laws this kind of thing just wasn’t allowed. But she supposed, considering they were already breaking them. As long as Zeus was unaware they should be fine.

For another with how sometimes their family got on with demigods and heroes. Suggesting this would normally not be considered an option at all.

Especially after certain fiascos.

So this wasn’t like anything they had ever really done before.

And sure she was teaching the demigod already how to weave. And despite his apparent issues with school. She didn’t find him to be a bad student in her experience at least.

So expanding the subject matter to include other topics didn’t bother her too much.

Even if she did maybe have some concerns about how this might affect them all in the coming years.

And she did know already that there were concerns with school for Perseus. Both Sally and him had mentioned it before during their conversations. 

She just hadn’t expected her husband to maybe act on it.

“Sally and I were discussing his school issue. Apparently, this whole incident has made him miss too much school for the start of the year. So they wouldn’t welcome him at this time. As it is, Sally says she would be most likely homeschooling him anyway at this point.”

“I was aware of the school being a problem from both Perseus and Sally. But do you not think your brother will cause a problem with this?”

“Not unless he is paying more attention to Perseus than we are aware of.”

At this point he was sure his brother wasn’t paying his youngest any mind. Well beyond worrying about him being the Great Prophecy child.

There was a difference between paying attention to his youngest and being aware he was in Atlantis. At least to Poseidon.

And he had a feeling Amphitrite most likely agreed with him. Since she hadn’t flat out said no to the proposition yet.

“And even then he cannot really act without him acknowledging the fact that father is a threat.”

Which he wouldn’t entirely mind if he did. Even if it meant losing time with his son. It would mean they could properly prepare if he was rising.

Which as of right now his hands were tied with that. He could quietly up weapon production to a certain extent and keep an eye on the less friendlier sea deities in case they showed signs of problems.

But beyond that nothing.

As long as Zeus refused to acknowledge that their hands were tied to an extent that Poseidon didn’t like.

Amphitrite seemed to consider this. “Triton might not like this.”

“I am aware.”

Triton could either go one of two ways with this. Either he saw it as a chance to improve his brother’s training. Or he would get annoyed about having to deal with the demigod on a more consistent basis.

Poseidon was hoping it would be more of the former as it seemed like Triton was becoming more tolerable of his youngest demigod. That he would be more inclined to lean towards the former.

Hopefully.

Amphitrite seems to consider the situation for a moment more before finally saying. “Fine, if you wish to go through with this. I will support it.”

Poseidon was right in her mind that there were certain benefits to keeping the demigod around. Even with the inherent risks that they all were aware of. 

“Thank you.”

“Though you know if he ends up being the child of the Great Prophecy that this will make losing him all that more painful.”, Amphitrite continued before he could say anything else.

Something she herself was already aware of.

After all she had started getting attached to the boy against every better judgment she had if she was being honest. And him staying in Atlantis would only cause that to grow stronger.

“I am aware.”

There was a reason most gods didn’t associate with mortals long term. Even the long-lasting one's existence was insignificant in the grand scheme of things compared to a god.

Considering his son was a demigod and not just any demigod, but one who the prophecy foretold would die in just three short years he would have even less time than most with them.

He can’t bring himself to regret this chance.

After all, who knew when something like this would come again?

“Doesn’t he have something he would normally be attending to?” Were the first words out of Triton’s mouth when Poseidon told him about the proposition.

No hostility at least for the moment Poseidon noted. Which was good. Just a sense of confusion at most.

“Normally he would be in mortal school. However the incident with the pit scorpion means the school he was supposed to attend. Essentially decided that he would not be allowed to enroll this year.”

Triton frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about all of this if he was being honest. Perseus did need training that much was evident. And he had been progressing since they had started.

But old doubts continued to linger in the back of Triton’s mind. 

And even if Perseus proved to be different from the heroes of old with time. He still, according to the Great Prophecy, was destined to die at a young age.

Unless someone else came along.

So having him around more would just end in pain.

Getting attached wasn’t a smart idea. Having him around to even allow the chance of that to happen was just as bad of an idea. But letting it slide and letting his brother go back to the surface with only minimal training. 

And subpar minimal training at that before he became involved. 

Was a recipe for disaster that even he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

So he supposes he can’t just let this slide.

“I’ll live with it.” Triton finally decides.

Part of him wonders how this will all work. But he figures that is something that his parents must have already tackled before he was even told about this proposition. And he will find out in the coming days more information.

But as long as Zeus doesn’t find out about it. The matter of how they pulled this off really didn’t matter, he supposed.

It helped him think later, much later, months down the line, that the boy was stupidly enduring. It was partly why Triton hadn’t been making too much of an effort to find another trainer though he wouldn’t confess that to anyone.

If anyone asked, it was taking time. Because finding another trainer that met fathers standards and might not have ulterior motives when it came to his brother took time. 

Which was true.

If it had been the actual reason he had been avoiding finding another trainer. 

That the existence of his half brother still set him on edge. Still had issues with heroes in general after all of the millennia. 

But so far things have been better.

And Triton was almost positive he wasn’t trying to do it intentionally.

Which honestly was more frustrating than if he had been faking it.

(Even as Triton felt fairly certain the other shoe on this was going to drop concerning his brother soon.

Things simply were too smooth. And too good for him to believe that somehow something wouldn’t backfire.

Some might call him a pessimist for that. But he felt it was the most realistic view of the situation.)

When his Dad had said he wanted to talk.

Percy thought it could be about any number of things. Maybe about the Luke incident again. Maybe something around the theft. Maybe even about going to see his Mom finally.

(He really did need to bug his Dad about that though.)

He hadn’t expected it to be a proposition to spend time in Atlantis on more than an absolute need to do schooling.

He knew he had been in Atlantis for a while. He knew he had already been kicked out of his last school. He knew him and his Mom were kind of strapped for options on what to do for the year.

What he hadn’t expected was for him to try and apparently come up with a solution to the school situation.

He didn’t even know how Poseidon had even found out about the situation to begin with. The only person in Atlantis he had mentioned it to was Amphitrite. So it must have come from her.

Which admittedly he hadn’t exactly told her not to tell anyone.

(And considering he was talking about Gods. Realistically even with his little amount of experience so far. He had to assume there was something else going on here.

Whether or not someone would admit it was a different thing entirely though.)

Percy frowned slightly. On the one hand a chance to maybe actually get to know his Dad after years of absence was hard to pass up. And he was curious about Atlantis which helped. On the other hand, “I still want to see Mom though.”

He was worried this was an either or situation.

“I know and you will. The plan is for you to spend weekdays here if you so accept. And weekends with your mother. Leaving early Friday and returning late Sunday. In addition to any holidays you wish to spend with her.”

That…honestly was better than he maybe had been thinking.

With his Dad’s notorious protective streak. Something the hero folder had only backed up. He thought he might just keep him under the water until he had to leave for camp next summer.

And considering Percy knew so little about being in Atlantis. Let alone navigating the ocean he wouldn’t have been able to do much about it.

Admittedly he was still spending more time in Atlantis than with his Mom even with the new arrangement. But he would be seeing her more than he had been able to when he was at Yancy. So it was an improvement in some ways.

“Do they have the time for this?”

Poseidon tilted his head at that. “I mean they would know best. But they wouldn’t have agreed to this if they didn’t think they could take the time.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

It’s just that Amphitrite was a busy goddess. She was a goddess in her own right with her own duties. Even he knew that much even if he might not know specifics. 

(Honestly he knew a bit more about what Triton did. But that was more because of the fact his job meant sometimes they couldn’t train together. Whereas he hadn’t had that kind of thing come up with Amphitrite.

Or at least not yet.

He figures eventually it will probably be a thing.)

She was already teaching him weaving? Did she really have time for other things that his Dad was apparently planning now?

“If it helps, it was her suggestion for Atlantean culture and history. I was going to suggest hiring other tutors but she said she could handle that topic.”

That actually did help.

“Can I just have a little bit to think about it?”

Probably he would end up saying yes. He did actually want to learn stuff about his Dad’s side for once. And it had to be an improvement over what he normally dealt with at school.

But he didn’t feel like saying yes quite yet.

He needed to talk to his Mom among other things.

“Of course. Just let me know when you have made your decision.”

Percy calls his Mom after Poseidon leaves. Wanting to hear for sure that she was okay with this idea. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his Dad to maybe lie about this whole thing…well except for maybe that was it. 

He knows his Dad is overprotective. And this honestly seems like a set up to make sure he is protected beyond need. Even with the knowledge he would be going home to his Mom on weekends.

“I honestly was just as surprised when your father first suggested it.”

The same part of him that had when he was younger. Being scared his Mom was abandoning him like everyone was always saying she would. When he had first been sent off to boarding school.

He was better at dealing with that piece of doubt now than he was when he was seven and being dropped off at his first boarding school. But sometimes it still reared its ugly head. 

“I think I’m more surprised Amphitrite and Triton are going along with this.” He admitted. “He did check with them first right?”

He knows his Dad already basically said he had checked with them. With the whole thing of having more lessons with Amphitrite. But he really did need to hear it from someone else.

The clarifying question felt important to stress. Since his Dad was a god.

He technically could do that probably even if his wife and son were also Gods.

But he would rather have them at least somewhat okay with this. Before they actually did anything.

He didn’t want to start this and then have to deal with whatever fallout came. Because his Dad had decided this was the best course of action for schooling. Without talking to two of the people that would also be heavily impacted by the choice.

“As far as I know they are both okay with it. Poseidon said he would check with both first. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Amphitrite to confirm it. However if he told you about it. I’m assuming they both gave the okay.”

His mom continued after a beat of silence. “I honestly think you might have been the last person he brought it up to. I think he wanted to make sure your stepmother and half brother were okay with it before moving forward.”

That made sense. And he was kind of grateful he had.

He really didn’t want to get stuck around two immortal beings who disliked him being here. Just because his Dad thought this was the best plan.

(Admittedly just because they were getting along now. Didn’t mean things could or wouldn’t change. That certainly had happened before with other kids.

But at least for now he knew that they were on board with this.

Even if that did surprise him when it came to Triton.

Just because they were getting on better. Didn’t mean he would have thought his half brother would have agreed to the plan.)

He would rather try homeschooling again.

“Maybe it’s for the best. You might do better in a non traditional setting. Besides, we'll still have weekends in the city to see each other.”

Well considering everything that had happened. That might actually be true. 

But it wasn’t like he had any prior experience to fall back on.

There were so many what ifs. That might be silly to other people but after everything he dealt with. Were legit concerns to him.

In the end ironically it wasn’t anything really his Mom had said that had convinced him to go along with the plan. Or even his Dad and stepmother. It ironically was having a talk with Triton about it.

Since he figured if anyone was going to be blunt about whether they could stand him being here. And not put entirely on a facade.

It was Triton.

Who while he had mellowed out a bit since the library incident. Still seemed to not mind telling him how it was with where they stood.

Amphitrite was nice enough but he wasn’t sure if she would be as straight. Or hide an issue behind royalty sub context that he had yet to learn how to read.

Which technically Triton could still do but he seemed less likely than his mother from Percy’s experience so far. Or at least around him.

He had enough teachers for a lifetime that he thought might be different. And then when they finally got tired of him being their pet project dismissed him. Which was still a concern with Triton.

But something about the bluntness of his half brother and his opinions on him put him weirdly at ease. Like he knew exactly what he was getting even if it wasn’t positive.

“Why are you even asking me?”

Triton at least doesn’t sound hostile when asked if he is actually okay with him being around longer. More confused than anything. 

“Because no offense to your mother and our father. But I know if your saying your okay with me being around you actually mean it.”

And he had enough of people saying one thing but thinking another for a lifetime.

“Ah.” Triton said. “If it helps mother does like you from what I have seen. She at the very least wouldn’t be continuing your lessons if she didn’t.”

That actually did help to hear it from someone else.

“I don’t need to be coddled like that. I would actually prefer not to.”

Triton raised an eyebrow at that in clear surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah look I’ve dealt with more than a few people who said one thing but actually felt another way. And that’s not on your parents. But once it happens so many times-”

“You worry about it occurring again.”

Percy nodded at the question.

“It might look weird to you and everyone else. But I appreciate the bluntness and knowing exactly where you stand.”

Even if it did hurt at times. At least he knew exactly where they stood. And he didn’t have to worry about Triton just doing it because of some expectation. Or at least he was pretty sure that wasn’t the case. 

There was still some concerns about other things. He thinks his hand should probably be more back to normal than it feels like at this point. Since they were almost a month and a half out from the entire thing.

But he couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone or bring attention to it.It might be just another temporary effect from the scar tissue. So he hadn’t exactly told anyone about it yet.

Probably wouldn’t until he had to if it didn’t go away.

And definitely wouldn’t bring it up with Triton unless he had to.

Because he was half expecting some major inconvenience at training him. Was going to lead to Triton dropping him as a student.

(Even knowing the whole thing with the wrist had gone over fairly well all things considered.)

“Though can I ask you something? Why didn’t you turn me over to another teacher?”

Part of it could be argued as a result of Triton wanting to make sure his skills were actually developing after that incident in the arena. But if he knew someone who could do the job well he could have just checked in without teaching him.

So why bother teaching him at all?

“It’s…complicated.” Triton seemed to finally settle on.

Percy frowned at the vague word choice. He had an idea as to why though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. “Because of Dad’s protectiveness?”

Triton nodded at the question. “He just won’t let anyone teach you. It needs to be approved. And most of the people he might consider would be high ranking anyway.”

“I mean just because I should be learning stuff hasn’t exactly stopped people in the past.”

The amount of times he could list some kind of experience like that was a bit too high. Again being the ‘pet project’ or having been abandoned before he even met the teacher sometimes. Meant he was used to trying to get by on his own.

Even if it almost always ended in disaster.

“It helps that at least with this you're a surprisingly good student.”

Percy blinked in surprise at the comment. That almost sounded like a begrudging compliment.  It still had a layer of insult in there. But that was still a compliment in itself. 

Chapter Text

Poseidon had insisted on him being checked over again before he returned to Manhattan for the first time since the end of the quest. So here Percy was late Thursday in the infirmary. Getting one last all clear before he went home for the first time in months the next day.

Next week lessons would start up when he got back. Admittedly the schedule hadn’t changed too much so far from what he could tell.

He still had morning training with Triton. And evening weaving with Amphitrite. Though now after lunch she was also going over history and etiquette and anything else that might fall into that area that might be important to know as a demigod.

(Which made Percy wonder why this kind of thing wasn’t taught at camp. If it was that important shouldn’t they be focusing on more than just surviving monsters?

Maybe something to ask Chiron next summer at least.)

“Triton hasn’t been bothering you since that day has he?”

“No. He’s been better about things.”

“Good. I would assume so because he has taken over your training. But I always prefer to track.”

“Triton’s been actually fairly good when we’ve been training together. We’ve had some arguments. But nothing like it was at the beginning.” Things had been going smoothly. Maybe a bit too smoothly Percy felt himself worry sometimes.

“Good to hear. I thought I had communicated effectively to him about what happened last time. But sea deities can be a stubborn bunch and Triton is no exception to that.”

“Can you feel that?” Althia asked after a moment.

Percy glanced down, noticing she was putting some pressure on where the scar from the sting was. “Kind of? It feels a bit weird.”

He had been trying to just ignore it up until this point. But it hadn’t felt normal since he had woken up. He thought it might just be a side effect of the injury that would fade as time passed. However Althea's frown is making him second guess that thought.

“Is something wrong?”

“I am uncertain to be honest. It might be but it also might be nothing of concern. It’s honestly a little too early to tell.”

“It’s been almost two months.” Percy pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“Nerves can be finicky at times. Sometimes they can take months to fully re engage after an injury like this. So this might not be anything to be concerned with. But it is best to keep an eye on anyway.”

“I mean it's honestly been more annoying at times than a problem. So this shouldn’t be a problem with going home right?”

“No, you should be fine for the moment. It's too early to worry as I said. I’ll only tell your father once I know what I can do no matter what it ends up being.”

Percy groaned at that. “Great, just another thing for him to be protective over.”

The healer raised an eyebrow at that. “He means well, you know. It’s not the worst thing to have a protective family member.”

Percy let out a small sigh at that. “I know.” Especially considering how some Gods could act. He knew that technically he had the best case scenario probably. “I’m just not used to it. It’s weird coming from how I grew up to this. And I still don’t know how to handle it at times.”

It wasn’t a bad weird of course.

But it still was a drastic shift from the norm he had grown up with.

And it just made him wish he could have been around when he was younger even more even if he understands why he wasn’t. Since he just knows that if he had Gabe would never have been a problem.

“That is fair.”

“What about my wrist? I know Dad said he was going to ask you about that.”

“I am still looking into that. Curing mortal wounds is a bit different than the kind of repair that would be required for that. Not saying it is impossible but I just need more time for research.”

Oh.

Well that certainly wasn’t the worst outcome.

Well if she couldn’t do anything he would just keep coping. Like he had for the last several years.

“For now I’ll tell your father that you have the clearance to go back to the land. So I would be packing if I were you.”

“Thank you.”

Finally,

He was going to get to see his Mom again. And not just over an Iris Message.

Afternoon of the next day hadn’t been quick enough, Percy felt. He was finally going home to his Mom for the first time since June. It had been almost four long months at this point.

And best of all for the first time in years. Going home didn’t mean having to deal with Smelly Gabe. It was just the two of them in a small apartment in Manhattan. Just the way he liked it to be.

His Dad was of course still being reluctant and protective. He hadn’t expected anything else if he was being honest. Especially as the search for Luke still hadn’t turned up anything made him worry about a retaliation.

But he had relented to starting up the schedule so it was something at least.

“Never experienced teleporting before?” Amphitrite asked, watching him for a moment as he orientated himself again. She had been the one to volunteer to take him back to the city. Partly because at this point she was the only one who knew where they actually lived now.

Which meant Percy got to experience Godly teleporting for the first time. And it was an interesting experience to say the least.

“No, we had to fly back to return the bolt. And no one ever offered to do that for us.”

Amphitrite blinked, staring at him for a moment. “You flew?”

“Yeah.”

“And your uncle allowed that?”

“I mean he wasn’t happy about it. He threatened me after I returned the bolt even though it was the only way to make the deadline. But he didn’t exactly do anything if you're wondering about that.”

“That does track for him.” Amphitrite mused.

“Though even if he hadn’t threatened me I don’t want to get on a plane again. That was not a fun experience.” Funny how he had faced down literal monsters. And yet somehow the idea of flying through the air in a metal death trap managed to freak him out as much if not more than facing them down at times.

“Not a pleasant experience?”

“To put it mildly. I don’t think I had ever been so happy to have my feet on solid ground when we got off the plane in New York. So yeah staying out of his domain unless I absolutely have to be in the air. At least Uncle H didn’t try that.”

“Admittedly your Uncle below ground would present a slightly different problem if you entered his domain. Then your other uncle.”

“Yeah I remember how much he tried to keep me from leaving when I showed up with the bolt by accident. I don’t know how we would have gotten back without the pearls you gave us.” Probably wouldn’t have but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “Thanks again for those by the way.” He wasn’t sure if the pearls had been just his Dads idea or not. But it's always best to just say thank you.

“You're welcome though we would have done something regardless. We couldn’t risk you being permanently stuck in the Underworld. How did you get the bolt back anyway? All your father said was that it had appeared in the underworld before your encounter with Hades. But he hadn’t mentioned any of the particulars.”

“Ares gave us a backpack during one of our stops as a ‘gift’ for completing a quest for him. We found out it was the holster when the bolt returned when we were in the Underworld.” Somehow he didn’t think mentioning the near fall into Tartarus would be a good idea.

Which actually was another question he realized belatedly. His father had obviously known something was wrong with what he was receiving. Or else he wouldn’t have told the nereid to give the warning.

It probably was just in relation to the shoes. It just happened to apply to more than one object in the end. Since there was no way his Dad could have known Ares had the bolt.

It made no sense.

“After Hades found out first I’m assuming?”

“Yep.”

“Really glad we gave you the pearls then.”

“We wouldn’t have gotten it or the helm back without them for sure.”

Amphitrite frowned at that. “The helm?”

“Yeah, his helm got stolen by the thief as well. Did Dad not tell you that?”

Had he not told Dad and his other uncle about the stolen helm? He thought he had. But then again he had been running for almost a full day straight at that point. So there were probably things he had forgotten to mention.

“No it wasn’t mentioned to me if he was aware of it.” Amphitrite said with a frown.

“I might have just forgotten to tell him. A lot happened on that quest. It was hard to keep track of everything.”

The helm hadn’t been even the most concerning revelation of that entire trip to the Underworld. That had been the confirmation that something was trying to drag him into Tartarus to get the bolt.

He did feel bad about not saying something it seemed like. But it really had been a lot to deal with.

“It’s fine. I will simply ask him about it later. Now come along, we've kept your mother waiting long enough.”

Percy wondered for a second if he should be worried about his Dad being in trouble with his stepmom. Before deciding there wasn’t anything he could really do about it. Following rather excitedly behind his stepmom.

For the first time since Gabe had entered their lives. It felt like he was coming home. And not just coming back to his Mom. Not that he wouldn’t ever come back to her.

The doors barely open for more than a few seconds before he is crashing into his Mom in a hug. Only thought in passing being how much he had missed this.

“I’ll be back Monday morning to pick him up.” Amphitrite said quietly enough to the point he almost missed it. His mind is too busy elsewhere.

Three days. He had his Mom for three days again. Though it didn’t feel like nearly enough. It was still something after the last several months.

His Mom pulled back slightly from the hug with a smile before asking. “Well, what do you want to do first?”

Baking turned out to be the answer.

If there was one thing he missed about being away from his Mom. Is the time they would spend baking together. And he had missed her homemade cookies. So it was the best of both worlds in his opinion.

And while there was other stuff to do. Like helping put together his own room in the apartment. Since for the first time in he’s not sure how many years. He has his own room properly again.

But right now he just wanted some of his Mom’s cookies.

And maybe talk about some of the crazier aspects of finding out the Pantheon was real. Since he hadn’t really had anyone to talk to about it before. 

His immortal family wouldn’t understand it. Annabeth probably would get more annoyed at how much he struggled with grasping the whole thing at times. If the track record of his early days at camp was anything to go by.

And Grover was who knows where at the moment.

But his Mom? He could totally talk about this too and not have to worry about what might be the response for once.

“I had a similar reaction the first time your father told me about Olympus being on the Empire State Building.” His Mom said with a slight laugh after he had told her how Annabeth had first told him where Olympus was.

“I feel like I should be used to it by now. But sometimes I just think about what I know and its hard to grasp.”

Even after visiting Olympus itself back in June. And especially after spending almost two months straight in Atlantis. Well, even if he had been unconscious for a small chunk of it.

“I think the only people that would be are ones who fully grew up in the world.”

“But do any demigods actually do that? The way Dad talks, the Gods aren’t supposed to have interactions with their kids. So it sounds like most don’t find out for years.”

Usually anyway from what he could tell.

Maybe there were some situations like Annabeth’s. Where she had been given to a family member who didn’t want her. And then ended up at camp really young.

But if there were those kinds of situations no one had mentioned it to him. And honestly considering the nature of the topic. It wasn’t exactly something he was going to go around asking.

“I honestly can’t say. I would think no but who knows maybe there is some exception out there that we don’t know about.”

“Yeah the only kind of exception I can think about that would match that would be the Oracle.”

And that definitely wasn’t the case for her as of now. Since she seemed to be more mummy than anything else at this point. Or maybe it was before she had become a Mummy? It wasn’t exactly like anyone had ever explained what had happened to the Oracle to him. 

“I know Annabeth told me once that most demigods don’t realize who they are until they’re 10 at the earliest.”

Annabeth had said they usually started getting attention when they were old enough to cause trouble he vaguely remembers. But then again she had run away at seven after attracting monsters. So what qualifies as causing trouble?

Also wasn’t that counter to what Grover had kind of told him that monsters only start coming after you once you realize you're a demigod. Which did lineup for him. But for Annabeth…he wasn’t as clear on.

In Grover’s defense, it wasn’t like he knew the full extent of what he dealt with when it came to Gabe. He knew he was a bad person from the interviews. Just not the extent of it.

He had no real way of knowing the full implications of what he had been saying at the time.

Admittedly living with Gabe had a lot more issues. Than just some campers shunning him for the better part of a week before they got over him being a forbidden child.

But he wasn’t going to tell his Mom that.

“Chiron had mentioned something similar when I spoke with him on the phone. As a means of pressing upon me the issue of sending you to camp.”

“You had final say in it?”

“The way Chiron phrased things, yes.”

Well that technically did add up considering the fact that Chiron had kept him at Yancy for so long. Something that he didn’t fully understand. Actually a lot of things about Chiron he didn’t understand.

Like what happened when a parent couldn’t be bothered to send them to camp. And Chiron just wouldn’t act without permission. Did they have to runaway like Annabeth had?

Because that seemed to have several faults in his opinions.

“What are you thinking about?”

“That Chiron can be confusing sometimes. Don’t get me wrong he’s amazing to have around. But sometimes…”

“He doesn’t always make sense?”

“Yeah like sometimes at camp it feels like he just expects me to know something. And then when I don’t it causes problems.”

Usually with other campers.

“Well I would assume with mythology he would expat a base line knowledge.”

“Yeah that would make sense. But it wasn’t always about that.”

His Mom gave a sigh at that. “Chiron seems to have that expectation regardless occasionally, going by the conversation I had with him. That I only understood fully later on even after asking for multiple clarifications. And still managed to fumble how the camp actually works with the summer vs year around system.”

Percy looked at her in surprise. “I thought Dad had messed that up?”

“No. Your father had mentioned the camp of course. Since he wanted you to go there eventually. But he never mentioned the particulars since he admitted it had been decades since he had a child at camp and that usually they were there for a while for their own safety. Which I may have read the wrong way in hindsight. Though he wasn’t sure if things were the same as they once had been. Chiron was the one that gave me more details.”

Sometimes it had felt like Chiron had known who his father was before the claiming. And other times it felt like looking back he hadn’t known at all.

And Chiron wasn’t the only person at camp who had given him mixed signals on that.

Annabeth had too. First setting him up next the creek boundary. Only to then say she thought he was a child of Zeus. Which those two were in direct contradiction of each other.

“I don’t think we will ever fully understand the working minds of immortals. Just learn to work around it.”

Yeah that was not something he was probably going to enjoy.

Percy munched on one of the cookies absent mindedly trying to figure out how to figure some of his things away in the new room.

Some of his things had already been put out. The obvious things like the bed and desk were already set up. But there were still things in boxes and bags. Obviously meant for him to put up at his own discretion when he got a chance.

He didn’t remember having this much stuff before. Admittedly a lot of his stuff ended up shoved into the closet so Gabe could ignore his existence when they had still lived with him. So it was hard to keep track of everything.

But he is pretty sure some of this stuff he didn’t have at all before.

Especially the skateboard that was now here apparently.

He definitely had one before. But he hadn’t had this one before. He had been looking at it when they had visited the shop before. But they hadn’t been able to afford it at the time.

“Mom where did you even get some fo this stuff?” He calls down the hall to where she is supposed to be in the kitchen.

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate some of the items. But as much as Mom had always tried to hide it. He knew that money was always a bit tight. And while they didn’t have Gabe around to spend it to his own pleasure.

Usually it would have gone to other things.

Like maybe next year’s school tuition.

“One of your half siblings keeps sending me things. Now that they know your father is having you around the rest of the family.”

Huh. Percy looked back down at the skateboard for a second, spinning one of the wheels absentmindedly. That was nice. Though he felt like he was having more questions with that answer than anything else. Like how had they found skateboards being a thing he liked? Was it because of talking to his stepmother or something.

The gesture was appreciated. And meant he would be able to participate in some contests around town without the usual maintenance at the start of summer.

But he definitely hadn’t seen this coming.

“Which one?” Percy asked with a frown. Trying to think of whom it could be. He knew he had some half sisters but none of them had been to Atlantis yet. So he hadn’t a clue who was behind it. “I know it's not Triton.”

“You are correct, and I remember Amphitrite mentioned you and Triton didn’t particularly get along well at first.”

“I mean its still not great. But at least its no longer outright hostile.” Percy said with a shrug. 

Triton was trying to be friendlier. That he could at least tell. But him and his half brother weren’t on great terms either still. And he wasn’t sure if they would ever be.

(Which kind of suckked at times even if he wouldn’t say it. He would like to have a relationship with someone like an older brother like Triton. But he doesn’t think they will ever get that close.

The closest he’s ever gotten and probably will get was with Luke. And well they all knew how that had turned out in the end.)

His Mom came up to the doorway now and he could see a small frown on her face. “I thought you were comfortable staying with them.”

“ I am. I don’t need to be friends with him to be comfortable in Atlantis Mom.” If comfort was a qualifier to going somewhere he wouldn’t have been able to go to most of the schools he had attended. “Besides, at least I know what to expect with him.”

His Mom sighed knowing what he was referencing. “I really wish I could have prevented your problems from teachers from happening.”

“It’s not your fault Mom. You tried everything.”

“But to answer your first question, it's Rhode who keeps sending things. Apparently she actually keeps in touch with the mortal world and has some money to splurge. So she just keeps dropping things off when I’m out. I wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped by this weekend.”

“I kind of hope not. I would just like to keep it to the two of us if possible. She can come see me in Atlantis the last time I checked.”

“Maybe she wants to do something in the mortal realm?”

“Like what?” Percy asked, making a slight face.

“Well considering she keeps dropping things off. Maybe she wants to actually go shopping? For what they would consider mortal things.”

Maybe. And it was a nice gesture he knew if that was the case. But he would rather have this weekend to himself and Mom. And then go shopping with Rhode the next one. Rather than do it all in one weekend. But he’s not entirely sure if he’ll get that wish.

Chapter Text

Percy bit his lip from saying what he was thinking when Rhode first showed up at the apartment door the following morning to take him shopping. Because it would just come off as rude. And his Mom wouldn’t let him hear the end of it.

“And you couldn’t meet me when we were in Atlantis because?” Internally cringing since that probably wasn’t any better than his first thoughts he knew.

In his defense he hadn’t had time alone with his Mom in months. Pardon him for being maybe not fully happy at the presence of one of his immortal family members.

“ Percy. ” His Mom scolded.

“Sorry I just wanted some time to ourselves.” And not having to deal with trying to figure out what to expect from his Dad’s family again. Since he had heard of Rhode. Amphitrite had talked about her before.

But not enough for him to have a solid grasp on what she was like.

“It’s fine Ms. Jackson. I knew this could happen.”

“Sally is just fine dear.” She corrected before giving Percy a pointed look. “And Percy should know better regardless of his feelings on the matter.”

Percy cringed at that. Definitely was going to get a lecture from her once Rhode had left. He recognized that tone anywhere.

“Sorry. Though I am wondering why you're visiting here?”

Hopefully that came off as more polite.

“I was hoping to take you shopping. Consider it making up for missed birthdays if you must.”

Huh.

So Atlanteans did celebrate birthdays it sounded like. Or maybe Rhode knew about it because she spent so much time around mortals? Either one was technically possible. 

“I don’t know…” Percy trailed off for a second.

“I need to get some work done for one of my classes anyway Percy. So you would be sitting around all day anyway.”

Oh right college.

He had almost forgotten his Mom was enrolled in that.

“Well I guess…but I don’t want to spend all day doing it.”

For one this was supposed to be time with Mom. For another, spending all day shopping was so far removed from being his thing. 

“Fair enough. I’ll plan to bring you back after lunch.”

“Thanks.”

Rhode had ended up taking him to a nearby mall. And between shops they were talking. If a bit awkwardly. “Sorry about earlier. I just hadn’t seen Mom in almost four months. And I know that probably is a blink of an eye to you Gods. But for me-”

“It’s a long time to be separated?”

“Especially after only haven been home for a couple of weeks around Christmas.” Percy admitted. 

Maybe if he hadn’t been at boarding school for the past year. Than it wouldn’t have bothered him so much. But he had been at Yancy and while that had meant time away from Gabe. It also had meant time away from his Mom. And he had missed her.

“It’s understandable. Like I said to your mother. I know you meant no real offense by it. And while our own immortal family is messy. At least those of us closest to Mother and Father. Would be hard pressed to be separated for centuries.”

Right time scale for gods was a whole other matter. 

“Though I am trying to understand why you only decided to come up to me now?”

Again he had been in Atlantis for months. That should have been plenty of time to meet his other immortal half siblings.

“Mother mentioned you were going to be spending extended time in Atlantis.” Percy opened his mouth to say that he technically already had but Rhode beat him to it. “Beyond what you already had. So call it curiosity I suppose. It’s been a while since any of father's children have spent extended time in Atlantis. Which is unusual nowadays since mother and brother tend to not always have the patience to deal with their antics.”

“Yeah I know that already.”

“You do?” Rhode asked in genuine surprise.

“Amphitrite gave me a kid friendly list of incidents that had happened with them and other heroes. Plus some extra stuff. So I might not know everything. But I know probably more than most.” Percy explained with a shrug.

“I’m surprised she did that considering well…”

“They’re not all kid friendly?” Rhode nodded. “Yeah I was told multiple times that there were even more stories and tales. But Amphitrite didn’t want to share all of them. But I wanted something so I took what I got.”

Admittedly he still might find out about it, if some of the other campers got talking, but that wasn’t on his stepfamily. That was on other campers.

“I would say I wish he hadn’t granted him godhood. But something tells me even if Zeus hadn’t gifted him that. He would just have found another way to achieve it.”

“Should I be concerned about any other half siblings showing up?” He wanted to actually be prepared in case this happened a second time. 

“Hm Benthesykime might come over eventually on her own. But I doubt our other sister Kymopoleia will. Her and our parents have had some difficulties in recent centuries. And the rest shouldn’t be showing up and honestly are more of a concern if they do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lets just say one of our half brothers runs an arena in the Labyrinth. And another is a pirate captain. And that is only a couple of family members that you could do without meeting.”

“That bad?”

Rhode pursed her lip at that. “Let’s just say the pirate captain I’ve had some encounters with in passing. Since he usually stays in the Mediterranean he is closer to my home than to Atlantis’ current location. And they are never pleasant.” 

“And the arena dude?”

“Routinely sacrifices skulls of anyone unlucky to end up there to father.”

Well now he was starting to understand better why Triton didn’t like a good chunk of his half siblings. And it probably wasn’t just because of the whole hero thing.

Percy wrinkled his nose at that. “Does Dad even want those?”

“No. Or at least not in several millennia.” Right Dad used to be a lot different then he was now wasn’t he Percy though belatedly. “Though even then that wasn’t his first choice in offering. But that change certainly hasn’t stopping him. And Father isn’t really going to go out of his way to try and correct him considering the Arena is in the Labyrinth.”

“Why not?”

“No one likes going in there. While Gods can get themselves out without problem. It is still an unpleasant place even for us. Besides Father has too many things to begin with even before that to try and correct the whole thing.”

“On the more tame side of things. You might encounter Pegasus though that is also highly unlikely. While he is around somewhere no one has actually seen him in a long time. Even by our standards.”

“I am assuming this isn’t just specifically the ones I’ve seen around at camp?”

“No this one specifically the progenitor of the ones you know.”

“Huh,” Percy said. “Is this because of the Lord of Horses thing?”

“Sort of.” Rhode answered. “That is a separate creation from Pegasus’ admittedly. But they have enough similarities to fall under the title.”

“Yeah that tracks considering I talked to that Zebra last summer.” Or rather the Zebra was talking to him.

Rhode blinked in surprise at that. “Why were you talking to a Zebra?”

“Long story.”

“What happened to your hand?”

Shopping was done. Rhode had insisted on getting him some food before she dropped him back at the apartment. And to her credit she had managed to keep it to the morning like she had promised earlier.

Percy blinked looking at his hand before realizing she was probably referring to the scar from the pit scorpion. “Oh that. I got stung by a pit scorpion back in August.”

Rhode stares at him for a moment not fully comprehending what he had said apparently. “A pit- just how in Khaos’ name did you survive that?”

“Dad.”

Rhode blinked, seeming to connect the dots as she said more to herself then to him. “ That’s how you ended up in Atlantis.”

Percy frowned at that. “Did Dad not tell you what happened?”

“No. We all knew something had happened. But as far as I know the only one aware of what actually happened is Mother and Triton. And father of course. We knew he had brought you to Antlatis. But he’s been rather tight lipped about the whole thing.” Rhode admitted. “And now I think I understand why. May I ask what happened?”

Percy bit his lip, turning away from Rhode at the question. He had never actually told the full details to anyone about what had happened. It had always come out in pieces in conversation. Or arguments in the case of Triton. 

And while Rhode was nice enough he wasn’t sure about telling her it yet either.

“Apologies, I should have realized it was a difficult topic.”

“It’s-” Percy started to say fine but cut himself off. It wasn’t fine. He wasn’t sure if it would ever be fine. But he knew Rhode hadn’t been malicious in the question. “Difficult. A lot of last summer is.”

Luke turning traitor had been the cherry on top of a crap series of events. And while the entire time at Camp Half Blood hadn’t been bad. There were still events he would just rather not think about from the summer.

“I can’t imagine finding out who your father was, was the easiest.”

“It definitely had its bad moments.” Percy said. Remembering distinctly the whole mess of the camp avoiding him like the plague right after he had been claimed. “But it wasn’t all bad at least.”

Sure he had the now ongoing rivalry with the Ares cabin. But he also had met Annabeth and some of his other friends. And despite the rocky start he was glad to have met them.

“Have you ever been to Camp Half Blood?” Percy asked.

Rhode shook her head at the question. “I can’t say I have. I have sons of my own. But after losing my own husband. I tend to find it difficult to always engage with mortals on the level that would create a demigod. Since they are even more fleeting than the risk of fading.”

“Fading?” Percy asked tilting his head in confusion. Deciding to just ignore the comment about not normally interacting with mortals. For the thing he was more curious about.

Rhode frowned. “Did Chiron not explain that to you?”

“No.” Percy said reluctantly with a small cringe. “Chiron’s…introduction to camp wasn’t the best if we’re being honest. He’s amazing, don't get me wrong. But he only gave me half answers when I asked questions. And left out stuff that I had to find out the hard way.”

Like what undetermined meant. Or what a demigod was. Or not explaining what stocking the woods meant.

Okay so maybe Chiron had left a concerning amount of details during the tour if he stopped to think about it. But it couldn’t be any worse than the video he had skipped, right?

“Ah well fading is probably what can be described as one of the closest things to an immortal dying.”

Percy blinked. “Immortals can die?”

That seemed to contradict the whole term immortal. But what did he know apparently? 

“It’s complicated. Basically it’s when a God becomes so forgotten that they simply fade back into Khaos. With Apollo taking over for most of my husbands jobs in later years of our existence. People forgot his existence until one day he was simply gone.”

Yeah okay that he could get why paranoia would probably keep that information under lock and key.

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”

“It wasn’t easy. And I still miss him. Who knows in the end if I’ll see him again. But part of me likes to think so.”

“You guys don’t know what happens after fading?”

“No, it’s one of the universe's great mysteries. There hasn’t been a case that I know of of a god returning after fading. So we’ve never had a chance to ask them. All we can do is speculate.”

“I hope you see him again.” He didn’t particularly like to think about someone in his family fading. Even if he had just met some of them. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have to wish for his sister to not see the old Sun God.

“Thank you. Losing family is always difficult.”

“He’s not the only one you lost?” Percy asked, frowning, now starting to wonder how often fading actually occurred.

“No, admittedly we didn’t lose her to fading. But you’ll need to ask Triton about that story. Since it is not my story to tell. I wasn’t around her nearly as much as some of the rest of the family was. So it doesn’t feel like its my place to share it”

Well that was fair. Even as he realized if it came down to Triton telling him he was probably never going to hear it then. 

“Why did you decide to ask if I had been to camp anyway?”

“Curiosity mainly. I was just wondering how often gods come to visit.” Because for some reason he had started thinking about the Hermes’ cabin state. And he had to wonder if anyone other than Mr. D. was aware of it.

“Ancient Laws unfortunately prohibit it to an extent. Especially since our uncle has such a tight grip on them.”

“So not that often?”

“From what I know. Yes. Why are you asking?”

“Just wondering how many people know what the Hermes cabin is like.”

Rhode tilted her head in confusion at that. “What do you mean by that?”

Oh boy. Something told him the rest of this conversation was going to be interesting to say the least.

“What are you doing here?” Percy asked upon seeing one of his other half sisters at the door the next morning. Percy winced a second later realizing how that sounded. “Sorry.”

At least Mom hadn’t heard him this time. He had already had one long lecture from her about the comment to Rhode yesterday.

Benthesykime however just waved off the concern. “It’s okay. I can understand the frustration. I won’t take up much of your time Perseus I promise.”

Honestly this was taking up more than enough time as it was in his opinion. Could he get just one day this weekend to himself and his Mom?

Like he doesn’t mind meeting his other half siblings really. And Rhode had said Benthesykime might come by. But like with Rhode he would have preferred this happened when he was already in Atlantis.

Maybe if he hadn’t seen his Mom in several months he would be less cranky about this whole thing. But come on he hadn’t been around her for more then a day since before the start of the last spring semester.

He had waited more than long enough for just some quality time with his Mom.

“I just had heard from Rhode mentioned you were wondering if I could do something about the living situation at camp?”

Oh.

That’s what this was about.

He had ended up telling Rhode the whole Hermes cabin situation. And to say she wasn’t pleased might have been an understatement. Having left muttering something about contacting one of their sisters, Benthesykime, to see if she could do anything. 

Percy had looked up information just in case she did show up. But honestly had been hoping he would get the day to him and his Mom.

And while he wanted more time with just his Mom…This was one thing he didn’t want to see just get ignored. Even if most of the campers were gone for the year. This was probably going to take a while to fix he had a feeling.

“Yeah so what did Rhode tell you?”

“Not much. She said it was best to hear from you. But that there was a concerning possible welfare issue around the children at camp?”

“Yeah that’s about right. So how much do you know what the Hermes cabin looks like at camp?”

“Nothing I haven’t visited the camp in a while. Though something tells me I am not going to like what you are about to tell me.”

“Probably not.” Percy agreed with a wince before explaining just how much of a problem apparently the camp was having.

Percy didn’t need to know his half sister well. To know she was not happy at what she had been told about the camp. Which made sense he supposes. She was supposed to be the patron of children. But if that’s the case he had a whole new question. 

“If you think this is such a concern why didn’t you ask about this before?” Percy said, tilting his head slightly. It felt like as a goddess that was a patron of children, she would have noticed this before. But apparently the Hermes situation was news to her.

Benthesykime sighed. “My duties have been focused elsewhere I will admit. Since I believed Chiron and Dionysus could handle the situation at camp. That doesn’t excuse me not looking into this before and making sure things were okay. But that was my reasoning.”

Okay that was fair.

You would think Chiron especially would have a better grasp on things. Considering apparently how long he had been around for. Maybe he hadn’t been able to before because of Godly interference?

Something to bug his Dad about at least. Since he would know more and was more likely to give him a straight answer on what he thinks.

Benthesykime frowned in thought, tapping one of her fingers on the table before asking. “Would you mind more cabin mates?”

Percy blinked at the suggestion, having not expected it. “I guess not as long as it doesn’t mean our cabin ends up as cramped as Hermes’. Never really thought about it before to be honest since I’m supposed to be a forbidden child.”

It honestly would be nice to have company in the cabin. It got kind of lonely there at times. It at the very least would maybe make him feel less like the other cabins. Over something he had no control over.

“No and unless you have another demigod sibling or even less likely a cyclopes sibling around we don’t know about. They wouldn’t be a half sibling. More children of other sea or possible water deities depending on other factors. I’m honestly surprised this hasn’t been suggested before. Do you know if any are at the camp?”

“I honestly have no clue.” Percy said with a frown. Though now he was wondering why none of them had approached him before if they were there. Was it the forbidden kid thing again? Because if it was, that really did suck. “A chunk of camp avoided me after Dad claimed me. So it could be that they just didn’t feel comfortable talking to me yet.”

Now she was frowning at him. “And Chiron did nothing about it?”

Percy shrugged at the question. “Nothing I am aware of at least.”

Maybe he had done something behind the scenes. But Percy had never known about it if he had.

Benthesykime muttered something in Ancient Greek that he didn’t understand. Though judging by the pinched face she was now making. Percy is pretty sure whatever it is isn’t complimentary to either Chiron or Mr. D..

“Looks like I’ll be having several words about conduct with them next time I visit.”

“I mean if you really want to talk about them about how the camp is being run. Then you should know these aren’t the only issues I saw last summer.”

He had mainly focused on the Hermes and crowded cabin situation. But there were other things that seemed like a problem. Like how Luke had been the one in charge of training people how to use a sword.

And now he was gone.

So he wasn’t sure if they would have a teacher for next summer.

“Wonderful.” Benthesykime said with an exasperated sigh. “Well best to fill me in.”

Benthesykime was not a happy goddess by the time Percy had finished telling her all he could think of. From the whole desert punishment for maiming apparently. To the weird swordsmanship situation at camp.

To say the least his half sister was going to have a lot to talk about with the centaur and the god.

“Do you think he’ll actually allow it?” Percy asked, tilting his head slightly in question.

“Who?”

“Chiron or Dad. Chiron’s a bit set in the way he does things it feels like sometimes. And Dad…well he is known for his protectiveness.”

“Yes I am aware.” Benthesykime said thinking for a moment. “For father as long as they are deities he is familiar with there shouldn’t be any problems. And even then with certain points I might be able to get him to expand on who he allows. Chiron though…I can’t entirely predict. Though at the end of the day it's up to father, who is allowed in the cabin. Not him.”

Well that was good to know. And actually explained sort of Chiron’s reaction to him trying to stick his head in the cabin before his claiming. 

“And the ignoring thing won’t impact you possibly hosting them?”

Percy just shrugged at that fiddling with the cup again. “If I had a problem with people ignoring me. Then I would have an issue with the whole camp after that first week after Dad claimed me.” It was just too much trouble to do that. “Of course it hurt at the time. But…I don’t want to be left alone even more.”

Though he has to wonder if they hadn’t approached him last summer after more time had passed. If they would even be willing to spend time with him next summer. Would they only do it because of moving cabins? Because that felt like a whole other problem in itself.

“That shouldn’t have been allowed to occur.”

“It’s fine. Not the first time I’ve experienced something like this.” When teachers hate you as much as some of his had. And add in his ability to see weird things. It results in you not being the most popular kid around.

Benthesykime looked at him for a long moment before saying. “That doesn’t make it right.”

Percy just shrugged at that. Not really wanting to think about the rightness or wrongness of the situation. It honestly would just make what happened hurt more. And he would rather not deal with it. “It is what it is. As long as that doesn’t happen again I’ll live with a one off.”

He’s not sure what would happen if he spent too long thinking about what had happened. He just knows right now he doesn’t want to spend that time or energy on that.

Chapter Text

Monday morning came a bit too quick for Percy’s liking.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t looking forward to maybe starting lessons in Atlantis. Well, okay, he was a bit nervous about that considering his previous school record.

(Just because this time it should be different didn’t mean it actually would be. There had been times when they had thought that about other schools as well. And been disproven. Every. Single. Time.)

However, after months of not seeing his Mom. Two full days back in Manhattan didn’t seem like nearly enough time. Even knowing he had fully agreed to this schedule.

At least he knew when he would be coming home next he supposed.

Barring any surprises the schedule would stay as drop off on Friday afternoon. And then pick up early Monday morning before Sally had to be at work.

Part of him wondered if either of his half sisters would come visit once he was back in Atlantis. Or if this was going to be a thing only when he was in Manhattan.

Which he really hoped it wasn’t. They were nice. And the visits had been more pleasant than pretty much any interaction with Triton up until this point. But sometimes he just wanted it to be his Mom and him.

Not his Mom, him, and his randomly showing up Godly family members.

“It will be different this time.”

“But what if it isn’t?” Percy said absentmindedly playing with a loose string on the hoodie he had on. Since it was now October New York was getting colder which meant more layers. Even if he wasn’t going to be outside much longer before Amphitrite arrived to pick him up.

“I’m sure it will work out. Things are pretty different this time after all.”

While that was definitely true…“I know. It’s just how many times we think something was going to be different and then it wasn’t. Or got told by some teacher that they could handle me and then they didn’t?” 

“I really wish you hadn’t noticed that.”

“I’m not oblivious Mom.”

Sally sighed at that. “I know.”

“So what if it doesn’t?”

What if Triton stopped being able to stand him? What if one of these other teachers couldn’t handle his ADHD. What were they going to do if things went lopsided?

Would he need to stop going to Atlantis entirely? Because honestly as much as he had mixed feelings sometimes about this whole thing. He was looking forward to getting to know more about the other half of his family’s side. After spending years in the dark.

“Then we’ll just have to figure something else out I suppose. But let's not try to borrow trouble by worrying that something will go wrong before it even happens.”

As it turned out, lessons with Triton were pretty much what they had already been. Morning meetups in the arena to go over things for about two hours. With the exception of Mondays where Triton would be off working as Percy was returning from time with his mother. 

Originally after that he was turned loose until he was with Amphitrite.

Of course now he wasn’t going to have as much freetime after. But at least that part of the schedule was consistent.

But even with the consistency there was still some nervousness for a reason he couldn’t entirely place. This was just a more formal version of what he had been doing for the past two months. There was no reason to think anything would change. But that little doubtful voice in the back of his head had him questioning it anyway.

“You’re not the worst teacher I’ve had.” Percy just said with a slight shrug parring a blow from Triton. He wasn’t the best either. That honor went to Chiron. But in terms of teaching ability he still did better then a lot of his old teachers. Even with how much they hadn’t really gotten along in the beginning.

“I am not sure if I should view that as an insult or not.” Triton said after a moment staring at him with narrowed eyes. Which Percy just shrugged at.

Triton could take it however he wanted for all he cared. If being around adults had taught them anything. It was that sometimes they would come to their own conclusions about what he had said regardless of what he tried to tell them to the contrary. So rather than fight it he just let them roll with it at this point.

“That’s even less clarifying.” Triton said, eyes narrowing even further somehow.

“I mean the best teacher I’ve had, period. Regardless of the subject was Chiron and well-” Percy didn’t think he needed to elaborate why Triton ranked below him. Even with his pride he should realize what he was saying.

“Ah that’s a fair point. Hard to beat someone who has been teaching heroes for millenia at his own task.” Triton said banishing his own weapon he had been practicing with.

Percy capped the sword taking it as meaning that they were done with the lessons for today. Triton would tell him really quickly if he was wrong at least.

Triton stared at him for a moment longer watching him fiddle with Riptide. “We really need to work on this habit of yours, fidgeting with your weapon. How often do you do this?”

Percy just shrugged at the question "Dunno. I just like it because it keeps my hands busy."

Because to be honest he hadn’t really thought that hard about it. Maybe he should have in hindsight. Since Riptide could hurt him as much as it could hurt monsters. But it hadn’t. Admittedly needing to fidget with something was only half the reason he kept doing this with Riptide. After the last summer it sometimes helped ground him knowing he had a weapon if needed.

Not that he probably would need one in the palace of Atlantis. But there was just something reassuring about it.

“So you’ve had some bad teachers then?” Triton asks deciding to drop the fidgeting for the moment apparently.

“To say the least. Even the ones that didn’t hate me tended to pretend to put up with me. But really couldn’t be bothered half the time with teaching me it felt like.”

“...That is a problem.”

“And with you at least I know what I’m getting. Which technically is a whole other thing with some of my old teachers. But hey you're at least teaching me. Can’t say that about everyone else who's been my teacher.”

Triton hummed at that in agreement. “True. I suppose I never saw a reason to mince my words with you. Though mortals are odd if there is a correlation between being polite and being a bad teacher to a student.”

“Yeah, well that’s how it was. Don’t ask me why I didn’t understand it half the time. Anyways do you think your Mom does that around me?” Percy asked, looking at Triton curiously. Amphitrite had always seemed so polite. So that honestly wouldn’t be that much of a shock. Though it did make him wonder if the behavior from her was genuine or an act.

“Honestly without being around for longer conversations it is harder to determine.”

Right beyond occasional meals. It wasn’t like they had ever been in one place at the same time to have a long conversation. Usually at least one of his immortal family members was off doing something else during meal times. So most days he would have at most one around. 

Sometimes when it was too hectic he would be by himself.

Which wasn’t new. He used to have meals alone (he did not count Gabe being there as having company) when his Mom was at work. 

So it didn’t bother him.

Really.

He honestly was more worried about what Amphitrite might be thinking. While saying something else entirely.

“Honestly if you are that concerned. Asking mother herself would be the best.”

Yeah Percy was hesitant on that for a different reason.

Percy liked lessons with Amphitrite. But at times he still couldn’t help but question the choice in having weaving be a whole other thing from the other things she was going to teach him. No matter how insistent she continued to be about it. He was tempted to ask her about it. 

The problem was that part of him just wanted to come right out and ask about it. And just get the anxiety over and done with. But the louder part of him just wanted to leave it be. Rather being content without knowing one way or another. Not knowing if his stepmother was only putting up with him for appearances sake. 

In the end even though he couldn’t bring himself to exactly ask about that. He did end up asking about another thing that had been bothering him particularly about taking up time. Since he knows what his Dad said. That it had been her idea. But he couldn’t entirely shake the doubts.

So instead he had asked about whether or not maybe they should be doing the weaving at the same time as the other lessons. Since that relatively easy way to get the answer without actually asking the question.

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow in amusement at the question. “Do you think you would be able to properly listen while doing this?”

“Maybe?” Amphitrite gave him a curious look at that before motioning for him to continue and explain it. “It’s just sometimes when I’m supposed to be listening, occupying my hands makes it easier to pay attention? It's the whole ADHD thing I think.”

Admittedly he hadn’t had much of a chance to actually try it out before. Most of the teachers wouldn’t let him have access to anything to fidget with that wasn’t some kind of pen. But he had seen other classmates get away with it. The ones that didn’t get on the teacher's bad side for just existing at times it felt like.

“Though there are other ways to keep my hands occupied admittedly.” This just seemed like the easiest solution to him.

Amphitrite hummed at that, seeming to be considering something before she said. “I will admit I had not considered the possibility of using your hands making things a bit easier. It’s not something I’ve dealt with when teaching other demigods.”

Well that was the best result he could hope for at the moment he guessed.

“You’ve taught other demigods before?” Percy asked, blinking in surprise. He didn’t remember this coming up before but then again maybe he was just forgetting it?

“It’s been a very long time but yes. Theseus was the last one that I chose to try and teach things to. Since after that we stopped allowing your fathers heroes to come around so often.”

Well that explained it then. But man did it really show how much of an impact Theseus had had on everyone. Even further down the line. He had literally lived millenia ago. But had left such a lasting impact that even now he was causing problems. 

Though it was interesting since the last time she had taught anyone besides her own children was Theseus. Then he really was even more surprised that she had agreed to take him on as a student considering how that had turned out.

He hadn’t thought he had made that much of an impression. But it seemed like it if she really was trying to separate him from the other heroes then. Which was definitely appreciated.

Maybe he didn’t have to worry about what Amphitrite actually thought after all.

“Either way its something I will consider for the future.”

If anything beat his recent nerves about Amphetrite’s views on him. After Triton had implanted that idea into his head intentionally or not. It was training with his Dad for the first time.

Partly because even with some of the awkward at best conversations he had at times. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from him. He knew what he had been told over and over growing up by people that weren’t his Mom.  Something he knew he shouldn’t take at face value but at the same time…you can only hear other kids say so many things so many times. Before it sticks.

All being compounded by being called a wrongdoing back on the solstice. And basically wishing he hadn’t been born. Even if it was supposed to be because of sparing him a hero’s fate.

And yeah…he was definitely nervous about these lessons. 

It probably was better than it would have been if he hadn’t been spending so much time in Atlantis recently. And despite the awkwardness of just not knowing each other he thinks things have gotten better.

But he wasn’t completely without nervousness.

Since he had to wonder after his Dad’s comments during the summer solstice. About his regrets about him being born. If this was entirely something he actually wanted to be doing.

Not that he could bring himself to actually ask about that. No he didn’t want to borrow trouble at least with this.

“So what do you know you can do at this point?” Is the question his Dad leads with.

“Not much. I honestly haven’t tried because there’s not like there’s much of anyone I can ask about this at camp.” Percy admitted with a shrug. 

It wasn’t like there had been anyone at camp to teach him how to make a storm even if he wanted to learn that. And to be honest considering how camp had been for a long while around him. The last thing he had needed was freaking everyone out by showing he could make a storm if that was within his abilities.

“I mean I know I can control water. Done that a few times now. Can use a sword though that's not exactly unique to me.” And now a days after Triton’s criticism and subsequent lessons had fairly quickly deconstructed that idea of him maybe being decent at it. So he wasn’t entirely sure if that even counted as a skill.

Had Triton told their Dad about his lack of swordsmanship? He remembered hearing that Amphitrite had been told about it. But he wasn’t so sure if his Dad had been informed on that. And he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to be the one to tell him that either.

“Oh and I’m good with canoeing. So I guess I’m good with boats in some form?”

To be honest he still wasn’t entirely sure how it tied back to who his Dad was. Only that it had to in some form considering he could beat even the oldest of the campers at a canoe race.

“Yes, control of seafaring vessels tends to run in the family. Usually anyway.”

“Usually?”

“Sometimes we come up in conflict with another deity who for some reason their domain allows them also control of a ship. It’s not often but it does happen. Usually with war ships belonging to Ares.”

Oh that makes sense.

And considering what happened last summer he has to wonder what would happen if he ended up on a ship that was less his Dads. And more the god of Wars. Would he get repelled or something as soon as he touched the deck?

Well it wasn’t like he was going to be going on any Ares war ships any time soon if ever. So it really didn’t matter, he guessed.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it however. The likelihood that you will have to deal with that while not impossible is still unlikely. And with last summer's events…”

“You heard about that?”

“The whole council knows about that fight.” his Dad let out a small chuckle at that. “Though I’m not happy with your cousin's choice in actions after. What he did…was uncalled for. Especially considering his own responsibility in his actions.”

Percy got the distinct impression that he wanted to use some word stronger than uncalled for. But had decided to self censor himself on it. “Is there any way to undo it?”

His Dad shook his head at the question. “Not easily with an open ended curse like that. The easiest way would be to convince Ares to lift it to begin with which-”

“He’s not going to do it.”

“No it’s unlikely even if I got involved at least at this point. Maybe when tempers cool I can try but that could take a while.”

Yeah something told him that wouldn’t be happening in his lifetime.

Well, as long as he didn’t focus on trying to succeed in a fight. Over just trying to get through it he should be fine, right? It wasn’t like he had gone into fights last summer hoping for success.

Well aside from the obvious one with Ares.

But that was the exception obviously. 

“Also should we even be trying some of these abilities you mentioned before? I mean won’t that just cause problems somehow.”

The last thing he wanted was to cause some poor unsuspecting seaside town to get wrecked. Because he had no clue how to even manage the abilities. And Dad wanted to experiment with him to see just how many domains he could tap into.

It would be useful if he faced Luke again. But he really didn’t want to freak other campers out if he could afford it.

“Possibly but it is better for you to learn if you have those abilities here. And how to use them then somewhere else with someone who will not know how to handle them.”

That was actually a good point. It didn’t entirely make him less nervous but if he had better control bad things won’t happen right?

“I think pretty much every time has been by accident so far.” Percy admitted after a moment of thought.

Nancy had been more of a subconscious reaction. As had hosing down Clarisse with toilet water. But then the time in the amusement park had definitely been more intentional. But he still hadn’t entirely known what he was doing at the time.

“That’s not a surprise considering that’s how it usually goes in the beginning for my demigod children outside of rare circumstances.”

Percy frowned in confusion at that. “Like what?”

“Sometimes I’ve had to send your siblings to camp earlier than I would have wished for their safety. By that point they’re usually a little more intune with their abilities even if they aren’t aware of their full heritage in most cases.”

“Benthesykime mentioned that there might be other sea deity children at camp though? Wouldn’t they also be able to do this?”

“It depends on the child. While most children of water deities inherit some sort of ability to control water. The extent of their manipulation is case by case depending on both them and their godly parents.”

“So even if there are other children who can do it. I might have more inherit skill?”

“Most likely yes.”

Well that felt like it might be a first.

Chapter Text

If there was one subject that was probably going to cause problems if he was going to be honest. It was going to be science. He still had a fairly clear memory of Mr. D’s whole rant about it when he had first arrived at camp. And he wasn’t entirely sure if they would take it much better.

While no one in Atlantis could teach him mortal science for obvious reasons. His mother had picked up a copy of the book he would have got at Merryweather. Saying it was best to follow along so in case he went next year he wasn’t completely lost. 

So here he was trying to make sense of what some of the book was saying with only moderate success. Science probably wasn’t his worst subject. Probably. But then again he had never had much luck in the way of having decent teachers of the subject.

So there was that. 

It would definitely be interesting to see if he got off better with the subject. Without having to deal with teachers and their preconceived notions. Or worse.

And that wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

The way he figured it, most likely either his Dad’s family was going to be completely fascinated by what the newest explanations they had come up with were or were going to take offense to it. And he wasn’t sure what to expect.

Thankfully it turned out to be the latter.

“If nothing else it is fascinating to see what mortals are thinking.” Amphitrite admitted flipping through the rather large book. Apparently having picked the former route over the latter. Noticing the look she was being given. “You seem surprised?”

“Yeah Mr. D. kind of went on a rant about science the last time I brought it up. So I wasn’t sure if his views on it being blasphemous was true for everyone. Or just his problem.”

Though it being his problem wouldn’t be a surprise. Considering he probably saw more of it then most considering the whole being stuck at camp thing.

“Ah yes well some gods consider it blasphemy which isn’t entirely wrong I suppose. There isn’t much we can do at this point. Not without the mist falling or something along those lines.”

“And that would be pretty bad right?”

“To say the least. Most mortals have so long forgotten we actually exist. I'm not entirely sure how they would react if the mist were to fall and our existence were to be revealed to them a second time. Among other things.”

“Other things?”

“There are some things that are less talked about. And it is not my place to tell you about them. I would also refrain from asking your father for clarification. He’ll probably know what I’m referring to. But there is a reason even within our circles we don’t discuss certain things.”

Well that was frustratingly vague. Though as he sees her attention back to the book he realizes he’s not going to get more answers out of her. Sure enough a moment later he hears her saying with a frown. “Plate tectonics…”

“Ah yeah that’s how mortals explain earthquakes nowadays.”

Actually now he was curious what did happen in the places where mortals said earthquakes occurred due to plates. Only for it to be something else entirely. Battles? That would at least explain how powerful some of them were if Dad was involved. Though maybe not the randomness.

And Annabeth bless her hadn’t been in the mortal world in so long. That she wouldn’t have known what was being taught in schools nowadays. Even with the stuff she had been taught before running away from home.

And he was curious to a degree but was uncertain about actually asking about it. 

On one hand no one had actively discouraged him asking questions, even Triton. Who for all his grumbling and complaints about training him. He didn’t mind him asking questions normally. In fact it seemed like Triton tended to get more annoyed if he refrained from asking a question. Which was the complete opposite of what he was used to and he couldn’t understand why Triton was that way.

His best guess was it was something related to the heroes thing again. But he had yet to actually ask him about it.

But years of teachers getting annoyed because sometimes thanks to his disabilities he didn’t catch on at the same rate as other kids. Made it hard sometimes to figure out when to ask questions.

“What are you wondering about?” Amphitrite asked, apparently catching slightly onto his thoughts.

Well that was an opening to ask right? So it should be okay. 

“Ah I was just curious how some things actually work. I mean I’m assuming earthquakes and storms tend to happen more when Dad is mad.” It just seemed like the kind of thing that would make sense to him at least. Though that did make him wonder about other things. "Mortals think at least quakes are caused by two things colliding basically."

“Well they're not entirely wrong in some aspects I suppose. It is caused by collisions usually. However usually it's from your father getting angry with another immortal or equally strong being when it comes to events that tend to actually get the mortals attention.”

That actually made some sense.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Answering the question.”

“Why would I not?”

“Some people get…finicky about me asking questions in my experience.” Finicky might be putting it politely admittedly.

Amphitrite frowned at that. “Is this something Triton has-”

“No. No, Triton has been actually letting me ask them. He honestly gets more grumpy when I don’t, it feels like. It’s just an old issue I used to have.”

“That is…peculiar and seemingly counterproductive to a job as an educator possibly.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to some of my old teachers.”

“I fear we may have fallen more out of touch with mortals then we seemed to have realized.”

“Yeah I’m getting that impression for most of the Gods.” Which honestly in some ways shows how out of touch they had to be with their kids. That it took him talking to his half sister before someone realized they had a problem. “I am surprised that you are even noticing it though.”

The topic of camp was something Percy honestly could say was one he had ever thought would come up with Triton. And admittedly only had seemed to come up now because he had grown curious about how things were run. Or well lack thereof in some cases.

Which leads them to their current moment. Where Triton somehow had come to the conclusion that Percy was fairly sure other gods hadn’t realized at this point. Or at the very least seemed to be ignoring.

It was unusual to say the least.

Since Triton he can almost confidently say had never had a demigod. So at least he had the excuse of never needing to know what the camp situation was like. The other gods on the other hand though were an entirely different matter.

Triton just shrugged at that. “I have been to the camp before, though it has been decades. So call it curiosity I suppose.”

Percy blinked in surprise, honestly not having expected that. But it did make sense. Triton was a messenger god so using him to deliver messages to his half siblings would add up. Though considering Triton’s early attitude he had to wonder how that had gone.

“What was camp like back then?”

Triton raised an eyebrow at that. “Perseus considering how you have come to know me in the past couple of months. Do you honestly think I could properly answer that question?”

Percy flushed slightly in embarrassment at the question. “Sorry.” Should have realized it was a dumb question in hindsight.

“Don’t be. Asking questions, even obvious ones to another, isn’t a bad thing.”

Percy frowned at that. “Amphitrite told you about my teacher comment I’m guessing?”

Well it wasn’t like he hadn’t told her not to say anything.

“Yes and like mother I find the choice from them…interesting to say the least.” Triton definitely had wanted to use a stronger word there Percy can tell. “I do not understand how mortal educators can be effective if they’re discouraging students from asking questions.”

“Yeah I don’t get it either but it was a thing. Multiple times.”

“I believe you, it's just bizarre in a horrifying fascinating way.”

“Yeah I can see that.” Partly because he still didn’t understand it even after living with that attitude.

“What is the camp like anyway may I ask?”

“Why?”

Triton just gave a slight shrug at that. “Sheer curiosity I suppose. Though if you would rather not talk about it for some reason-”

“It’s okay.” Percy interrupted. He honestly wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to give his full feelings. Especially when it tied back to several other things that weren’t even entirely related to the cabin. And had gotten better progressively over the summer. But still there was a problem. “And well things are okay at camp I guess I would say.”

“I might not know you well but I do believe your mincing words.”

Percy hesitated for a second longer before saying. “Don’t get me wrong its a nice cabin.” Deciding to start there was probably the easiest thing. The last thing they needed was for Triton to somehow take offense on their father’s behalf. “It just gets a bit lonely at times since its different then the rest of camp.”

As seen during that first week after he got claimed. And the only people that would give him the time of day were Grover and Luke.

Triton frowned for a moment before making an understanding noise. “Right you are father’s only child in the camp. Though I would have thought you would have enjoyed having the cabin to yourself.” 

There isn’t any maliciousness in the tone from what Percy can tell. Simply a want for clarification. Which is fair. He probably would have had a similar reaction if the situation was reversed if he was being honest.

“Maybe if things had been different. And don’t get me wrong I didn’t miss sleeping on the floor back when I was in the Hermes Cabin.” Triton opened his mouth to question that but Percy kept going before he could. “But I had just lost my Mom and thought I was starting to make actual friends finally. Then it all got turned upside down when Dad claimed me.”

Triton tilted his head in slight confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well there was an attack on the camp from a monster.” Or rather himself but he didn’t feel like telling Triton about the hellhound. “To try and force the quest onto me. So that didn’t make me the most popular to start with. So I was just kind of left alone for the most part. By everyone outside of two people.”

Just as he had thought he was making friends too.

That hurt, Percy recalled absentmindedly twirling Riptide in pen form in his hands. It still hurts to look back on. Even knowing things had improved since then.

Triton’s frown is back at that and deeper somehow. “Who would be foolish enough to attack a camp full of demigods?”

Percy stopped mid motion with Riptide for a second. Feeling like this should be an obvious answer. “The thief.”

“Ah that makes sense now.” Triton agreed. “Though returning to the subject at hand. Their actions seem a bit foolish…” 

“I mean you could use that to describe most of last summer.” Percy countered. And not just about the camp’s reaction. 

“True.”

“But back to what you said before. Yeah, great. I had all the room to myself in the world. But in return things got extremely lonely. No one wanted to talk to me. Train with me. Even the girl I got into a fight with because of my own powers was avoiding me.” 

It had gotten so bad he had wanted to start fights just to have some kind of contact again. He hadn’t. Partly thanks to Luke keeping him distracted.

But it had come very close to being a thing.

“That does sound lonely.”

“It was.”

“And I am understanding some of your hesitation with your abilities father mentioned.”

That had come up a bit. Percy knew his Dad was going to be testing him to understand what he could do better. And he got it was a great idea to know now and not find out the worst way possible somehow later.

But pardon him for having some hesitations after last summer when all he had was water control and healing. It made him a bit nervous about how they would react if he had something more in line with his Dads earthshaker domains. 

“Yeah so far using my powers hasn’t historically gone well.”

“Even in self defense?” Triton asked, now clearly frowning.

Percy couldn't help the sardonic laugh at the question. “In self defense trying not to get my head shoved down the toilet. Ended up with five Ares campers after me and setting up the whole situation where Dad had to claim me. Which resulted in the whole ignoring me situation.”

Like he said he got why his Dad was insisting on training some of his other powers. But after last summer there were reservations about using it in public.

If people couldn’t handle him defending himself with water what was going to happen if he used something like an earthquake to destroy the monsters?

“I feel like some people might need an education on what warrants an appropriate reaction to these kinds of scenarios.”

“Good luck with that. Unless you’re going to give the lecture yourself I don’t think it will stick.”

“I might just do that.”

“Wait seriously?” Triton was considering breaking his all to avoid the camp at all costs over that?

“Indeed. It seems foolish to react negatively to a power especially in self defense. This sets a dangerous precedent for not just yourself but other demigods down the line.”

“I mean I wouldn’t mind them being talked to.” At the very least it made him feel a bit less nervous about possible reactions to his other abilities in the future. It might not stick with everyone but if he could avoid the entire camp doing that. It was a win in his books.

“Though the level of reaction is curious since its unprecedented from what I know.”

“I’m a forbidden kid now, remember? That caused problems for me and not just from the gods’ side.” Or at least he assumed some of the problems were related to being a forbidden child. He had never really asked.

Triton at least had the decency to cringe at that. “I must admit I had not fully considered the effects the oath might have on your presence at camp.”

“It probably isn’t the only one. I know the Hermes kids weren’t willing to practice with me after the claiming because they were scared of my skills. Which probably had more to do with the Ares situation than the oath.”

“That’s an odd choice. Especially since your skills were so poor when you first arrived here.”

Percy just shrugged at that. “I just know what I was told. Probably Luke lied to them if I had to guess about what had gone down.”

Luke saying something would actually make sense. Even though it hurt to think how much he had had a hand in what had happened beyond the theft. If he had really wanted to make sure he would leave camp for the quest. Not feeling comfortable enough to stay because the other campers sure would guarantee it.

“That would track considering he is the thief.”

Chapter Text

Apparently Amphitrite's idea for teaching the more cultural aspects. Were outings into Atlantis beyond the city walls.

Which made sense to a degree. You couldn’t really learn about a place from the textbooks. Not really anyway. But he had to admit he had been a bit surprised by it.

“I’m surprised you got Dad to agree to this.” With his Dad’s protective streak he honestly thought he would be spending the weeks inside the palace. And while he was happy to experience Atlantis itself and not just a part of it.

He definitely had not expected it.

“It took some persuasion admittedly. But between myself and some plain clothes guards around he is satisfied that you will be safe within the city.”

That made some sense. She was queen of the seas. And if Dad had been with her for so long he must trust her with a lot of things that he might not trust most people with.

“Besides I think he even realizes that keeping you cooped up in the palace for your entire stay here isn’t the healthiest.”

“Yeah the palace is great but at the same time…” Percy trailed off not entirely sure what to say that might come off as an insult accidentally.

“It's hard to stay there so consistently?” Percy nodded. “Well you definitely aren’t the first of your fathers children to express similar sentiments. Which makes sense because the sea and its children do not like to be restrained. Expecting you to stay in the castle long term was never a good idea.”

Percy lets out a quiet exhale somewhat relieved that he’s not the first with the sentiment. He isn’t entirely sure he wants to know what the response would be otherwise. Even knowing Amphitrite tended to still like him better than Triton.

Sometimes even knowing how well things had been going. He kept expecting something to happen. That he would get the rug pulled out from under him and things wouldn’t be like they appeared. And the relationships he thought he had established weren’t truly there.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time either he’s encountered something like that. 

Percy gets sidetracked noticing a game some merkids who looked to be around his age are playing. It looks fun. He wants to join in but hesitates. Amphitrite probably had plans for how the day out was supposed to go and they almost certainly wouldn’t include something like this.

“Perseus, if you want to join, don't let me stop you.”

He shoots her a look full of confusion and surprise. That he definitely hadn’t expected and he hesitates for a second. Really wanting to join in on whatever they're playing. But at the same time this was supposed to be lesson time and he didn’t want her to get upset this fast. “Are you sure?”

Amphitrite just waved him off at that however. “We’ll have plenty of time for other activities. Do not worry about it.”

That’s all the encouragement Percy needs.

Amphitrite watched Perseus play for a moment with the other Mers. Keeping up relatively well despite the obvious differences that made playing a bit more challenging for her stepson.

She may have had some extra motivation behind her convincing Poseidon to let them venture beyond the castle walls. Amphitrite had to admit to herself. 

Normally she wouldn’t have put something like this together. In the past there had never been a need for it after all. But with the times changing so had the need to handle certain situations. And Perseus was still at the end of a day a child. Which, like so many other things, changed how they handled him being in Atlantis. 

Thus resulting in their current situation.

Talks with Sally had revealed a rather painful lack of friends. With apparently the first friend the boy had been able to make being his satyr protector. Every other person is being driven off for one reason or another.

(Plus Triton had told her about the conversation he had had with Perseus. About the camp’s behavior and his own attempt at downplaying what had happened. And Triton even for his own flaws had been picking up how lonely Perseus had been. 

The boy needed more friends desperately. And this seemed like a good way to make them.)

And then of course there was the Athena girl. Who while she wasn’t fond of the idea that one of the boy’s only friends was a child of Athena. Due to their families history. She wasn’t going to step in to prevent it. Just maybe give more support systems in case something did go wrong as it seemed to more often than not with their two families.

So she may have set this up covertly to give Perseus a chance to actually meet more children his age. She hadn’t met the Mers before, at least not personally. She did have reports from the staff that said they would be safe to be around. And even then considering their own standing it was highly unlikely they would pull something. And well if they did…then she was here. Along with some plain clothes guards that her husband had assigned for this outing.

Though admittedly this would only fix the problem temporarily. Perseus was going to return to the camp eventually. And while she hoped that next summer would bring better things for him.

With the Great Prophecy looming over them. There was also no guarantee of that.

Maybe a discussion with Dionysus and her husband were in order as well. There was obviously no guarantee that being around other children of the sea would make things easier. But maybe if he had more cabinmates things would be better next summer.

It was at least worth looking into in her opinion.

“Thanks. This probably wasn’t what you were planning to do when we left the castle I’m guessing.” Percy said as he came back over to his stepmother. He’s not sure how long he had been playing with the other merkids. But it probably had been long enough to mess with whatever plans she originally had.

Amphitrite hummed at that. “I honestly hadn’t set a concrete plan in stone. I feel that this sort of thing is best to happen naturally. Rather than try to set up the right circumstances.”

Okay that did make sense.

“Did you at least enjoy the game?”

Percy couldn’t help lighting up at the mention of earlier again. “Could we come back here again? I liked it. I mean I know you probably-”

“Percy-” Amphitrite cuts in before the rambling can go even further.

“What?”

“If I had an issue with the idea I would have told you from the beginning. As it is I see no reason to not come back. Like I said, some of the best ways to learn about our culture is by being around our people. And you will only see so much of that within the confines of the castle. I am glad you enjoyed it.”

“Yeah it was nice.” Percy said with a small smile.

There was a bit of underlying tension sure. But for once it felt like it wasn’t because of him being labeled as the weird troubled kid. But because he was the son of Poseidon.

And not even in the same way camp had treated him.

Even then after they had been playing long enough. Things had become less tense. It still wasn’t perfect and he didn’t know if it could ever be. But eventually he was able to relax and enjoy himself.

Maybe being a son of Poseidon didn’t have to mean things would get lonely every time after all.

Amphitrite turned Percy loose to his own devices once they returned to the palace. There would be no weaving classes tonight. There had been plenty of other activities going on to make up for it. And besides, a day off from it certainly wouldn’t do much harm.

“How did the excursion go?”

“Well. He seemed to get along well with the other mers he met. There are already discussions to meet up again at the same time next week. Though you could have just asked him yourself.”

“True but you’ll see more of how it's actually playing out versus what he sees or might even tell me.”

Which was a known fault of his sons. He was just beginning to learn about Atlantis and its residents. Some things were bound to take time to notice. And would be missed entirely in the beginning.

So thus he asked Amphitrite. Since somehow in the past months Amphitrite was  arguably closest to his son in some ways. Which felt ironic in its own ways. 

Poseidon was trying and he liked to think he was succeeding. At least to a degree. Percy had seemed to become more relaxed around him. Even if things were a bit terse during lessons at the moment. 

“True and someone needs to be looking out for him in more than lessons after all.”

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at that. “And you’re saying I’m not?”

Amphitrite shook her head at the question. “No. its just rather I think he is even less certain on how to behave around you then the rest of us. So more so by accident I might see something you might miss.” There were certain expectations and concerns the boy was going to have around two gods that were a more distant family arguably. Then his own father.

That was certainly true. Since certainly they were making up for lost time now. But that didn’t undo everything else in the past 12 years. He hadn’t always handled things the best. He had realized after their first meeting that he should have made a better word choice when talking about Percy at the Solstice meeting.

Unfortunately that damage was already done.

Though he probably should consider talking to Percy about that. And making sure they were on a clearer page on what he had meant. Versus what he accidentally implied.

After all, what good was a trained powerful demigod? If he found himself completely unhappy because certain other things weren’t being addressed due to focusing their concerns elsewhere.

No, this was important for Percy. Even he understood that much.

Just not in the way the other lessons were.

“Can any book be translated into Mermish? Even ones from the surface world?” Percy asks one afternoon in the library approaching the end of the first full week on the new schedule. As the weekend started to approach a question that had been on his mind since he first found the place. 

There were terms getting lost in translation. Things that didn’t seem to have an English equivalent at least. But it was still proving to be less of a headache then trying to get around his dyslexia to read books.

“Possibly. Though I’m not the expert on that one. While we do occasionally get works from the surface world here for one reason or another. Translation is not something I’ve ever been involved in. Let alone know the specificities. Why?”

Percy shrugs at that. “Because I think I’ll have less of a headache trying to get through at least my science book if I don’t have to deal with English.”

Amphitrite considered that for a moment before saying. “Like I said I am not sure if I am being honest. While most of it probably could be translated there might also be issues. Particularly I’m not sure if certain words in English will exist in Mermish. Because there has never been a reason for them to have an equivalent word.”

Oh.

That made sense but it was still disappointing to think about.

Well at least he didn’t have to worry about being tested on it he guessed?

“I could have someone look into it?”

“It’s fine. I dealt with the pain that is trying to read English books before. I’ll deal with it again.” Probably shouldn’t get used to it anyways if he went back to normal school next year. Since this wouldn’t be an option anyway.  “But thanks for offering anyway.”

Besides, it might just end up confusing him if the books were half in one language. And half in another. Even if he had some capability to deal with both apparently. 

And also there was a part of him that worried what going back to mortal school would be like. If he got too used to things being accommodating for once. After all, this was supposed to be for one year.

Not forever.

“You mentioned during our last conversation being friends with an Athena girl. How did that come about? Our families typically do not get along very well. I would have thought she would have avoided you more after the claiming?”

Right that conversation had been so full of topics. It had been before they had gotten to the camp structure so apparently he had briefly forgotten the brief mention of Annabeth and their friendship happening at all. And was more surprised Triton remembered it for some reason.

Did the rivalry mean so much that it really made the whole thing so unusual? Or was he missing something?

He probably was missing something.

In all honesty this wasn’t the only mystery of the afternoon. Triton had never really approached him to talk about anything before unless they were training that he could remember.

So this…this was new. Not a bad new, but still new nonetheless.

“Yeah it wasn’t easy in the beginning,” Percy admitted with a cringe. Remembering some of the comments he had overheard Annabeth saying before the quest. To say Annabeth had been angry about the reveal was probably putting it mildly in hindsight. “Being on a quest together definitely smoothed things out though.”

“You went on a quest together?”

“Yeah.”

Triton narrowed his eyes at that. “And Chiron approved of you taking her on the quest?”

“I mean it was kind of his idea to begin with?” At the very least he had made sure she was physically there when presenting the options for the quest. Without telling him first. Or maybe it was both of theirs he honestly wasn’t sure.

Not that he had any real options to begin with. The only other people he may have considered were Luke and Chris… Which would have been a disaster if he had followed through on it with Luke.

“That’s…an interesting choice.” Percy got the impression Triton wanted to use a stronger word there but had stopped himself.

“Don’t blame Chiron. It wasn’t like I had many options to begin with.”

Triton frowned, obviously a bit confused at first. Before he understood what he was saying. “Because of the other campers distancing themselves from you?”

“Yeah. The only other people I would have considered were Luke and Chris. Which considering what happened back in August-”

“The former would have resulted in a surefire disaster.”

“I probably would have actually ended up in Tartarus.” Percy said with a wince. Thinking how if Luke had been there he probably would have been pressured into wearing the shoes that had nearly dragged Grover into it. Annabeth would have gone after him. That he is pretty sure of. Luke though…last summer made it abundantly clear what he would have done. He frowns, noticing Triton is openly staring at him now. “What?”

“What do you mean you would have ended up in Tartarus?” There’s a bit of disbelief to his tone though he seems to be at least trying to mask it.

Percy blinked in surprise not having realized Triton apparently didn’t know about the incident. He thought he had said something to their Dad during the quest summation at least. But then again he honestly couldn’t remember how much he had told his Dad and Zeus about it or not. There had been so much to keep track of. Though he guessed it was possible Dad just hadn’t told Triton about any of that.

“Yeah Luke gave me a pair of cursed shoes that were supposed to drag me and the bolt into the pit once we arrived in the Underworld.”

Triton took a deep breath in at that, seeming to be considering something before asking. “And just how did you manage to avoid that?”

“I gave them to Grover. They were some Hermes shoes so I had been told I couldn’t use them without attracting our Uncle’s unwanted attention. They didn’t fit him right so when he went galavanting towards the pit they ended up being knocked off.”

He still felt guilty about that. It wasn’t like he had known the shoes were cursed for sure. But he should have just turned down the gift from Luke saying he couldn’t use them due to who his parents were.

Then again maybe Luke would have pushed them on him regardless.

“So it was luck then.”

“Pretty much.” Percy watches for a moment as Triton seems to go through several emotions before adding. “If it helps I wasn’t the one most in danger of falling in. That was Grover.”

“And would you have stood by if he had fallen in.”

“...probably not.”

He isn’t sure what he would have done exactly. Jumped in after Grover maybe? But he wouldn’t have just turned around and gone back to Hades’ palace. That much he does know.

Triton gave a soft exhale for a moment. And Percy watches him for a moment. He’s not really good at reading god if he’s being honest. But it almost seemed like he was shaken by the reveal of recent events? Which was wild to him. He didn’t think the god could have that reaction to him. Even if they were growing closer. But shaken definitely seemed like the best term here.

“What?” Triton asks, noticing him looking at the god.

“I just didn’t think you would care if I fell in.” His Mom expected that from his Dad also. Amphitrite maybe though he was less certain on that. But Triton? He hadn’t seen this coming that much for certain.

Triton seemed to consider him for a moment before finally saying. “Father doesn’t talk much about the time he was in the pit to free the prisoners of the Titans. But it clearly still has an effect on him at times. It's enough to make us all weary of it by extension. Imagining a mortal child falling in there let alone to the clutches of our grandfather…” He sighed. “It’s not a fate I would wish on anyone let alone a child.”

“Oh.” Percy isn’t sure how to respond to that. This was maybe the closest thing he had seen to Triton caring about him in the time they had known each other. And it was so far from the norm (even with the way things had been shifting between them). That he had no clue how to respond to that.

“Does father know about all of this?”

Percy shrugged at that. “I don’t know. I feel like I probably said something because of what else was going on. But the visit to Olympus is kind of a giant blur if I’m being honest. We had been going for almost a day straight at that point and just had to take a plane to get back before the deadline.”

Triton’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You took a plane?”

“Yeah we didn’t have much in the way of options since it was already the solstice by the time we got out of the Underworld. Not that that didn’t make our Uncle not complain about the whole thing.” Percy said not being able to resist the eyeroll remembering Zeus’ comments about him taking a plane.

Though now that he’s thinking about it… Part of him wonders if Zeus had been planning for them to miss the deadline at that point. Because they had no way of getting back to New York in time. Since children of the Sea were supposed to stay out of the sky.

He had just been too determined to stop a war. To consider any other options that would have gotten them back safely. They had put too much time and effort into it to stop at that point.

“That tracks.” Triton noted. Before continuing after a moment. “Though I must ask why after that you weren’t suspicious of the traitor after this happened.”

“I-” Percy cut off with a sigh. Realizing Triton had a point. There really had been no reason to not be suspicious of Luke after that. “I was in denial I guess. Like I told you before for a while Luke was the only person to give me any kind of attention. I think I thought maybe he wasn’t aware of the shoes being cursed? Honestly I can’t remember my full reasoning on that.”

“You seem to have a lot of denial involving that boy.” Percy just shrugged at that scoffing the floor of the arena with one of his shoes. Triton wasn’t entirely wrong about that.

“Like I said I didn’t have many friends.”

“Fair. Still nearly falling into Tartarus…” Triton trails off there and Percy watches Triton massage his forehead for a moment muttering something that he can’t understand. “Is something wrong?”

“No. I just hadn’t quite realized how close we came to actual war last summer.”

Percy blinks and then frowns in confusion. “You heard uncles threats.”

“Yes. But him grandstanding threats is one thing and happens more then you would realize. It’s another thing to consider his weapon would have ended up there of all places. And would have certainly kick started a war. Since he would have seen it as an admission of guilt. And father quite likely would have blamed Uncle for your death among other things.”

Percy frowned. “I don’t think I’m important enough to cause a war from Dad.” The Zeus part he agreed with but his Dad…that was a whole other matter.

Triton just raised an eyebrow at that saying one word. “Odysseus.”

“But that wasn’t a war?”

“True. But it is a good example of showcasing how father can sometimes respond to those who go after his children.”

Fair.

“Perseus.” Percy turned back to his brother who had called out to him as he had started to wander away. With the conversation seemingly over now. “Just be careful with your future friends, please.”

Percy frowned a bit confused by the request. Wondering for a moment if this was in reference to what Rhode had referenced when they had met last weekend. Or if it was something else entirely. But before he can ask Triton for clarification on if he’s just referring to Luke or someone else he is gone.

He was going to have to see if he could get Rhode to explain better the next time she was around. Because something about this didn’t feel like it was because of the Athens contest. At least not entirely.

“Were you aware Perseus nearly fell into Tartarus last summer?”

The absolutely thunderous look on his father’s face was answer enough to the question. “ He what ?”

“Perseus nearly fell into the pit. Apparently the thief had given them enchanted shoes meant to drag him and the bolt into the pit once they arrived in the Underworld.”

To be honest Triton wasn’t entirely sure why he had asked his father about this. What details with Perseus’ quests weren’t discussed beyond the usual things like the fight with Ares.

Curiosity maybe?

Since it would be a good indicator if just how much Perseus had actually discussed the quest in full. Or what else might not have been told before now. And what other unpleasant surprises might be laying around.

Though admittedly Triton doesn’t think much can top finding out his half-brother could have been dragged to his death. But who knows maybe there was something more directly involved with their grandfather?

“I would express my questions of the truth in that statement.” Amphitrie admitted. “But considering how much or rather little Perseus has even talked about the quest among other things…”

“It’s unlikely.”

A few weeks ago he definitely would have blown it off as an exaggeration. If he even believed the story happened to begin with.

But experience had been slowly teaching him that Perseus very much wasn’t the type to do so. In fact it seemed like he underplayed things when it did come up.

So him nearly falling into Tartarus?

Completely believable in a way that he wasn’t used to.

Which like he had told the boy was a terrifying prospect on multiple levels.

“I am still trying to ascertain how this happened to begin with.”

“Perseus said they were a gift from a thief. So I’m assuming grandfather was somehow behind all of it.”

“I told him to not trust the gifts.”

Though admittedly that had been supposed to been a reference to Ares. He had been sure Ares had something with the pack he had given them to give problems. He just hadn’t been able ascertain what before it was given to him.

He hadn’t even known the shoes were a thing.

Well hopefully Perseus would learn to listen to the warnings more in the future? It was the least he could hope for he supposes.

“His satyr friend was wearing the shoes. However based on what I’ve seen with Perseus he would have gone in after him if he had fallen in.”

Maybe he was stretching it a bit to have reached that conclusion the first time. But Perseus had confirmed that he would have gone in after his friend. So it wasn’t that much of one apparently.

“That definitely seems accurate. Never thought I would see the day where my brothers insistence of keeping mine and your other uncles children out of his domain would have a positive result. However, it definitely saved both of the children’s live in this case.”

If Perseus had actually worn the shoes…

Poseidon doesn’t want to think about what would have happened. Both in the immediate and the far more reaching consequences it would have had.

Chapter Text

The last lesson of the week with Poseidon looked a bit different then what they had been doing. With Percy heading back into the city in a few hours Poseidon had decided it was as a good of time as any to start tackling of trying to get the mist to work in his favor.

Honestly he might be more excited to learn this. Then he had been to Poseidon training him how to work on his more hydro related powers.

Apparently not always Poseidon kids and using the mist worked well together. But they were going to at least try. 

Though it did get him to thinking about camp again. This felt like something Chiron could have mentioned. 

And he did find it a bit weird that Chiron had said he should have trained him more before he had left on the quest. But once he had come back had never actually done any training. Leaving Percy to his own devices most of the time.

(He gets Chiron is busy. He has the whole camp to look after. But why even say something like that and just never follow through? Had he forgotten about it?)

Poseidon chuckled at the sheer enthusiasm coming off of Percy. “It’s not a guarantee of course. The Mist can still do its own thing at times. But with the right training you could definitely have an easier time of things.”

“Yeah I know.” Percy had already been warned on that several times specifically. Before they had even reached the lesson. And while he got they were just trying to keep him from getting his hopes up too high.

He couldn’t entirely help it. This could change so much if he could get a handle on it. “I know but if we can than maybe I won’t actually be expelled from my next school because of mythos stuff.”

“How often was that a problem?” His Dad asked with a frown.

“Didn’t Mom tell you?”

“She alluded to it. I knew that she was having problems placing you again. Thus why I had proposed this arrangement in the first place. But I may have failed to grasp the full severity of the problem I must admit.”

That did make sense. He did think most people just didn't realize how big of a problem it had been. At least not until they saw his school record and that he wasn’t exaggerating on the problem.“Yeah it was a think more often then not. Though I can’t tell you exact details. Outside of a few things here and there.” Like the cyclopes visit when he was younger. “Mom might be able to though.”

Though then again if she hadn’t told him the first time. Who knew if she would tell him the second time he asked about it.

“It wasn’t the only problem in school.” He seriously doubted his luck was bad enough that all six expulsions were entirely because of Greek myth stuff. But who really knew. “It just definitely didn’t help things.”

She would definitely have a better idea of what had actually been happening than he would at least Since he had probably blocked things out for his own safety without realizing it. Since while he didn’t fully understand how some things worked. He did get that realizing he was a demigod. Meant monsters coming for you.

So to keep himself safe. He had just forgotten about what had fully happened apparently.

“Well hopefully with any luck I can help you with this aspect of your school problems at the very least.”

On the other end of things, even after the first week of actual lessons. Sally had still had some private reservations about doing school this way with Percy. While an underwater world that was half of his lineage should be better suited than some of the schools she had put him in over the years.

She had also had some high hopes that hadn’t panned out as Percy grew up.

Though seeing Percy return from Atlantis for the weekend. And hearing him talk about the first lessons made her realize she had made the right choice.

This plan seemed like it was actually working. Maybe for once everything would turn out okay.

She didn’t think she had heard Percy this excited about anything with school. Since he was in kindergarten. It was nice to see him actually happy to be going to lessons for once.

Versus the normal sentiment that admittedly had been well earned over the years.

And to top it all off Percy seemed to be possibly making more friends his own age. If the conversation about Amphitrite’s lesson was any indicator. (He might not have realized what his stepmother was likely doing. But she had certainly put it together.) Something that had only happened successfully once outside of camp, with Grover.

She would need to ask Amphitrite about it the next time they talked to confirm. But she was fairly sure that had been the actual reason behind going out into the city. And she was scheduled to come by for tea while Rhode was taking Percy out the next day. So that would be as good of a time as any.

Maybe this could truly work out. A year off of traditional school wasn’t the worst idea after the last several months. Though she isn’t sure if they will be able to make it through the school year. 

While she was happy Poseidon was involved in their sons life. It had to be a matter of time before something happened and the other gods found out.

Might as well enjoy it while they could.

And start privately looking for backup options in case it did happen.

Never hurt to have a backup plan at the very least.

Percy was out with his two half sisters. This time the two of them have decided to come together apparently. Rather than come at separate times. 

Which had given her time to talk to Amphitrite. Without anyone overhearing the conversation. 

“Percy mentioned a lack of friends before. I don’t know if it will go that route with those Merchildren eventually. But I thought at the very least interacting with other children approximately his age wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Amphitrite, as it turned out, was more than happy to confirm her theory. About just why she had taken Percy out on that particular excursion. “He seemed almost lonely when he talked about school a few times to be honest.”

“That is probably correct unfortunately.”

She had always tried to help with that. But between Gabe, work, and the reality that was the school situation. Well you can only help so much no matter how you want to.

It hadn’t been until Grover had come along that Percy had managed to keep a friend for the first time. It had always been heartbreaking to watch Percy start a new school. See him all excited for new opportunities and some friends finally. Only for it to eventually fall apart.

Every single time.

It had taken a child from his fathers side of things to finally break the cycle.

“He had mentioned before that he only really had one friend before camp if I recall correctly. I wasn’t entirely sure to the truth of that.”

“Yeah that was unfortunately true. He didn’t manage to make and keep a friend until he met Grover. Who was the satyr that was assigned to him. Percy’s tendency to attract the mythological world to him wasn’t just a problem with the schools unfortunately.”

Though in some ways the two problems were linked together. Bad reputation at schools. Meant more difficulty making friends as some parents didn’t want their kids associating with Percy.

“Poseidon did mention he was particularly excited to learn how to control the mist. I’m assuming what you said is in reference to that?”

“Yeah that definitely is a factor in it.”

“It might not fix everything.” And of course Percy had been warned that there was a possibility that he wouldn’t be able to really use it. It tended to vary from child to child even more so than most children of deities. “But if it can help get him an almost normal year and some more friends. It would definitely be nice.”

Though with their luck it wouldn’t make much of a difference. With Percy’s luck he would still get kicked out of school for something else if he went back to that.

But being able to use the Mist at least would give them a fighting chance at preventing that they hadn’t had before.

Benthesykime frowned looking at her younger half brother. And then back to the group of children before going back again. Maybe this was a mortal thing that even with her patronage she was failing to understand but… “Why?”

“Doesn’t matter what I do, something always happens.”

It was a tale as old as time for him. Or really a tale as old as long as he had been in school for. Start in a new place. Try to make new friends. Something inevitably happens with Greek mythology that he has no control over. And whatever friends he happens to make just vanishes.

The first couple of times he had tried to exchange contact info with them when he got expelled. But after no one responded he had just stopped trying. It hurt less that way.

And well this wasn’t school. It was a park playground. He still couldn’t bring himself to get his hopes up that it would be different just because of a different place.

Not after the nationwide manhunt last summer that Gabe had instigated. He had a feeling that other kids' parents were going to even be more reluctant to let him be around if weird stuff happened.

Even if he had been acquitted of the things he had been accused of.

Something would happen. It always did.

The only reason he had even gone along with Amphitrite’s suggestion a couple of weeks ago. He hoped that since they were already integrated into Greek mythology the likelihood of the same problem happening again was low.

If he had been anyone else this wouldn’t be even a problem. But it had always been one for him. And he didn’t think he had enough skills with the Mist to maybe smooth things over.

“I’ll be honest I never thought of the difficulty of being a demigod and trying to befriend mortal children before.” Rhode said with a wince. Especially with one of their fathers. Who would be prone to attracting even more of the monstrous side of the Greek world. “All of my children are immortal like I mentioned before.”

“And I much prefer to assist children that don’t have the necessary support. Then have my own which is why I’m only really getting involved with camp now.”

Percy looked at her in surprise. “Really? I would have thought that you would have the most kids out of everyone.”

“You would think that with my patronage. But I always felt I was better suited helping other children of other deities. Rather than having my own. It would have been rewarding but rather difficult.”

That made sense.

After the debacle that had been the visit to the park earlier and his worries about what or what might not happen with the camp coming back as a result of it. He just wanted to talk to one of his friends again. Even if she was still mad at him over the whole thing with Luke.

Unfortunately for him one of her first questions was of course how school was going. Which wasn’t exactly something he could talk about. Annabeth wasn’t supposed to know about the weeklong trips to Atlantis. Not at this point at least.

“It's going to be interesting.” Percy trailed off, not entirely sure what else to say. 

In fact because of that, Iris Messaging Annabeth was now going to be limited to whenever he was with his Mom. Since his Dads side had been a bit worried how inevitably any conversation about him still being in Atlantis would go.

So it was weekends only.

Which was better than nothing.

At least he had someone to talk to finally about his life. That was a change from last year. And was a step up from not having anyone besides Mom very much.

“Usual problems then?”

“Yeah.”

“They try to tell you the usual crap about us needing to be medicated even though that puts us in even more danger?” 

“Not yet but it's probably a matter of time.”

They had tried that before he found out he had become a demigod. Though he wasn’t entirely sure if that was because of monsters. Or teachers just not being able to handle him.

It was kind of hard to tell.

And while his Dads side of the family wasn't going to do something like that. It wasn’t like he was going to be telling Annabeth any time soon about what was actually going on.

So he was just going to have to go off of what most likely was going to happen. Whenever he returned to normal mortal school eventually.

“How about on your end?”

The annoyed scowl from Annabeth was enough of an answer to that question. 

“Not great then either?”

“No. It apparently had been long enough since the last time I was in a normal mortal school. That I forgot how bad it actually got.”

“That’s understandable.”

And while it wasn’t something that he could relate to yet. Given what this ‘school year’ was probably going to look like. He might have that experience next year.

Since he’s not entirely sure if this will go more than a year. Something most likely was going to happen that meant it would be back to mortal schools next year. Even if they did manage to pull this mostly off without a hitch.

He still wasn’t sure if that would happen.

He kept expecting the other shoe to drop with Triton. And the recent good behavior to be some kind of front. Even though as blunt as he was at times Triton had yet to give him any reason to doubt his honesty.

Just probably too many experiences with kids putting up those kinds of fronts unfortunately. To expect at this point that there wasn’t going to be another hiccup with him eventually.

“Have you ever had them question your diagnosis?”

“I think I remember them questioning Mom a couple of times when I was younger. But as I got older and my reputation got more cemented. That kind of just stopped happening if I’m being honest.”

“Lucky. I guess this is what happens when you're going to ‘private schools’ for several years straight.”

“The excuse they gave for you only enrolling now?”

“Yes. Couldn’t exactly tell the truth. Even if we managed to convince the staff it was the truth. The amount of problems it would cause for everyone makes it not worth it.”

It was definitely going to be interesting convincing the next school that he had been at an actual school this year. And not having private tutors. His parents had both said not to worry about it when he had asked.

But he couldn’t help but wonder how it was going to work.

Well it was a problem for the future he guessed.

Knowing there was probably going to be another hiccup with Triton eventually. And having it actually happen as it turns out wasn't necessarily the same thing in terms of being prepared for it.

Things between him and Triton had been going great as of recently. No major arguments outside of the library incident. And while they weren’t particularly close Triton was at least being less antagonistic than he had in the beginning. It was just old habits more than anything that had put him on edge to begin with.

So of course something was going to happen to mess all of that up.

Rhode had warned him that Triton was probably going to be in a mood for the next week or so. But hadn’t elaborated on why he would be like that. Just a basic warning that there was an anniversary coming up that was sensitive to the family. But especially to Triton.

He didn’t think Gods kept track of certain anniversaries. That seemed like a mortal thing. But who knows, maybe his family was the exception to that standard for Gods.

But warning aside he might have slightly underestimated just the level of ornery Rhode had been inferring.

Percy frowned for a second, looking down, trying to figure out what Triton was probably staring at. He had only a couple of things that might have gotten the gods’ attention. Most of which admittedly were from the days before the camp. Somehow he didn’t think that’s what had gotten Triton’s attention. 

Then it finally clicked what must have gotten Triton’s attention. The hellhound attack from right after his arrival at Camp Half Blood at the start of summer.

It had left a couple of scars despite being immediately pushed back into the creek at first chance. Triton hadn’t seen him without a shirt on before. So this would be the first time he had noticed them.

Triton not knowing about it honestly surprised him. Dad had to know because that was when he had been claimed. He had told no one else about the events that had led up to it.

Percy wondered what else he had omitted to mention about his time before arriving in Atlantis. 

Something for another time.

“There was a hellhound attack back at the start of summer. Before the solstice.” Percy said, hoping he would just drop it. Hadn’t he mentioned this to Triton before now? He could have sworn he had. 

Maybe Triton hadn’t realized he had scars. But it was a hellhound attack after all. He probably was only alive to have this conversation because of quick timing and being near the creek.

Triton was giving him a calculating look with a slight frown on his face that told Percy he probably would not get that wish. 

Great. Why was now the time Triton decided to actually care about something concerning his well being? He hadn’t before.

“I gathered that much that wasn’t my concern. As much to the when or even how. Father didn’t mention Hades having to explain you getting attacked during your trip to the underworld to see him.”

That idea momentarily surprised Percy. More maybe the apology part than assuming it had been Hades who had sent the hellhound. After all it wasn’t like anyone had apologized for assuming he was the thief when that had all gone down.

Maybe it was a mortal vs immortal thing?

(Thinking that Hades is the one had sent the hellhound doesn’t surprise him. After all, that was how Luke had tricked Chiron into approving the quest with that same assumption.)

Percy really didn’t want to elaborate to be honest. But at the same time, it didn’t feel right to blame Hades for this. They had already done enough of that really during that quest. “Because it wasn’t Hades who sent the hellhound after me.”

Triton’s frown deepened at that for a moment before it seemed to click as he asked. “The traitor you’ve talked about then I take it?” 

Percy nodded after a second. Luke had admitted to it after all. Even as hard as it was to remember anything that had been involving the pit scorpion incident, Luke still had admitted to the fact he had sent the hellhound after him.“You “You didn’t mention this to father.” There was a slightly accusatory tone in Triton’s statement that Percy didn’t get. 

Why would he need to tell Dad? And better yet, why was Triton getting all huffy about this? The whole tone was part of the reason he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone the first time.

He had been given such a bad time over something he didn’t have any control over. And he hadn’t wanted to go through that a second time.

Yet here they were. Looking like he was going to go through Triton making assumptions again about the attack.

“I honestly thought he knew. I mean, I got claimed right after the attack.” Percy admitted with a shrug. 

Admittedly, no one had exactly told him how claiming works. Maybe they hadn’t expected him to be claimed, so it had seemed pointless. He honestly wasn’t sure why. 

All he had were guesses. Maybe his Dad hadn’t seen what happened? But then did that mean his Dad had just chosen to claim him then? If so, why?

At some point, because of the summer solstice deadline, he would have had to be claimed. But what had been stopping him from claiming him sooner than later if he couldn’t even see what was going on?

Because really, claiming him sooner certainly would have made the time crunch with returning the lightning bolt easier at least. The only thing he could think of that might explain why he had waited. Maybe he had been hoping to convince Zeus that he wasn’t the thief before the deadline.

But then again if it hadn’t worked for six months it didn’t seem likely to work then. At least not without something new working in their favor anyway.

It also didn’t fully add up with what he had been told before. That claiming usually happened because you got the attention of a God by doing something. While his Dad might have claimed him anyway because of the bolt incident. He had shown him being able to heal with the water as well.

“Honestly, after everything on the quest, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I’m surprised you even noticed it, to be honest-”

Percy was pretty sure that was more of an appearance thing than actually caring. It wasn’t like they were thick gnarly scars. The water had prevented them from being too bad at least. Half the time Percy honestly forgot they were there.

Considering while things had been improving between them. He still isn’t sure if he would label it as friendly.

“I can’t tell you why Dad maybe didn’t tell you what happened. I don’t talk about it because it’s honestly just one more thing that happened at camp that’s not fun to talk about.”

And Triton’s views on whether he cared for him or not was something Percy still wasn’t entirely sure on. So him caring about the hellhound attack just wasn’t something he had thought about before now. 

“Why? Because it puts your flaws on display?”

Great.

 Here came the conclusion jumping again.

Why did every single teacher he had before have a tendency to do this? Including Triton apparently? It was exhausting! And disappointing. Percy thought they had been getting past this.

Personally, Percy doubted anyone wanted to talk about nearly getting mauled to death. No matter what Triton apparently seemed to think.

He would rather not think of his near-death experiences if he could afford it. He would rather never think about experiences like feeling poison creeping through your body. And thinking there was nothing you could do to stop it. Because his Dad had never shown up in his life before? Why would he start not to save his life?

Yeah.  If he never thought about it again, it wouldn’t be soon enough.

Percy rolled his eyes at that, long since having lost whatever patience he had for this conversation. Which admittedly, it wasn’t much with talking to Triton.

Things like this were exactly why he and Triton didn’t get along. 

“I don’t know where you got that idea from. But no. I don’t enjoy talking about it because I don’t know if you know this. But getting mauled by a hellhound really hurts.”

Well, that at least got Triton to shut up.

“Plus camp handling of it was well subpar at best.”

“What? Because the camp didn’t treat you like a prince?”

Percy stood there floating for a moment. Trying to think of a response that somehow wouldn’t bury him here and failing.

Triton was in a mood. And there was no winning here. He knew that from experience.

If he lied and said things had gotten better at camp after claiming, then it would just feed into whatever Triton’s assumptions were and make things worse. And also had the good chance of making things even worse considering the fact that he had mentioned to Triton before that camp hadn’t handled things well after his claiming.

He just seems to have conveniently forgotten that.

If he told the truth that most of the camp had treated him like a social pariah the minute they found out who his Dad was. That the one camper who hadn’t treated him that way had turned traitor at the end of summer, leaving him to die. 

Then he risked Triton using the camp’s treatment to rub in what his actual family status is.

(While their relationship had been improving prior to the argument. Percy didn’t think him over doing that.)

“Forget I said anything. It’s not like it actually matters.” Percy says finally after a moment. Having long since tuned the god out. Before he takes off towards his room before Triton can try to stop him. It’s not like they were going to get anything else done today with the way things were going down anyway.

Percy’s almost back to his room before he calms down somewhat. He can’t say he’s surprised by Triton’s reaction. Even if it stings in a way he isn’t quite used to.

Since in his experience, the minute people got pushed back against it, which was what had happened here to an extent, they didn’t like it. A lot of times they took off. If they didn't do well. There was a chance that wasn’t in his favor that things would get worse.

Adults wanting to make him the villain were not anything new to him. The only difference between then and now was the adults slapped that label on him because of who his father was. 

Versus whatever paperwork he came into the school with.

He didn’t regret saying what he had to Triton. It was something that was probably going to come out regardless at some point. This just had been finally the breaking point of him not being able to take the god’s assumptions about him.

(Though quietly, he admitted to himself; it hurt on a different level than it had before. Sure he knew while Triton was becoming more tolerable of him. He probably still didn’t like him. But maybe he had been hoping this time things would be different.

Maybe this time because he was somewhere that was supposed to be better at handling him. It wouldn’t end the same way as it had before.

Even if he knew, that was highly unlikely, considering how Triton had behaved since he got there.

Even if he had known, it was a dumb, foolish wish.

Some part of him had hoped a foolish hope.)

He might not even have any concerns about the whole thing. If it wasn’t for the fact that Triton had been the only one training him since he had arrived in Atlantis. Which meant his only sword training tutor, and he had just had a major argument.

Great. If previous experience had taught him anything, that meant he needed to look for someone else. Since if previous experience was anything to go by, that back-breaking straw wasn’t just for him.

Hopefully, this wouldn’t get him blacklisted from every sword fighting instructor in Atlantis. That could be bad.

But then again he had handled training on his own when Luke had distanced himself after the quest. So it wouldn’t be the first time he handled it on his own.

He would not try to fool himself into thinking that things might be different this time just because Triton was technically family. Just because there was a chance that maybe Triton would come back around after whatever was bothering him passed. Didn’t mean it would actually happen.

He would be fine. He would make do. Somehow.

Well that had been a mistake.

Maybe he should have kept in mind that Perseus hadn’t had siblings before to have this kind of banter with. Maybe he should have kept in mind that regardless, maybe trying to lighten the mood around a hellhound attack was a poor choice.

And it was quite apparent Perseus had taken the words in a different direction than he had intended to. Which in hindsight was a poor mistake. He hadn’t known how he might feel about the attack.

He should have refrained from the commentary. No matter how much he was looking for a distraction or an outlet from the anniversary.

What was done was done at this point however.

He would give it a couple of days. Wait for the anniversary to pass at the very least so he doesn’t let his own grief lead to apparently stupid decisions looking for an outlet for it.

Hopefully this wouldn’t cause too many issues in the long term…

Though as he drifted out of the training grounds. No longer in the mood for even solo training at this point. His mind kept going back to one thing and trying to understand it. And continually failing at coming up with an answer that made sense.

He knew that Perseus had access to water healing. So it was only under extremely dire circumstances like what had happened with the pit scorpion did he need healer’s attention.

Did he not have access to a creek when this happened?

Mother was never going to let him hear the end of this when she found out about what had happened. And rightfully so.

“Lady Amphitrite?” Percy said in confusion later that day when his stepmother came into his room. He did have lessons with her today. But he didn’t think it was for another hour or two.

“You didn’t show up for your lesson so I came looking for you.”

Percy frowned before glancing over at the clock on the nightstand. Which reflected the fact it was well into the afternoon. He was supposed to have met Amphitrite for lessons well over a half hour ago.

Crap. He hadn’t even realized it had been that long since the whole thing with Triton. He had completely missed lunch.

He hadn’t thought he was sulking that much.

Percy sat bolt upright. “Shit. Sorry I completely lost track of time.”

Amphitrite put a placating hand on him. “Easy, I am not mad. Though I am concerned because you normally have been fairly good about showing up on time for them.”

Percy hesitated for a second before realizing she really didn’t seem angry and relaxed some. “Yeah, sorry, my mind’s been elsewhere since this morning after Triton and I got into an argument.”

“That’s not something that has upset you before.” Amphitrite frowned.

“Yeah well we hadn’t talked about this particular thing before. And I guess we were overdue for an argument. Since he decided to pick that of all things to start an argument over.” 

If it had been almost anything else he probably wouldn’t have cared. But because it was about that attack and he still had a lot of different feelings on those first two weeks at camp.

It just hadn’t gone down well.

Amphitrite sighed after a moment of him not answering the question. “Have you had anything to eat since breakfast?” He shakes his head no at the question. “Then let's go get you some food. And then you can fill me in on what happened between the two of you.”

“I’m not getting out of this am I?”

“No. I promise you’re not in trouble, Perseus.” He shoots her skeptical look at that. “I swear. I just want to understand what led to this that is all.”

Percy stabbed at his late lunch with a fork. Despite it being past lunch he wasn’t that hungry. And found himself more distracted trying to figure out how to start explaining the argument that had happened.

The more he thought about it the more he didn’t want to tell Amphitrite about it at all. Because he expected her to side with Triton on it.

And he isn’t sure if he can take conclusion jumping a second time that day.

The first time had been bad enough. 

“Did you know someone summoned a hellhound at camp?”

Amphitrite’s confusion over the sudden topic was quickly replaced by horror. “I’m sorry someone summoned a what?”

She had known that the camp must be having issues. If no one had clocked the fact that the boy could summon a pit scorpion at all. But she wasn’t aware that it apparently went back further than that. 

“A hellhound.” Percy said half expecting her to accuse him of lying.

But instead she just asks. “When did this happen?”

“Back in June. A few days before Chiron sent me on the quest to get the lightning bolt. Luke later admitted to summoning it to force Chiron into giving me the quest.”

“That seems irresponsible at best.”

“I don’t think he cared at that point as long as he got what he wanted.”

“True though you would think that tactic would have as much of a chance of backfiring on him. Then helping him with his goal.”

Percy just shrugged uncertainly at that. “Look, I don't know. I just know what he told me when he confessed to everything.”

“So what does this have to do with our current predicament.”

“Triton noticed the scars for the first time today.”

“Ah. And I take it by the fact you said you had an argument earlier that conversation didn't go well.”

“Nope.” He really wished he could go back to this morning before this all had happened. And tell himself to pick a better shirt so none of this ever happened. “He made some comments that I don’t even understand where they’re coming from.”

“It’s not your fault.” It certainly felt like it was. “Triton tends to get a bit ornery this time of year. Which doesn’t excuse his behavior. I will be having a discussion with him after this.”

“Rhode said something similar. Something about an upcoming anniversary though she wouldn’t tell me much.”

“Yes, though that does not excuse his actions. He and I will be having a discussion about this later.”

“It’s fine.” The last thing he wanted was for Amphitrite to somehow make this worse somehow by inserting herself into the conversation besides. “I’ve had worse comments before.”

“Whether or not you have does not excuse his choices.”

Percy thought for a second about saying something else but ended up being quiet. Amphitrite asked after a moment. “Maybe it would be good to take the rest of the day off.”

“I mean we don’t have to, I can still study.” It would be a chore though admittedly.

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at that. “Perseus, can you tell me sincerely that you can concentrate on anything after this morning?”

“Well, no but-”

“Then it's settled. Take the afternoon. One day off will not hurt you.”

Triton had ended up in the library after lunch flipping through some books. Though he wasn’t even really sure what he was doing at this point. Looking for a distraction maybe?

He didn’t have any other godly duties to attend to. Having taken care of them after the lesson with Perseus had been cut short because of what had happened.

And he didn’t feel like training any more.

So some light reading it was.

Of course this was when his mother decided to come find him. Apparently somehow having found out about the whole debacle this morning. “Did he tell you what happened?”

Perseus didn’t seem like the type to necessarily tell on him. But maybe he was wrong or maybe she had found out some other way.

Though to be honest he knows Perseus has every right to mention what has happened. The more time he has had to think on it the more he realized that had not been the right way to handle things.

Just because he wanted an outlet for his feelings. Doesn’t mean it should be through his half-brother.

“Not at first. I went looking for him when he had missed our normal afternoon lesson. It came out during the late lunch we had together.”

Well that would definitely do it. Honestly part of him is surprised it took that long for her to be told about it. He had been expecting to be confronted about the argument since Percy had swam off.

“Triton-”

“I know. I know I didn’t handle it nearly appropriately well.” The hours since then had only made that point fall more into place. 

“Well I’ll spare repeating that part of the lecture then. But Triton, I know this time of year is hard for you. It's hard for all of us. But lashing out or trying to goad a child for something completely unrelated because of how you are feeling with the anniversary coming up. Will not fix things, Triton.”

“I know.”

“You need to apologize to him.”

“ I know. ” Triton said. Willing to admit that it had been uncalled for in hindsight. 

“What even brought this on? You two had been doing better around each other. And I know this can’t be entirely on Pallas.”

Sure her son got ornery this time of year. But this was a step beyond his normal behavior.

“I was looking for an outlet.”

“ Triton. ”

“I know, I know I didn’t pick the smartest choice. I know I should have done something other than trying to goad him into an argument. I am aware of all that mother.”

“That still wouldn’t have been appropriate arguably if this wasn’t about a hellhound attack. But it being that makes it even less appropriate.”

“I know but I can’t exactly go back and take back the comments.” He did wish he could with how things were spiraling at the moment.

But all he can do now is hope Perseus will accept the apology eventually. 

His mother just let out a quiet sigh at that. “I know. All things considered you should probably wait until your mood improves before you apologize. I do not want you somehow making this worse because of things that are completely out of his control.”

“That’s probably best.”

Triton would like to think he wouldn’t pull quiet a stunt like that again. But considering the time of year. He couldn’t even put full faith in himself.

Besides who knew if Perseus would even take the apology at this stage. It was just best for them both to wait a little. 

A few days of missed lessons wouldn’t cause that much of a problem

Amphitrite’s not entirely sure who told Poseidon. This wasn’t one of his lesson days. And it seemed neither person involved in the argument really wanted to talk about it. And she at this point only knew the basics of what it had been about. Some of which she had gathered on her own.

So she doubted either had mentioned it to him.

But by the time evening rolls around apparently he knows that something has happened. If not the details which even she doesn’t fully have. (Only the abbreviated versions both of them had given.) 

“I already talked to Triton about what happened. He’s going to give it a few days until he calms down some. Before trying to engage with Perseus again.”

“That’s probably the best choice at this stage.” He agreed.

“Did you know about the hellhound attack?” Amphitrite assumed he would. And that it was just them getting to know the boy for why they were now just finding out about the attack on camp.

But maybe she was wrong and he had it from all of them before today.

“Yes. It happened on the night I claimed him. So I was aware of what had happened.”

Of all the things that had led up to the claiming. Including the encounter with the Ares children which is what had got his attention in the first place. He had been about to go ahead and claim Percy. When the hellhound had attacked.

“You never mentioned it.”

“Between everything else that happened in the coming weeks. It honestly wasn’t the worst thing to happen so it slipped my mind for a while.”

It wasn’t great but at least the hellhound would have been quickly dispatched with Chiron. However other encounters such as the one that had led to Peseus being in the Mississippi to begin with. Tended to be viewed as worse since especially with the later Percy had no back up.

Amphitrite frowned at that. “Now I am wondering more about what went down on the quest.”

“Perseus told me and my brother about what I assume was most of the details. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose to leave out some details.”

They had managed to avoid it coming up before now.

Triton even when he had gotten along better with his half siblings in ancient times. Still had kept his distance from them. So his behavior around the anniversary had never been an issue before now.

“What was Perseus’s reaction to all of it?”

Amphitrite sighed. “He holed up in his room for half the day from what I can tell. Apparently he completely lost track of time so I had to go looking for him for our lessons. By that point seemed more resigned when I tracked him down.”

She honestly can’t say she fully understands Perseus’s level of reaction. Why Triton being in a bad mood had impacted him that much. When the arguments before now has not resulted in this.

It felt like there was something else going on that she didn’t know about.

But then again they hadn’t really had this level of an argument. Not since the library argument. Sure they hadn’t gotten along for a while. But not getting along and actively arguing weren’t necessarily the same thing.

It suggested something else was going on here. That wasn’t entirely related to Triton. Triton’s actions just seemed to have brought it back into focus for whatever reason.

Though the only person who knew at this point knew anything was Percy himself of course.

“That’s not entirely healthy I’m fairly sure.”

“I agree. But there isn’t much we can do at this point. Since we all agree, forcing the matter around this will just make things worse.”

Hopefully in the coming days they would better understand the reactions from both sides. And not just what might be going on at the surface.

Because she definitely didn’t fault Perseus’s reaction to Triton’s comments. They were uncalled for. It feels like there was something else going on that she still didn’t know about.

Maybe it went back to that schooling issue Perseus occasionally referenced?

She knew he had trouble with them. That much was obvious. But the full extent of it had never been clear to her.

With him and Triton mostly just avoiding each other for the moment. His schedule got shifted around for the time being to accommodate the newly found free time. Rather than try to force a training session.

Which was how he found himself with Amphitrite one morning talking about his friendship with Annabeth. “How did you become friends with her anyway? Most children of Athena tend to avoid children of the sea once parentage becomes clear on both sides.”

Yeah Annabeth had definitely done that as much as possible outside of lessons. But then again so had most of camp so it hadn’t really occurred to him it might be an Athena thing until now.

“It’s complicated.” It really wasn’t but he wasn’t in the mood to repeat what camp had been like for a third time now. This week had already been enough to deal with without recounting that story. “And it’s a long story.”

Maybe he should just tell her at least part of it. After all, his friendship with Annabeth was already being judged by them. If he mentioned the fact what had happened in the forest before the hellhound showed up. Then they definitely wouldn’t approve no matter how improved things had become between them.

Though he was probably going to have to leave out certain things right now. Because he mentioned particularly Annabeth’s involvement in the Capture the Flag incident. Well the result was definitely not going to be pretty.

And the opposite of what he really was going for.

Plus he had already told Triton most of it anyway. He guessed that he hadn’t bothered to tell his brother about it though.

“Well we have time if you are willing to share it.”

At the very least it gave him something else to think about that wasn’t Triton at the moment. Which was a definite bonus.

Going back over his friendship with Annabeth. Really did show how much worse things had gotten between them before they had started getting better. 

Not that he was telling Amphitrite all of the things that had gone wrong. Since he isn’t entirely sure what would happen if he mentioned him being left as bait for Clarisse. But he is confident in the fact that it will not go over well.

“Yeah the night of the capture the flag game was the first time things first started changing. She tried to get between me and the hellhound. The hellhound was faster.”

It was kind of ironic that the first thing that Annabeth did ever that could be considered friendly. Was right after setting him up to be bait for Clarisse.

It was for the best anyway. If the hellhound had hit her instead of him Annabeth would have died. Or at the very least been left with some nasty scars even with the Apollo cabins healers. He at least had water healing to fix the injuries and only have minor scars.

Amphitrite hummed in thought at that. “Hellhounds would outspeed most demigods except those extremely gifted with speed. So that isn’t as much of a surprise.”

“I guessed that already. But I like to think its the thought that counts. I don’t know a lot of people who would even try that willingly.”

“So what happened after that?”

“Well things didn’t necessarily get better if that’s what you’re wondering. Because that’s when Dad claimed me.”

Sure she hadn’t been as argumentative prior to his claiming. But he wasn’t sure if he would have called her a friend.

“Aw.”

“Yeah to say the least things got worse before they got better. The quest was where we ended up becoming friends in the end.”

“I am a bit surprised you chose her as a quest mate.”

“Yeah well it was a mix of it being Chiron’s suggestion. And me thinking there was no way we would ever be friends at the time so there is no way she could betray me like the prophecy said. And being pretty sure regardless of how we felt towards each other she would make sure the quest succeeded somehow.”

“Yes Athena children can definitely be like that.” Amphitrite agreed. “So ironically by trying to avoid the prophecy’s line about betrayal. You ended up taking a person you became friends with.”

“Yeah. Quests can really be bonding experiences apparently.”

“So I’ve heard. May I ask what was the turning point however.”

“Well I might have sent Medusa’s head to the Council-”

“Perseus!”

“I know, I know dumb moves in hindsight.” Especially after learning it would have been more in line with old heroes. Which definitely would have left some not great impressions.

Not that he cared much about opinions besides his Dad. But well this had lead to Athena getting upset with Annabeth after. So there was all that.

“Well at least you own up to your mistakes I suppose. Though really you should try avoiding making enemies of the council. Your father can only help so much.”

“Yeah I know. I guess I was just sour after everything that had happened.”

Also Medusa’s commentary had definitely not helped the situation. But he wasn’t about to tell her that particular piece of information.

Triton had been actively avoiding him since the argument. That much became clear within a day of the whole incident. Triton hadn’t come looking for him when Percy was also generally trying to avoid the god. Had tried to skip out on lesson time.

At this point he would rather practice on his own. Then train with the God who it seemed like everyone was dancing around why tempers were high around again.

He knows he can’t avoid him forever. If Triton is serious about making sure he’s properly trained. He will come get him himself presumably at some point. But for now he’s not actively seeking him out.  

Well it was a distraction at least. Even if it wasn’t necessarily a positive one.

The issue they had noticed two weeks ago was still persisting. And from what he could tell wasn’t actually improving. And she had said that it was too early to tell but at the same time, well…

“At this point it's more likely permanent then?”

“It appears so. I could be wrong and we end up surprised but if its not changing at all and nerves going offline like this usually are back by now from what I understand. So I am sorry Perseus but I think we need to accept this is a thing and learn to work with it. There is a non zero chance it could come back of course but realistically after this long.”

“It’s probably not going to.”

“Correct.”

“And there is no way to fix it?”

“Not that we know of. Pit scorpion venom is not something commonly studied since access to it is extremely hard to come by. So long term side effects, damage, or ways to fix any of that isn’t exactly common knowledge.”

That made sense.

Though it made him all the more grateful for Dad coming and getting him. If he had this lingering after spending time healing in the ocean. He can’t imagine what it would have looked like without the help of his healer and the water.

“Have you told your father or anyone else about this?”

“No. I was hoping it would go away so I didn’t have to do that.” Unfortunately it didn’t look like that he was going to get his wish on that. Though now he has a new question. “Do you think if you fix my wrist you could fix this?”

The healer pursed her lips in a frown. “I am not entirely sure to be honest. Muscles and nerves while interlinked will respond to magic differently at times.”

Well that was disappointing. Though it made sense. If magic and nectar could fix everything demigods would be functionally immortal too.

Now the question was how long was he going to be able to hide this from Triton? Well that is if he took over the training again. He wasn’t sure if the current situation was something that was going to be permanent. Or would go away after the anniversary finally passed.

Because he would rather avoid him finding out about this for as long as possible. Since he had the reaction to a couple of old scars from a hellhound attack. That honestly didn’t bother him all that much. They were more cosmetic than anything else.

Percy wasn’t hopeful how well he would handle finding out about this. Even if his recent mood was unusual outside of this time of year according to the rest of the family.

“I should probably inform Lord Triton about this.”

“Why?” Percy asked, nearly bulking at the idea immediately. “I mean what difference is it going to make really him knowing about this.”

“I mean it could potentially impact the kind of sword that is best suited for you.”

Oh.

He hadn’t even thought about that.

He really hopes that it doesn't become a problem. Riptide still was the only sword he had ever handled that he had done well with. He didn’t want to give up the pen sword unless he had to.

“I understand things are difficult between the two of you right now. But since he is your trainer he really should be informed about this.”

“Does the whole castle know about that?” He had thought before that no one knew besides himself, Triton, and Amphitrite and probably his Dad. But it didn’t seem like that was likely the case.

“Not the whole castle but a number of people have observed something is going on. Most won’t say anything because they know better than to try and gossip where the royal family can hear them.”

In the end Percy failed to convince her that telling anyone let alone Triton was unnecessary.

He understands why she is insistent on it. He truly does. That doesn’t mean he likes the decision any more just because he understands it.

Because if Triton had a reaction to some old scars…

Well he would be more surprised if they ever resumed their normal training after this to say the least. He wants to think otherwise. But he had teachers give up on him for stupider reasons than not wanting to deal with permanent damage.

But Triton not continuing training wasn’t the end of the world arguably. Afterall Triton had never given him a reason on why he was the only one training him. Percy had always just assumed it was some kind of pride thing.

So he should be able to find someone else to take the role right? It would just take some research.

Might as well start looking now. Since waiting for Triton to make the decision officially would just put things more behind at this point.

“We’ve been avoiding each other for the last several days, so no.” Triton answered with a frown. “Why am I only being told about this now?”

This felt like it should have been mentioned in the beginning. So had the wrist thing in hindsight but Perseus hadn’t seemed to trust him enough to tell him at that point.

And in the boy’s defense he really hadn’t given him any reason to trust him with that kind of information now.

“There was some hope that it was just temporary while his body was recovering from the pit scorpion sting. But at this point we are over two months out from when it happened. If it hasn’t returned to normal by now…”

“It won’t ever be.”

“It’s highly unlikely at the very least.” She corrected. “There is a chance it could come back. But with each passing day it's diminishing at this point. Anyway I am telling this. Because while I am not a swordsman so I don’t know if this will have any impact on his skills going forward. I figured there was at least a chance of it. And since you were his trainer last I checked you should know about this.”

“True.”

Admittedly if the kid had been using Riptide without problems since the attack. Then most likely this was more of a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. 

But it was still important to know regardless. In case it started causing some other problems.

“You’ll need to have a serious discussion about this once you two are done avoiding each other for whatever reason this time.”

Sometimes Triton hated the castle rumor mill.

“You heard about that?”

“A good chunk of the staff has noticed it and I do have ears Lord Triton. Though I must ask what even led to this, this time?”

Triton cringed at that reminder. “I handled finding out about the scars he had from the hellhound attack rather poorly.”

“Meaning?”

“I may have implied that he didn’t tell anyone about it because of a lack of wanting to be seen as a failure.”

There was a small pause before Althia raised an eyebrow at him before asking. “You are aware that he has water healing abilities correct?”

“...yes?” Triton said a knot started to form in his stomach. As he started to suspect where this conversation was about to go.

“He had access to a creek when the attack occurred. Based on what little details I know of what happened the only reason he even survived the attack was because of where it happened. The fact he got away with only some minor scars as it is is a testament to his own abilities.”

“He could have died.”

Shit.

He had sort of assumed that Chiron had intervened or someone else before he had been too badly injured. Or he didn’t have access to water at the time. Trying to slightly reason away just how badly he has mismanaged the situation.

Not that this was a result of him having access to water.

Khaos below…

“It would have been uncalled for even if he had made the rash decision. He is a child, Lord Triton. He is bound to make the occasional poor mistake without the intention of the old heroes.”

“I know I just-” Triton cut off there. There was nothing he could really say to justify his choice in words. The longer that had gone on since the argumentative the more he realized that it had not been appropriate.

He never should have tried to bait him into an argument over this of all things. All this knowledge from Althea was driving home just how inappropriate it was.

He owed the boy a genuine apology. If he would even take it at this point.

In the meantime maybe it was about time he took Rhode up on a long standing offer. Of spending some time on her island observing mortals. So he didn’t make this kind of mistake again.

Since some of this could hopefully be rectified by a different approach.

“Have you spoken to Triton yet about what happened?”

“No, not yet.” 

It was almost the end of the week now. And admittedly he was avoiding Triton since that day. And had started doubling down since the follow up with the healer. So it wasn’t exactly Triton’s fault he had yet to have a chance to talk to him.

(He knew by this point she probably had told him about the whole thing. And avoiding Triton was probably just delaying the inevitable reaction to the news of the damage.

But he would delay it for as long as he thought he could get away with it.)

So it wasn’t entirely on Triton that they hadn’t talked again that day.

And admittedly it had only been a couple of days since that had happened. So it wasn’t like Triton had much time to apologize.

Amphitrite frowned at that before saying more to herself then him. “If he does not say something soon I may drag Libya into this.”

“Libya?”

The only thing he could associate with that name was the country in Africa. And he didn’t think that was what Amphitrite was referring to.

“Triton’s consort.”

“Triton has a consort?” That was definitely not something he had ever heard about. But maybe it was one of the more obscure myths. “I never knew that.”

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at that. “She is one of the lesser known sea deities that is for certain. But yes she does exist.”

Percy flushed at that. “Sorry didn’t mean to imply she didn’t.”

“It is fine we haven’t really gotten to talking about other sea deities you should be aware of. So I wouldn’t expect you to have known of her before now. Just be careful how you phrase that kind of thing in the future.”

“Noted.” Though now finding out Triton had a consort brought a new question. “So does Triton have any kids then?”

He thinks he sees a flicker of sadness in her expression though it's gone shortly after. “Triton’s had a few children of his own throughout the millennia. None mortal of course.”

Huh.

For some reason he never pictured Triton as the type to have kids. Immortal or not. Him trying to picture Triton with kids was just not going well together. But maybe that was just because of how the two of them tended to interact half of the time it felt like…

But maybe it was different with Gods? He did know there were a few creation myths out there just kind of said some of them just popped into existence fully formed. So maybe he had never had a kid in what would be considered the mortal thought?

Then there was the part about Amphitrite’s reaction. Which now makes him think that Triton’s mood was somehow tied to one of his children. Though what exactly he isn’t sure since he only just found out they existed.

Honestly, part of him was worried about bringing her into this. Might just make the whole situation worse to some extent. And he really didn’t want this situation getting any worse than it already was.

“Look I’m okay with him not apologizing. I don’t want to make things even more complicated by trying to force the situation. You don’t need to get her involved.”

Triton's mood only was going to get worse as the date of the event got closer. Which he was pretty sure it was. Then the last thing he wanted was that thrown in on top of there. 

He didn’t even really need an apology from Triton. Though it would be nice. He wasn’t going to expect it. He just needed Triton to stop jumping to conclusions that he had no basis for.

And if he was going to apologize then Percy would rather get an apology from Triton when he was in a better mood. If he was going to even give one. Then a forced one with the way things were right now. Though to be honest he wasn’t even sure if he would get an apology over this. Even with other gods' involvement.

Amphitrite just shook her head at that though before saying. “What he did was uncalled for. It would not be right to leave it unsaid. And he knows this.”

Okay well if she was insisting on it. Then he probably had no way of keeping it from happening. 

He just hoped it somehow didn’t make things worse.

While Percy and Amphitrite were talking. Triton had gone to visit Rhode. In hopes of getting a better grasp on separating his younger half brother from his old views.

And it was either go to her or go to Benthesykime for help. And while neither of them were probably going to let him live it down for what happened. Rhode was less likely to get on his case arguably since she wasn’t a patron of children.

So Rhode it was.

Though her scolding wasn’t exactly that light.

Apparently she had met him a couple of times now. And had started growing fond of the demigod. So finding out what had recently gone down was not making her very pleased with him trying to get Perseus into an argument to blow off steam.

“He grew up an only child and a lonely one too from what I’ve been able to gather in meeting him. Of course he won’t have the same reaction as one of us.”

Yeah when put that way his choice in words really did come off as a massive mistake. Though there was a part of that statement from Rhode that was surprising him. “Did he really not have any friends?”

“Let me put it this way according to a conversation I had with him last weekend. The very first friend he was able to keep from running off when anything from our side of things showed up was Grover.”

“Okay?” He didn’t know who this Grover was. Though he had a suspicion and if he was right he was really not going to like just about everything it implied.

“So Grover is a satyr. They only met each other last year.”

Well that had gone exactly where he was hoping it wouldn’t. Even as it did explain a number of things.

Right now he was really wishing time travel was an actual thing. So he could go back and tell himself to not make this sheerly idiotic of a decision. Even if he had no way of knowing at the time how bad of a choice it was going to be.

“If it helps he doesn’t seem to be the type to hold grudges. If you genuinely apologize it will probably go a long way into explaining things to him. Though if you really want to make progress…” She trailed off there but Triton knew where her thoughts were going.

If he truly wanted to smooth things out he would need to tell Perseus about Pallas. Because, while it didn’t completely excuse his behavior, it would hopefully give the boy much needed context.

“I know.”

“Yes I assume you would. Though now I must wonder how this even happened in the first place.”

Triton let out a sigh half debating not answering the question. But even if he didn’t say anything, most likely someone else would tell her anyway…“Have you seen the scars he has on his chest?”

“Yes? I took him shopping a couple of times. Helped pick out some stuff. Hard to miss though he didn’t say what they were from.”

“Hellhound attack.”

Rhode let out an audible groan at that putting together what this was actually about. “ Triton .”

“I know. I know it was a bad choice in hindsight.”

“It was a bad choice period. We’re talking about hellhounds , how the kid managed to escape with only a few minor scars is actually kind of mind boggling to think about.”

“So everyone has been telling me since it happened. On the later, from what I understand it's because he had access to water.”

“Ah that would do it. Though that means-”

“They most likely would have been fatal without it. I am already aware of that.”

Had been aware of that since his conversation with the healer. He still had questions about the whole thing. Had Percy been wearing any armor or had that just not mattered in the overall scheme of things.

Which wasn’t entirely impossible considering they were talking about a hellhound attack.

“You better be prepared to grovel then when you apologize.”

“Rhode!”

“I kid.” Rhode said. “But you do need to apologize genuinely when he gets back from his Mother’s and give him an explanation. You owe him that much.”

“I know.”

“If you know then why haven’t you done anything before now?”

Triton winced before reluctantly admitting. “He’s been avoiding me since it happened. He took our conversation with more malicious intent than I intended. And well…”

It really hadn’t been meant that way. Or at least he hadn’t thought he had meant it that way. But with feelings running high maybe there had been some unintentional malice there. 

“He’s been upset enough to not try and re-engage since then I take it?”

“Correct.”

“Well that’s not a surprise considering you decided to have this kind of conversation over a hellhound attack.”

“I am aware of my poor choices Rhode you don’t need to keep reminding me of them.”

Percy returned to Manhattan without the whole thing with Triton getting resolved. Which meant it was officially a problem for his future self to deal with. For now he was just going to enjoy being back in New York.

Though apparently that was going to follow him. Since somehow his Mom had found out about the incident with Triton. “Good I would have given your father an earful if something had happened beyond words.”

“How did you even find out about it?”

“Amphitrite was the one that mentioned you two had an argument earlier this week. But she didn’t explain what exactly brought it on.” So he wasn’t the only one out of the loop on this then. He wasn’t sure if that made it better or not.

He had a feeling Amphitrite actually did know what was causing this whole incident. But I wasn't telling them for whatever reason. Which honestly wasn’t a surprise that much when it seemed like most of the family danced around the topic whatever it was.

Though that honestly just made him more curious than less.

“You and her have been talking a lot.” Percy said, deciding to ignore the open ended unasked question of what had happened between them. He would rather not think about that at all this weekend if he could.

He hadn’t missed the fact that the two of them were apparently having tea on Saturdays now. Which was a bit weird but not the worst thing to come out of recent events definitely.

“She’s good company. And right now the only people I’m seeing on a regular basis are my classmates at school. It’s nice to talk to someone about your fathers side without having to explain everything.”

Yeah he can’t imagine that’s something she’s ever really been able to do before. The only other person that had ever lived with them was Gabe. And she certainly hadn’t told him anything about that.

“It brought back memories of old teachers. Which isn’t his fault but I had thought things weren’t going to go that direction.”

Triton had always been blunt around him. But other then a few snide comments here and there. Had been a step up from most of his old teachers. Thanks to the fact that he wasn’t letting his opinion getting in the way of teaching.

Well until this past week anyway.

He still didn’t understand what about the hellhound attack had sprung this in particular. Or how it might relate to the thing everyone else kept dancing around.

Because he had thought they were getting it well established the fact that he wasn’t actually like the other heroes. He just wanted to be a normal kid, or as normal as you can get when you’re a demigod.

Not be thrown into fights that leave him with permanent scars.

“Speaking of learning things, I found this when I was at the library during the week.” His Mom said, handing him a book that had some illustrated cover of Poseidon on it. And he could make it out being something about lesser known sea deities.  “I was thinking something in the book might be able to help answer what is going on right now.”

“Maybe.” He agreed.

It was worth a shot at least he guessed. Though with how closed lipped the family was about it. He didn’t have a whole lot of faith that he had the answers.

Something told him this was one of those myths most people had never heard of. Let alone talk about. Even within the sea.

And that was if he could even deal with the dyslexia long enough to try and read it.

“Couldn’t find an audio copy of it?”

“No. I tried looking but no one’s transposed it. I’m sorry Percy.”

“I figured. Thanks for checking though.”

At least he had a lead on this whole subject for the first time.

Most of the book turned out to be dead ends on what was upsetting Triton. Admittedly he wasn’t reading in depth that much. Just looking for key words. But it did prove useful in some other areas at least when he had gotten sidetracked with some other stories.

But helping figure out why at first Triton had been in such a mood at the beginning of the week. It hadn’t done much until he stumbled upon one story in particular. That had stood out from the other stories due to name dropping a certain goddess in its opening.

Athena.

He hadn’t expected to see any reference to the wisdom goddess in the book. Outside of the section on the contest in Athens. And he was already past that.

Could this be what Triton’s behavior was about? It could also explain why Triton seemed to have reservations about his friendship with Annabeth. If something else had happened besides the contest.

(Honestly finding out there was more. Would explain just why it was such a problem between the two gods. He got that gods had prides, but the feud being over a contest felt like it was blown way out of proportion.)

It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for in the story. The source of both Triton’s mood and probably why their families really didn’t get along at the end of the day.

The death of one of Triton’s kids Pallas. Thanks to a duel with Athena gone wrong.

Well crap.

This must have been what Rhode had been referencing during their conversation a couple of weeks ago. About a God dying and it being Triton’s story. Since it definitely lined up with that.

This definitely explained why Triton was in a mood recently. He hadn’t realized that when Amphitrite had told him about Triton’s kids. That apparently one of them had passed in some sort of duel gone wrong.

But it definitely seemed uncommon since he can’t remember hearing about this before. The closest thing he would have considered knowing about a god dying was remembering hearing how Kronos had been torn to pieces before being deposited into Tartarus. And the fading thing.

Which still wasn’t dead considering recent events.

So why had this one died and others hadn’t? Was this some kind of power thing? 

This was a topic he never thought he would ever have to consider. And raised a bunch of questions for him. That wasn't even related to the possible connection to Triton.

Honestly the whole thing raised more questions than answers. Not just about Triton but about their family relations and several other things.

He might be able to get some answers from Rhodes when she came by in the morning. But there was another option for information possibly about the myth. 

He couldn’t talk to Athena of course about this. But he could talk to Annabeth. If anyone would have more answers on this then the goddess herself it would be Annabeth.

(Admittedly there was a chance she didn’t know the story. Since she had never once brought it up when they were together before. But considering it was Annabeth he would be more surprised if she didn’t know the story.

Just hadn’t brought it up because of the difficulty of the topic.)

Honestly still one of the more surprising aspects of the whole story. Was learning that Athena at one time had gotten along with the rest of his immortal family well enough. That she had been adopted by Triton and had lived in Atlantis.

He definitely wouldn’t have imagined that before he stumbled across the story that was for sure.

“Mother doesn’t talk about that title much from what I’ve seen and heard.” Annabeth admitted after a moment of thought. “How did you even find out about her?”

“Mom got me a copy of a book talking about lesser known Greek deities. So I could get better in touch with my own heritage. What happened with Athena is in there too.”

It was close enough to the truth at least. His Mom had gotten him a copy of the book. But it had been after he had asked her about possible information on the lesser known sea deities after everything had happened with Triton.

“That makes sense.”

“Though I gotta ask why didn’t you mention it before?”

Annabeth had known the story apparently. But had let him believe their entire rivalry was just around a contest gone wrong. Not something much deeper.

“What you told me honestly is all I’ve heard about the story as well.” Annabeth admitted. “There aren’t many logs about Mother growing up under the sea. We know it was a thing. But the exact details beyond what happened with Pallas…”

“Are they unclear?”

“Extremely. I’m guessing no one ever wanted to talk about the subject after. So only a few sources even recorded the myth at all to begin with. And trust me I have tried looking for more information surrounding it.”

Well that definitely added up with how Triton and the rest of the family was behaving.

“Well thanks anyway.” Even if it was no new information technically. It did tell him he guessed how the family tended to handle it. And by the sound of things not talking about it wasn’t new behavior for them around the subject.

At least he knew it wasn’t something about him that was making them avoid the topic all together.

“Why are you asking about it?”

“Curiosity I guess. I just found out about all of this fairly recently Annabeth. So I want to learn more.”

“That makes sense. Do you have any other stories you want to ask about? I’m not sure how many I might be able to expand upon since Athena’s only really in that one and the Athens contest though.”

“Not particularly yet. I haven’t read a lot of them yet.” Not since finding this one and getting distracted trying to understand it better anyway. “This one just caught me off guard enough that I started asking questions.”

“Because it involved my Mom?”

“Yeah. I mean it's the only other story I’ve seen directly involving her and my Dad’s side of the family. That doesn’t seem to be tied to Athens somehow.”

“Yeah I know the rivalry really started there. So I’m not sure if everyone just ignores what happened with Pallas. Or what the story is. Since you would think the rift began there and not years later.”

“It’s definitely something to think about.”

Rhodes afternoon visit was the first time he had a chance to actually talk to someone in his family about the story. Which admittedly Rhode didn’t say much. But she did confirm it was an event that had happened.

“I didn’t even know gods could die before you told me about it before.”

“It’s uncommon like I said.” Rhode admitted. “You have to have a certain chain of events to happen for it to even be a concern. Most of the time the closest a god can come to dying in what humans think of it is us fading. Unfortunately for us-”

“What happened when Pallas fell under it?”

“Correct.”

“Well at least I understand why Triton was in the mood that caused the argument the other day I guess.” He still wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. He got some of that grief definitely and he is looking for an outlet for it.

But why did people always pick him for this kind of thing?

“Ah the hellhound attack argument.”

Percy looked at her in surprise. “How do you even know about that?” Rhode hadn’t visited Atlantis recently that he knew of so how?

“Triton came to visit yesterday. Wanted my assistance with a few things. And the topic of the extremely mishandled conversation came up.”

“Oh.” That was a bit surprising. “Though can I ask why you? No offense but I would have thought Benti would be the most obvious choice.”

“He was a bit worried about her reaction.”

Ah.

That made sense.

“And since I am also knowledgeable about mortals. He decided I was the best option at the moment to ask questions about mortals too.”

Right Rhode had mentioned before spending extended time around mortals. And have definitely shown some of that knowledge when they have been out together.

“If it helps give you some peace for now. Triton doesn’t hate you or at least not anymore. He’s actually feeling a bit guilty about how he handled that situation from what I can tell.”

Percy blinked in disbelief. Triton feeling guilty about the whole situation was not something he had even remotely considered.

“If he’s feeling guilty about it then why did he do that in the first place?”

“That is probably something better explained by him if I’m being honest.”

“Does it go back to Pallas?”

“Sort of. The reason why he decided to do what he did was initiated by looking for an outlet in the wrong place I will say that. But I think he also underestimated the hellhound situation. I expect in a few more days he will apologize for that at the very least.”

“Really?”

“He seemed like he was intending to. Though you seemed surprised by it. Did you think he would not?”

“No well its just people don’t usually apologize to me when they mess up.”

He could name the number of people he knew on one hand growing up who had done that. If someone made a mistake with him more often than not he would not get an apology. Almost every time they just pretended like it never happened in the first place.

Rhode gave him a confused look at that. “Why not?”

Percy shrugged. “They just don’t. I’ve got a reputation that kind of follows me around. And its lead to people making conclusions. And sometimes when they don’t line up they just drop it.”

“But they do apologize?”

Percy couldn’t help the small snort at that. “No. If they don’t drop it they usually double down.”

Rhode pursed her lips at that. “That’s not right.” 

“Yeah well that’s my life.”

Rhode returned to her island. Where Triton was engrossed in some book. With it being night locally there wasn’t much that could be done for observation. So an attempt at other research was at least being made.

“He’s doing alright.” Triton hadn’t asked though she had a feeling he was wondering even if he wouldn’t admit it. “Though you should know he managed to find a book talking about Pallas’ myth.”

“...how?”

Written records of any side of that family was almost impossible to come by it felt like. And while it made things easier that he no longer would have to repeat the tale.

He definitely hadn’t expected this.

“His mother found a copy of book talking about lesser known sea deities.”

Ah.

“How did he handle finding out about that?”

“He has questions naturally. So I would be expecting some when you two start meeting again eventually.”

Yeah he had figured that much back when he figured he would be the one to tell Percy the story. Not a book. And who knew what the book exactly said.

“Also you need to be prepared for an unusual reaction from Perseus when you apologize.”

“What, why?”

“Apparently more often than not people tend to not apologize to him when they are in the wrong. He says he’s had to deal with more than one person choosing to double down instead.”

“Of course he has.” Triton muttered to himself pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. It seemed like his brother had some of the worst luck with other mortals he had ever seen. “I do not understand that choice.”

“Neither do I but he seemed rather insistent that it was a thing.”

“No and I believe he is telling the truth, all things considered. It’s just wild what I keep hearing about from him. Did all of fathers children have these same problems growing up?”

“That I honestly don’t know.”

Chapter Text

Finding a new trainer in place of Triton was proving to be complicated.

First of all Triton hadn’t technically said he would stop training Percy. Percy was just basing this around previous experience. (Which admittedly he could be wrong. But he wasn’t going to be hopeful on that.)

So it wasn’t like he could exactly ask anyone in the castle since if he did it would get back to Triton. Which leads to the second half of the problem.

Since he needed to look outside the castle that meant his time was limited. He was only allowed out of the palace with supervision. And he had no idea how Amphitrite would react if she knew what he was doing.

So he was having to be sneaky to say the least.

And that wasn’t even starting on the capability thing either.

It had taken almost a week of avoiding Triton and being creative on outings. Before he had finally found someone he could convince to take on the role.

Of course despite his best efforts it almost all goes to the Underworld in a handbasket. Almost immediately during their first day. 

In the end everything would work out. But when it was happening…it was a very big mess to say the least.

It took all of half a lesson for something to go wrong. Which was definitely a new record for him.

For all of his problems with Triton. For all of his sessions with Luke. They only once had stopped mid training session because something had happened. And that was with Triton and the hellhound attack.

So yeah, a new record that he never wanted set. Had now been set somehow.

Because for all of his issues with Triton, he had never managed to break a bone before. The worst he had gotten before now was a bad sword cut. And Triton had dragged him off to Althea as soon as that had happened. Not letting him get one word of protest on the subject.

And if living with Gabe had taught him anything. Any kind of statement that began with that. Meant something that definitely wasn’t going to end well for him.

And to top it all off. No one knew where he was or who he was with. Since he hadn’t exactly told them. And had picked a time he was pretty sure Triton wouldn’t be in the arena. So who knew when someone would stumble upon them.

(All of which in hindsight was looking more like a dumb decision. Even if he did things were going to continue going south with Triton. He probably should have told someone about it even if it was his Dad and stepmom.

But it was too late now to be regretting his own life choices on the matter.)

Percy blinks and realizes he’s no longer looking straight at the mer. But instead at someone else’s back. Triton’s back he realizes belatedly.

When had he even gotten here?

Triton apparently had put himself between the older mer and Percy. “I do not know what exactly happened. But I will be taking you to father about this.”

He still wasn’t sure what was happening. Only that the mer seemed to have some kind of beef with him. What it was Percy didn’t know. But if this had gone south so quickly. There was something there.

He just didn’t understand what.

He hadn’t been in Atlantis long enough for this kind of thing to happen usually. Unless it wasn’t about him but somehow getting to his Dad?

He didn’t really know how that would work. But it was the only explanation he could think of that made a bit of sense.

Especially knowing who his Dad was ruler. Probably there were people that weren’t too happy to have him in charge. 

Maybe it wasn’t impossible that someone would try to get to him through Percy. And Percy just had the bad luck of finding them? Though Percy feels like that is unlikely and a dumb decision.

After all, his Dad is a God .

Percy’s brought out of his state of trying to understand what had happened by Triton asking, “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you anywhere else did he?”

He hadn’t even realized the God had sent the mer off. Before turning his attention fully to himself.

Percy shook his head at the question. “No. You got here before anything else happened.

He almost added he was glad Triton showed up. But he wasn’t entirely sure if that was the right words for what he was feeling. Considering Triton was partly responsible for this mess to begin with.

“Well that is something I suppose. Since that is definitely broken. Is that your bad wrist?”

Percy winced. “No.”

That was just his luck apparently. That of course the trainer he had hired had gotten the other one. Well at least this time someone should be able to take care of it properly. So they wouldn’t end up with a repeat of the first time around where he couldn’t exactly tell Mom because of Gabe.

“Of course it isn’t.” Triton said with an exasperated sigh.

Percy couldn’t help the small twitch at the tone coming from the God.

Triton did not get to be annoyed with him. Afterwards he was the direct cause of all these events. If he hadn’t decided to pick a fight over a hellhound attack none of this would have happened in the first place.

Either way he wasn’t letting Triton get away with being annoyed about this. Since whether or not this had contributing factors beyond their own argument. It was still his own fault that he had ended up with another tutor.

And that Percy’s own bad luck had resulted with this as a final result.

Just because Triton had stepped in at the last minute. Preventing this from probably becoming a bigger mess. Didn’t mean he was allowed to get annoyed at what had happened.

“You’ll need to see Althia regardless of the extent of the injury however.”

“I know. And you don’t get to be annoyed about this.”

“Perseus-”

“No. You knew how much problems with camp I had in the beginning. And yet you still went there.” Even if he had never told his family about the hellhound attack. Triton still had known that the incident during the game had been a mess. He should have known better than to say that.

“I had nightmares about it afterward, Triton.” Not just about the hellhound attack admittedly. But he wasn’t going to be telling them about the incident with Capture the Flag.

Since with last week's events he honestly had no clue how his half brother would react to it. And he couldn’t handle them having a repeat commentary of the hellhound attack.

Not now anyway.

Rather then respond to that last comment however Triton says. “Come on lets take you to the infirmary. And then afterward we need to have a talk about several things.”

Great.

Even more people judge his apparently bad choices. That had only happened in the first place because of Triton.

At least he looked somewhat regretful of the situation Percy supposed.

This wasn’t like that first time Triton had taken him to the infirmary. Where it had felt like he was trying to deflect all of his responsibility in the situation onto Percy. 

No he was owing up to at least his part of the events. Though than again maybe that was only because he didn’t want to be blamed for all of the events that had happened.

Which honestly Percy could understand to an extent.

He honestly hadn’t been expecting for Triton to take any responsibility for his own actions in the situation. Though now he was wondering how many people had told Triton off to apparently make that last comment. 

Because it sounded quite like a lot if he was being that grumbly.

Honestly part of him wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from their whole situationship going so far. Let alone Triton stay on his trainer.

Things were too complicated it felt like. And he was honestly too tired to spend dedicated time on that topic.

It would be a problem for him tomorrow, he decided.

“We need to talk.”

“I know.”

At the very least Percy should probably confirm that Triton didn’t want to teach him. Before he went off looking for another tutor. Maybe he would know someone who could help?

But then again that might not go over well for a whole other list of reasons.

Just because Triton had interfered this time. Didn’t mean necessarily that things would go back to normal. And he just had too many experiences with the contrary to think the incident the week before combined with just Triton being himself at times.

Meant at least getting lessons would go back to normal.

Not unless their Dad got involved. Which he could admittedly. But Percy wasn’t going to count on it at this point.

Triton lets out a sort of resigned sigh before saying. “Though it probably is best we have this conversation tomorrow. Since in the meantime I’m fairly certain that father will want to talk to you about what happened.”

Percy couldn’t help the groan at that. He just hopes he doesn’t get grounded from going outside the palace permanently or something. That would suck to be a result of this whole thing.

“It’s a needed conversation for multiple reasons.”

“I’m not saying it isn’t. It’s just well-”

Lectures from parents were never fun. And with Poseidon he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Because he had just started taking on the role of being Dad to him recently.

“Dreading a lecture from father?”

“Pretty much. I know what to expect from Mom.” Though he wasn’t sure if anyone would tell her. Amphitrite probably could considering they still had their weekly meetups from what he knew. But that didn’t mean she would tell her. “I don’t have a clue what to expect from Dad.”

“Most likely mother and father will be more upset than angry. And most likely more at me for my own actions in this situation. Thank yours.”

Percy blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even considered whether Amphitrite would get in the lecture. But he guessed it made some sense. Since she was probably technically somehow in charge of his care when he was in Atlantis.

So he was going to have them double teaming on him most likely.

Fantastic.

That was going to be a whole new experience for him. Since Gabe had never engaged in anything remotely approaching parenting. So it had always been his Mom that had been in charge of that kind of thing when it was needed.

So not only did he have no clue what to expect because he had never experienced it from his Dad. But he also had no clue what to expect because he never had two parents lecturing him at the same time.

Well it couldn’t be any worse then the lectures he used to get at school at times right?

“Thanks for stepping in and helping with the situation.”

Now that he had a bit to cool off for a bit. His feelings had settled a bit. And wasn’t entirely at least acknowledging that Triton might have saved him from something worse.

Even if it was still his fault he had ended up in that position to begin with.

He still wasn’t happy with the God for reacting the way he had in the first place.  Followed by getting annoyed at him for going to find another tutor since he had finally reached his breaking point of stuff he could put up with his half brother.

But he wasn’t going to deny he was glad he had shown up at all in the arena.

Percy still isn’t sure what he would have done if Triton hadn’t shown up when he had. Small miracles of timing he supposed.

He might not be happy with the fact that any of this had happened at all. But he can at least appreciate the fact Triton was there to inevitably fix the situation he had caused.

Even if it had been by sheer luck.

“It was the least I could do considering my own involvement in the situation.”

Huh.

Maybe Triton realized his own involvement in the whole incident more then Percy had initially realized. Though that didn’t explain his earlier annoyance with Percy over what had happened.

Unless he had been annoyed with himself and just decided not to correct Percy’s misconception?

He could figure this out later. He had what he had to guess at the very least was going to be a disappointed Dad to deal with. If not more.

Maybe he would get to see what the Atlantean version of a grounding looked like? Or maybe that was just the same thing as a mortal grounding was.

Well the conversation about the choice in tutors was going. Percy wasn’t entirely sure if it was going well because he still didn’t know how to read his Dad at times it felt like.

But it was going.

Apparently there was a reason he hadn’t just been randomly assigned tutors. And why it was taking a bit with a couple of the subjects. Which in his defense none of this had exactly been communicated to him. If it had, well, he isn’t entirely sure what he would have done if he was being honest. But something different at the very least.

However, now the topic was more shifting away from why the tutors were picked the way they were. And why Percy had even had that reaction to Triton's actions again in the first place. Which also meant talking about the hellhound incident, again.

“I should probably have paid more attention to the camp at the time but regardless-”

Percy frowned as something his Dad said came back to him. And he found himself confused. It sounded like his Dad had only really found out about the extent of the attack recently. “Didn’t you know about the hellhound attack?”

He had always assumed he had to have known something. In order for the claim to happen at all. But had never really thought he might not know all of it before now. He honestly had just never asked.

“I knew some details. I knew it had happened, of course. I knew enough to determine claiming. But really truly I didn’t know much beyond the basics of what had happened. Though not entirely sure how you had ended up in that situation. I unfortunately was preoccupied at the time trying to keep Zeus from smiting you on sight after the claiming.”

That actually made quite a bit of sense.

And actually answered a few questions about the whole camp situation that had been lingering in the back of his mind since that day. Particularly why had half of what had happened at camp been allowed to happen if his Dad was as protective as everyone said he was.

He probably had never actually known all of what had gone down before. And Percy isn’t entirely sure if he should tell him what had happened. 

Sure like he had said over and over at this point. What had happened with camp hadn’t been great. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But he had moved past it eventually.

And he didn’t want people incurring his Dad’s wrath over something that was now far in the past to Percy.

The only small blessing of that whole thing was he had been in too much shock to even register the pain. He couldn’t imagine what it would have felt like if he had even remotely registered what his body had just been through.

“Though Percy while I understand the overall relevance to the conversation at hand of asking about that. The hellhound attack is only part of why we are having this conversation.”

“Yeah I know.” Since if he hadn’t gone looking for a tutor in response to this he wouldn’t have ended up in the situation.

Still it was largely Triton’s own response that had caused it all to begin with. If he hadn’t just decided to make that one stupid comment he wouldn’t be there right now.

“Should have said something to Triton before I went off looking for tutors on my own. After he decided to probably drop me.”

His Dad gave him a look at that, raising an eyebrow before asking. “Did he actually say that?”

“Well-”

That earned him an exasperated look from his Dad. “ Perseus. ”

“In my defense I’ve had teachers stop giving me attention for a lot sillier reasons than what happened in the arena.”

Really even as well as things were going with him and Amphitrite. He still kept expecting the other shoe to drop.

It wasn’t personal.

It was just easier to expect teachers to eventually get tired of trying to teach him. Or get set off by something he didn’t mean and drop him as a student. Than get his hopes up for the upteenth time that maybe this time it would be different. 

It at the very much usually hurt less.

But then again usually this kind of decision didn’t end up with a broken wrist.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand mortal schools.” his Dad said more to himself. “Either way you and him need to have a conversation regardless. Ignoring it while staying here even if you two did go your separate ways as far as training would just complicate things.”

Yeah that was fair.

Didn’t mean he was looking forward to it though. It was never fun to have another supposed mentor be added to that tally.

Honestly Percy thought they probably should have waited longer on having the conversation about what happened. Regardless of what his Dad said since they both knew that keep pushing it back would only help so much. But that being said…he was still dealing with nightmares. Which was definitely impacting this whole conversation with Triton now.

Who was trying to be apologetic. Percy just was having not the easiest time with the whole thing. Since the nightmares had been coming on and off since their argument. But last night had been particularly bad after the days events.

So he was maybe a bit shorter than normal.

Especially with Triton who he at least partly blamed for the nightmares. They actually had stopped for the most part a while ago. Only picking back up in intensity after they had had their whole argument.

He got his half brother had been looking for an outlet. But why did he have to be the one on the receiving end of things like this again. 

(Admittedly it was different since it was a Gods vs mortals thing. But it was similar enough to bring back not so fond memories for him.)

“I realize in hindsight I made a judgment error on multiple levels. I unfortunately based my own reaction on previous interactions I’ve had in the past.”

Well that’s just great. He thought they had been moving past the whole thing of associating him with other heroes. Apparently not.

Maybe it had been too hopeful to think Triton wouldn’t fall back into old habits. Even before the stress of the anniversary had come up. He knows old habits die hard with mortals. He can’t imagine how hard it must be with Gods like him.

But it still hurt.

Perseus scoffs at that. “Yeah, right. Like I wanted to get attacked by a hellhound less than a week into camp.”

Triton had made the inference that some of the olden heroes would have sought out a fight with a hellhound. Which Percy guessed what he was aiming at was him falling on old habits because of them. Which was more than a bit disappointing.

He thought they had established better that he wasn’t like them. Even if most of the time he wasn’t trying to actively not be like them.

Which honestly should have been more of a clue to Triton on the whole sequence of events. But that’s just Percy’s opinion on the whole matter.

At least it wasn’t the worst thing he could say. Like he wanted to feel something like that tear into the armor he was wearing. And even as quick as Chiron had been. Still getting badly injured in the process.  He could have given Triton more details aloud admittedly. Said something more along the lines of what he did during their first argument. When Triton had tried to accuse him of being attention seeking.

And had ended up with finding out way more about Percy’s encounters with poisons. Then probably either of them had intended.

But he didn’t want to. Since more details just tended to make nightmares more likely. And he was already having enough of them in enough detail without telling Triton said details.

So he kept it to that.

He had earned that response Triton supposed. Especially as the more he thinks about it the worse his choices seem to look in hindsight.

Mother was right. They really did need to find another outlet for his emotions. 

“You’ve read the folder mother gave to you.” Triton pointed out.

Perseus made a face at that. “Yeah I know I did. I guess its just different with this because a lot of that stuff I have never had any experience with. But a hellhound attack? I know what that is like. I can’t imagine seeking one out on purpose for a fight.”

It probably didn’t help that he also hadn’t enough skills to deal with a hellhound attack. Let alone deal with one after trying to fight off five Ares campers who had for all intents and purposes had seemed to want him dead. 

Just for protecting himself. 

He doesn’t know if Annabeth taking him out of the water had exasperated the circumstances. Not really anyway. And he knew she was trying to just figures things out.

But he might have at least a decent chance of things going slightly better.

Maybe. 

Honestly it was so much of a blur he wasn’t sure anymore.

“And that’s where you’re an outlier to a lot of the olden heroes.”

“I just have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Maybe its because I was closer to being untrained than trained at the time and didn’t have much in way of protecting me-”

The more Percy spoke on the task. The more Triton found it driven home just how poorly managed he had handled the situation.

Which he already knew. 

But something about this was more than the other comments before. And he didn’t really know why.

“-But no matter how hard I think about it. The harder it gets for me to understand why you would have to go after a hellhound. Those things are huge. The one Luke summoned was the size of a rhinoceros. Even a fully grown adult I feel like would have problems fighting one of those.”

“Olden heroes did not always have much in the way of common sense. Case and point one of them once thought they could take Persephone as their bride. After she was already married to Hades.”

Percy cringed at that. “Ooh I bet that didn’t go over well.”

He had met his Uncle exactly once. But something about that one experience was telling enough on its own. Maybe because despite it being his only face to face encounter. His uncle had been trying to get his helm back rather persistently.

And if that was his reaction to a lost item of power…well he doesn’t think his Uncle would handle someone kidnapping his wife very well. Since that was even worse.

(Even if it would be a bit ironic considering their story it felt like.)

“It did not. His friend got off fairly lightly since in spite of everything else-” That made Percy think whoever was involved was one of his half siblings. He would need to check the folder later. Since if it was he seemed to have missed it in the information dump that was that folder. “But he remains trapped in the Underworld even though he wasn’t technically dead before.”

Yeah that just made him glad again he had those pearls to use. SInce without them he wasn’t sure what they would have done. Since it seemed Hades really thought they had the helm.

And the only way to fix that would have been to go to Ares.

Which Hades didn’t seem likely that he was going to do.

"Still doesn't mean I would do those kind of stunts. That was a bit unreasonable Triton. Please tell me you get that?"

“No, I know that now. Trust me several people have made a point to make sure I realize it. Including my own mother.”

Percy’s not entirely sure if he should apologize for that. Considering it was Triton’s own actions that had caused it. So he just decides not to comment on it. That’s the easier option at this point.

"I just hadn't considered you might run into a citizen that opposes father. Or else I would have said something."

“I didn’t think most people would oppose Gods in that fashion.” Percy said, making a face. Especially the ones they were living under. That seemed like a questionable life choice.

Well of course there was the thing with their grandfather. But he was pretty sure the common merfolk wasn’t on the same level of a Titan.

“And that is partly why I had put myself in charge of your training. You are still relatively new to our world and what some people will and won’t do. Assigning you to someone else seemed foolish at best.”

“To be honest I had just assumed that you did that because of some sort of godly pride.”

“Well I won’t deny that wasn’t a factor in this at least.” After all there were other people he could have asked to train Perseus that they could trust. “But your overall safety was the majority reason. And I do apologize for giving some false impressions about what I was doing or my thoughts on the situation.”

Well that was something Percy supposed. He still didn’t entirely know how to feel about the whole thing. This was unknown territory for him. He never had to deal with an adult apologizing that wasn’t his Mom. Let alone someone that wasn't his Mom and Dad (which was still a new concept to him) looking out for his safety.

Especially not one of his teachers.

He had no clue how to handle this.

Like part of him had realized that Triton might not like him. But had never really stopped to think much beyond the level of dislike one way or another. And well he didn’t think he would say he would want him dead.

Probably.

But to have him actually express concern for his safety was something Percy wasn’t sure how to feel at the moment.

Everything was just too much. And too confusing and he had no clue how to handle any of it.

Percy had eventually retreated back to his own room. Triton and him weren’t doing lessons quite yet. And any lessons with his Dad and stepmother weren’t for another couple of hours. So he had some time to himself at least for now.

Which was good since it gave him a couple of hours to sort things out. While the conversation with Triton had proved useful, it still didn’t exactly take away the issues he had stirred up.

“Perseus?” Amphitrite’s voice brought him out of his musings. 

Which made him frown. He hadn’t lost track of time again had he? A quick glance at the clock told him no it was still before the lessons with Triton would have normally wrapped up.

Amphitrite seemed to sense the question saying. “Triton just wanted to check on you. And sent me since he wasn’t entirely sure if his presence would be welcome.”

Yeah that was fair considering he wasn’t even sure how he would feel if Triton showed up at the moment. The conversation had definitely helped, he wasn't going to deny.

But it was going to probably take a minute to get over what had happened.

Which at least Triton seemed to at least partially understand. So that was something at least. 

"Sorry its just a lot of emotions involving what happened."

"You do not need to apologize about what happened. Most would be overwhelemed I feel about everything you have been through. Let alone a hellhound attack. No matter what my son might say at times."

“Yeah." Percy agreed. He knew what Triton had said about olden heroes. But part of him felt like it might be his own problems distorting it. Maybe. "Plus it didn't help that something had happened right before it attacked. I was outnumbered and outmatched. And that just compounded the whole situation with the feelings.”

Well that was news.

She couldn’t recall Percy ever mentioning that there was an incident prior to the hellhound attack. And if Poseidon knew about it he certainly hadn’t told her about it.

Amphitrite frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

Percy hesitated for a second. Which made Amphitrite think he hadn’t mean that particular piece of information slip. “Perseus if you are worried about being in trouble I can promise you that you will not be on whatever this is.”

She chose to ignore the muttered ‘will see about that’ for the moment from Percy. As he rather reluctantly finally answered. “So there was this incident on my first full day at camp. And it put me at odds with some of the Ares campers.”

She tilted her head at that more than a bit surprised. “Even before the fight with their father?”

“Yep.” Percy sighed. “Like that didn’t help my interactions with them don’t get me wrong. But the issues started long before that.”

“Alright I can understand how that can cause problems overall with the cabin. Though you will need to explain how this contributed to the whole hellhound attack? Since I am not afraid I understand the connection quite yet.”

At most she could gather was there was a reason beyond the fight and Ares being himself occasionally. For the boy potentially not getting along with the Ares children. 

But that really didn’t tell her anything.

“So Clarisse tried to shove me into a toilet on my first day. And not wanting to go into it meant I accidentally sprayed her and a bunch of her half siblings with water.”

“Okay. I must admit I am not quite following the train of problems here.”

Her best guess was it must have something to do with the response. 

“So one of the other campers set me up on border patrol for the first Capture the Flag game since I had arrived.”

“Alright…” She still wasn’t entirely seeing what the problem was.

“So Clarisse and her cabinmates weren’t happy about the whole toilet incident. And decided the best way to respond to their own actions was to try and beat me up.”

Well that certainly explained the comment about earlier events not helping with the hellhound attack. “Let me get this correct. Their response to you defending yourself. Was trying to beat you up if I’m understanding you correctly?”

“Yep.”

“...I have multiple questions about that whole incident I must admit.” Starting with what Chiron was doing running the camp if those children thought they could get away with it.

“Yeah I sometimes look back at it and wonder about things too.” Like just how many people had actually known about the whole plan. Annabeth of course, Luke he was fairly certain of in hindsight, Clarisse he suspected had slipped the information so she knew where to find him. But beyond that he wasn’t entirely sure.

Either way that wasn’t really the point of the conversation he guessed.

“Thanks Amphy for just listening.”

“It’s not a problem child.”

Honestly it was nice to see that he was starting to feel a bit more comfortable around her. To start mentioning stories that he definitely had held back in the past for one reason or another. Though the use of the nickname was a bit of a surprise. It wasn't entirely a problem.

Even if she disliked that her stepson had been through any of this at all.

Percy wasn't entirely happy when his Dad brought the topic up also during their next training. He really wanted to drop it. But he guessed with recent events. Not talking about what was going on between him and Triton was basically impossible.

Even if honestly he could use a break from it.

"I still have a hard time with Triton thinking someone would purposely go after a hellhound. Even with the folder. Its just...those things are a lot."

“Side effect I suppose of him not spending time around most of his mortal half siblings.”

That made sense.

"Who did set you up for this attack may I ask?"

Percy hesitated. He didn't think telling them about Annabeths involvement was going to go well. Because of the whole Athena conflict thing. Even though this was Annabeth and not her Mom. It definitely felt like the feud carried onto their generation. 

Which to be honest...he hadn't understood this when Annabeth was pulling that stunt. He still didn't understand it when his immortal family did it either. He had tried to clarify it. But his previous attempts hadn’t gone very well. But beyond vague references no one had really given much details into why that was.

Was it a principle of the matter? Was this something dealing with not trusting anything relating with Athena? Had she acted against more of the family then just his Dad?

Though that didn’t make sense entirely. Because Amphitrite had mentioned having had demigod children of her own on occasion. Even if it was much more rare then his Dad had been before recently for some reason. And as far as he knew the only direct conflict was between his Dad and Athena.

“You do not want to tell me who was behind it do you?”

Percy shook his head at that question. He didn’t need to be an Apollo kid with an ability to tell the future. In order to determine who had set him up for a beatdown with the Ares children. 

“Honestly I am just getting tired of talking about it. It feels like it's the only thing we’ve been talking about for the last week.”

He maybe wasn’t ready to move on as a whole. But he was ready to not be the focus of every single conversation he had been having.

“That is fair I suppose. Though Amphitrite mentioned something involving this that may be a bit concerning for the future.”

“What?” He asked shooting his Dad a confused look.

“The incident with the Ares children and their father might cause more conflict in the camp in my opinion.”

Ah yeah he could see how she thought that was a problem.

Partly because he also wasn’t sure if it wouldn’t be a problem. Reactions to some of his abilities had felt mixed at best so far. And that was with fairly normal powers being used in self defense.

Learning that he could use some of his Dad’s earthshaker domain…had made him even more worried about future reactions. He knew how they had reacted to water control. How were they going to react to that?

At least learning how to use his Dad’s earthshaker domain had been interesting so far. For one there had been the initial surprise that he could even do that. It apparently was rare enough that even when his Dad was having more kids it only popped up occasionally.

Which all in all had honestly made him more reluctant to try and use the powers. He got that they were training these abilities for that reason. But it still made him nervous to even train them. Even knowing that anything he caused intentionally or not would pale in comparison to what the rest of the family could.

He was a demigod not a God after all.

But the idea of trying to use it on land at all made him a bit nervous.

The other kids had barely handled it when he had basic water manipulation powers. How were they going to react to some of this?

Probably best to keep some of these a secret until he absolutely had to use them. It wasn’t like he was bad with a sword anymore anyway.

This just was another thing he could use if he needed to.

“Do you want me to have a discussion with Chiron about this?”

“No.” He said maybe a bit too quickly. “No. Dad, it's fine. It was just a one off thing. It's been handled.”

As much as he loved his Dad. Him inserting himself into the whole thing would absolutely make it worse. He was just going to have to handle their reactions, however poor they might be, when they eventually came.

Ironically maybe the most progress he ended up making with his half brother. Was a particularly late night when he had ended up in the kitchens looking for food after a particularly memorable nightmare at the time.

Percy was a bit surprised to see Triton in the kitchen as well. He honestly hadn’t thought of the god as the type to have a midnight snack.

But then again he still didn’t know him rather well. As evidenced by the mess that had been the last week or so.

“You’re up late.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Percy answered, grabbing something from the fridge Amphitrite had pointed him to a while back when he had asked about snacks outside of normal meals.

“You’re still having the nightmares, I take it?”

“Uh huh.”

“And yesterday afternoon definitely didn’t help the matter.”

“Nope.”

“I will probably be apologizing for this until the end of time. But I truly did not mean to go down the way it did.”

Yeah. He kind of gets that now. But it doesn’t stop just everything that had come as a result of it.

“Perseus?”

Percy looks up from the food he was still absent mindedly stabbing with his fork. “Yeah?”

“You don’t have to answer this if you do not want to. But I was wondering, just how many near death experiences have you had?”

“Uh,” Percy wasn’t fully sure what to count at the moment. Either way he had a feeling the actual count was definitely ‘too many’ by most people's standards.

Well his too. But he didn’t really like to think of them all in one go if he was being honest.

Triton gave a slight sigh at that. “Alright I think that answers that question well enough.”

“If it helps I think you know about all of them now?”

Maybe? He was probably forgetting one he hadn’t told Triton. In fact he was almost positive there was at least one incident he hadn’t told him about. But he really didn’t have the energy to figure out if he was telling Triton the correct information at the moment.

“I am not sure how to feel about that to be honest. Considering you have mentioned I believe what at least counts on some level for a mortal for near death experiences you have been through is at least four.”

Yeah that sounds about right.

“That’s the not so fun part of being on a quest.” He said with a shrug.

Triton just stared at him for a second. “Is that normal?”

Percy shrugged. “I honestly wouldn’t know. No one before me at camp had been on a quest in years. And well I’m pretty sure nothing about my quest is classified as normal.”

And yeah he was realizing there were other incidents that classified as near death experiences that he hadn’t told Triton about. Probably knowing him it would come out eventually.

But he didn’t feel like talking about them in the middle of the night.

“Fair point.” Triton said. “You should probably be heading back to bed unless you want Mother getting on your case about lack of sleep.”

“Don’t want to go back to bed. The nightmares will just come back.”

He knows eventually he’ll have to. He can’t stay here forever. But he just doesn’t want to go back quite yet.

“You know after I lost Pallas I had nightmares?”

Percy looked up at the god in surprise. He already knew Gods could have dreams and thus by extension nightmares. He just never really had stopped to think about it more.

Add in the fact that this was the first time Triton had even mentioned Pallas in passing. He was a bit surprised by the sudden confession.

Maybe this was him trying to be open again?

“Really?”

“You probably already have figured this out by this point but my coping skills for what happened were never good.” Yeah he had long figured that out on his own. “And it was partly due to that.”

“Hard to move on if you keep dreaming about it happening over and over.” Percy said getting where he thought Triton was trying to go with that.

At least that’s why the nightmares for him we’re getting to him.

“Indeed.”

“Do you tend to get nightmares around the anniversary?” Maybe asking this wasn’t the best idea. But if he said yes…well that definitely would have compounded the situation that had happened the other day he’s pretty sure.

Lack of sleep was not fun.

And well he still wouldn’t be happy that any of this had happened to begin with. But he at least could feel slightly better about the whole situation.

“Depends on the year. Some anniversaries are better than others. But yes usually. And before you ask, this has not been one of the better years. Not that it excuses my actions of last week.”

Great something else for him to probably look forward to next year. Even if Triton claimed this year was worse then normal he had low doubts things would change.

Triton seemed to sense where his thoughts were going. “I am going to try and work with mother so this does not happen again next year. How much improvement between then and now who knows. But at the very least I will not do something so foolhardy.”

Well that was something at least Percy guessed. 

Honestly he would believe it when he saw it. But then again Amphitrite seemed like the type to actually try to get Triton to actually do something about it. Rather than just keep ignoring it.

So maybe things will be better next year.

Though he wasn’t going to put high hopes on that.

Percy’s brought out of his thoughts by contemplative comment from Triton. “You two would have liked each other I’m fairly certain if she had lived.”

Percy blinked in surprise. “Really?”

That maybe was the biggest surprise of the whole conversation. He had yet to meet a God besides his Dad who he didn’t have problems with from the beginning. 

(Well and his half sisters. But the point still stood since most of the Gods didn’t get along that easily with him.)

To find out there had been a goddess once that he could have. Was a bit of a foreign concept. Even if she was technically family.

“Could you tell me a bit about her? The book Mom found didn’t really tell me much.”

Triton’s quiet for a moment. And he wonders if he made a mistake asking the question. Since it’s obvious the family didn’t talk much about her. But after a moment he says. “Maybe another time. I do believe Mother will be on my case if I don’t at least tell you to go to bed. And keeping you up with stories would be defeating the purpose.”

Huh.

Well that wasn’t a yes. But it wasn’t a no either.

So that had to be something right?

It takes almost two days for them to have a scare about Percy disappearing somewhere again. While Amphitrite is confident that they had communicated why Triton was training Percy.

She wasn’t sure how much it had stuck yet.

Percy had resumed training with Triton from what she knew. Things still were a bit more tense than they had been working together before the whole incident had happened. 

But at least he had been showing up for the morning lessons. 

“Percy didn’t show up for morning lessons.”

Amphitrite frowned wondering for a minute if Percy had somehow found a way back to Manhattan on his own. Today was Friday and the lessons were supposed to be brief before she took him back to Sally.

But they were supposed to be happening.

So either he had found a way back to New York. Which would present its own concerns and its own discussions. Or Percy had gone off to somewhere else again for reasons that weren’t as clear.

Admittedly she didn’t think he would pull the same kind of stunt that had lead to recent events. Especially only two days after the first one. Especially considering he had been showing up to training from what she knew from Triton.

“You don’t think he went out do you?”

“No. I think between the three of us we got across the idea of why the stunt he pulled was overall a bad idea.”

Well that was something she supposed.

“I honestly wonder if he just might be in his room.”

“You haven’t checked?” Amphitrite asked raising an eyebrow. That should have been the first thing he did before coming to her.

“No. I still wasn’t sure if he would appreciate me in his space after everything that has happened. So I’ve been avoiding there. And I’m not sure if even going in for a legitimate reason might give the best reaction.”

Well she hadn’t expected this to be him respecting his brothers boundaries even at this point. Especially considering the last time he couldn’t find Percy had been right before the incident with that mer. But that wasn’t a bad thing necessarily.

“Plus with the fact he’s been having those nightmares-”

“Nightmares?” Amphitrite repeated with a frown.

“Yeah he apparently started having them again about the hellhound attack after the incident occurred.”

That made a considerable amount of sense. She wasn’t entirely sure why it hadn’t occurred to her before now.  Honestly she wonders how much nightmares he experiences. Since it seemed like the boy had a lot to go through.

Either way it gives her an idea as to where the boy might be. That she isn’t entirely sure why Triton probably hadn’t checked there first.

“I’ll go see if he’s in his room. Why don’t you check the library? I doubt he has left the palace.”

After all Percy still wasn’t allowed outside of the palace in Atlantis on his own. And after the incident of the other day wouldn’t be for a long while. Outside of their own supervised trips. And when Percy returned home to his mother.

There hadn’t been really any talk of ramifications, if any, for Percy over the whole thing. And she really didn’t think this would change. This whole incident had been started by Triton after all. And none of them had realized that Percy would even consider this kind of stunt.

They had known that he had problems with school. But it was obvious none of them had fully realized the extent of it. If this was the end result to come out of it.

Thankfully it turned out Percy was still asleep. Which would normally be not something to be grateful for. But considering what they were concerned about was the other option…this was preferred.

Though the fact that he’s still asleep makes her take a closer look than she probably had in the past few days. And realizes something for the first time properly. 

The boy seemed downright exhausted. And if she hadn’t walked in on him still in bed. Then she would have questioned if he had slept at all.

It seemed the aftermath of the past couple of weeks had finally caught up with him. Possibly even longer considering what he had been dealing with. He just had a bit of a meltdown the other day. If you could even call it that. 

So everything finally catching up now did make sense.

Maybe staying in Atlantis would be the preferable choice for the day. But ultimately that was the choice up to Percy. Not any of them. And it was one he couldn’t even make if he was still asleep.

After lightly shaking Percy awake. He stared at the clock for a second before he seemed to realize the time. Moving to get up from the bed. “Crap I didn’t mean to sleep in.”

Amphitrite moves to stop him before he gets fully up however. “Percy.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you actually feeling up to going in? Because I may not know much about mortals but you do look exhausted darling.”

Plus with the comment from Triton about him having nightmares about the attack. The boy was most likely tired. He just hadn’t told any of them.

There’s a brief hesitation from Percy for a moment. And in that moment she can tell just how tired he is just from the way his own posture seems to slump for a moment.

“Why don’t you just take a rest day?”

There’s some hesitation clearly from Percy at the suggestion. And she isn’t entirely surprised when he starts up with. “But Mom-”

“Your mother will understand if you need a rest day. I can still take you into Manhattan tomorrow or Sunday if you’re feeling up to it then.”

Percy hesitated at that still. 

“Of course this is your schedule ultimately. If we need to change things every once and a while because something happens you’re allowed to.”

Admittedly this hadn’t been entirely discussed before now. But she was fairly certain when she explained to Sally that Perseus was resting. She would understand the choice. 

“So its ultimately your decision on whether or not to go back to Manhattan today.”

Just because she thought it was best for the boy to stay in Atlantis at least for an extra day. Didn’t mean he was obligated to. He could go home to his mother if he wanted to. He could rest there if he wanted to. 

But maybe not dealing with the stress of relocating for once wouldn’t be the worst idea.

It did little good if the very thing meant to help the boy. Didn’t actually successfully do so.

“I don’t have to attend any of my other lessons if I stay?”

“No you can stay and rest as much as you want.” She chose to leave off the obvious that having lessons would defeat the purpose of him staying. “You’ll just be having one of your days off here instead of in Manhattan.”

“Then I think I want to stay. At least for today. But-”

“I’ll handle your mother but I am fairly sure she will agree with me on this decision.”

Honestly, she had a feeling Sally would be more mad if she had tried to bring Percy in. But that was just a feeling she had based on how she had gotten to know the mortal in the past couple of months.

Tritons back in the main living area when she leaves Percy to sleep. “You found Perseus?”

Moments like this definitely showed he cared for the boy. If you knew where to look for the signs. 

It just wasn’t apparent to everyone yet. Particularly with all that had happened she's fairly certain Percy hasn't realized it yet.

“Yes he was still in his room sleeping.”

There is a slightly noticeable relief from Triton. “Where is he now?”

“Still resting. It seems all of the recent events have finally caught up with him. Can you tell your father about a change of plans? Perseus is going to stay in Atlantis at least through today. And I need to tell Sally that Percy won’t be coming in today.”

Or possibly the whole weekend. But that was ultimately Percy’s choice based on how he was feeling not theirs.

Triton frowned at that. “You don’t think he’s getting sick do you?”

Honestly he didn’t know enough about mortals to know if he should be at all concerned. But this seemed like a thing that could happen?

Especially after the past few months

“No I think he’s genuinely tired. It’s been a trying past couple of weeks on top of the last few months for him Triton. Add in the recent nightmares and this honestly is not a shock. As you should well know.”

Triton cringed at that. “Yeah I am aware.”

“I am not too worried about this at this point.” One bad day wasn’t indicative of a longer problem after all. Or at least she assumed so. “If he’s still like this tomorrow. I’ll have Althea check him over to make sure there isn’t anything to worry about. But at least for now lets just leave him to rest. A day off won’t hurt the boy.”

Visiting Sally this time was eerily reminiscent of their first meeting in August. Though at least this time she wasn’t bearing the news of Percy nearly dying. Just that he had exhausted himself.

“Amphitrite is everything okay?”

“Everything is as fine as can be expected. Percy just woke up today already tired. Presumably from recent events. So rather than push him out the door to come back to you.”

“You left him in Atlantis to sleep.”

“Correct.”

“Well that makes sense.” Sally said with a sigh. “And sorry its just after the past couple of months. And the last time you showed up unannounced without Percy being right after the incident at camp…”

“You have a right to be worried. But he’s fine Sally I promise you. He just seemed really tired so I said I thought it was best for him to rest rather than take the trip in.”

“That is the better idea. Do we know what brought this on or did it just come out of nowhere?”

“I have some suspicions. This week was a bit more chaotic than normal due to unforeseen events. On top of recent events with my eldest. And I think it all just finally caught up with him.”

Sally made a face. “Possibly the last several months as well considering everything.”

“That too. Admittedly Percy hasn’t talked that much about the quest he went on at this point.” Everything they had heard so far seemed to come in pieces. Like how they had found out about the near fall of into Tartarus. “We only have a few details here and there. But it seems like he’s been through a lot in the few months since he found out about our world.”

“Yeah I know a few things myself. Some of it I know since it was all over mortal national news so I got to look it up after. But I don’t know everything and I suspect Percy probably won’t ever tell me the full details.”

That sounded about right. Though now Amphitrite wondered just what had happened during the quest to apparently make national news. 

A story for another time maybe since Sally would only have small details of it most likely.

“If he’s feeling up to it I’ll bring him by either tomorrow or Sunday.”

“I figured but please make sure he doesn’t push himself because he feels he has to. I want to see him of course but not at the cost of causing him problems.”

“I assumed as much. And I will keep an eye on him.”

“Thank you.” Sally said with a bit of a relieved sigh. “And you’re sure its just exhaustion?”

“I do believe so at least for the moment. Like I said before it’s been a long past few months for all of us including him. I believe its just catching up to him finally now.”

“Well thanks for coming by to inform me he won’t be in today.”

“It is not a problem. I do try to strive to be better than some certain other entities about keeping their children in the loop.”

Amphitrite had chosen to stay around and talk with the mortal a bit more. Before returning to Atlantis. She would have been doing this most likely at some point this weekend anyway. Since it was becoming a routine for them.

They were just doing it today instead of the next day when Percy was out with his half siblings. In a routine that had become familiar to the both of them. 

“If it helps at all I do believe he does care on some level for Percy. He is just in very, very deep denial about it.”

And was very bad at showing it a lot of the time.

Really the incident with the broken wrist was the first time he had truly shown it in any capacity around Percy as far as she knew. (She had picked up the signs long before then. But she did not believe Percy had.) But then again she might have missed something before then. 

“He doesn’t have the best way of showing it.”

“No and we are looking into ways to help fix at least his coping skills. Though with how us Gods can be...”

“Whether or not it will ever show in Percy’s lifetime is questionable?”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“I suppose as long as he doesn’t try something like that again.”

“Oh he will not. It might take time for him to change since this is a process that will take significant time. Since he’s never been good at handling his emotions around the loss of his daughter. Especially when we are close to when we lost her. And everything with us always takes a significant amount of time. But I think he has at least grasped the concept of that not being the best choice in sibling baiting.”

To say the very least.

“I was an only child myself so I wouldn’t have any experience with what he said he was trying to do either.” Sally admitted. “Though still…”

“It was too much for even that. I know that, he knows that, the whole family knows it at this point. Having siblings arguably makes knowing how out of line this was worse but that’s a whole other matter.”

“The whole family knows?” Sally asked raising an eyebrow.

“Well not the whole family. Among others, I think he is avoiding Benthesykime since she will definitely not react well to the incident.”

Sally made a thoughtful noise at that. “It seems like her and Rhode have seemed to taken a liking to Percy.”

“Which is most likely at least part of the reason behind it. However, there is her being a patron of children, so him messing with someone that would be considered one of her charges will not go well.”

“Ah.”

 “I do know he has been spending time with Rhode to at least try to understand modern mortals better.”

“Why does she do that do you know? She had mentioned that to me in passing. But I never got to ask her why when I saw her.”

“The reasons are primarily her own. However, I believe it goes back to the fact that since she already lost her husband a long time ago. I think she has an easier time dealing with the relatively short life span of mortals than most. So she does not mind mingling as you might say with the mortals.”

“Ah.”

Amphitrite had one more stop to make before she returned to Atlantis. And that was to see one of her daughters in Benthesikyme. Whom she had been hearing had been working on ways to improve the camp.

And with the recent information of what had happened with the Ares campers. Or rather the lack of action in response to them. 

It seemed like information that would be good for her to know.

“You still haven’t talked to Chiron or Dionysus about adjustments to camp that need to be made correct.?”

“No, not yet. I am still putting things together at the moment. Why?”

“Well I had a recent conversation with Perseus that was troubling to say the least about the camp.”

“That seems to be a recurring thing.” Benthesykime noted with a cringe. At the questioning look from her mother she elaborated. “He told me about the current situation with the Hermes cabin during summer. Or well rather he told Rhode who then told me. Which was how this whole thing got started in the first place.”

“Ah.”

“So is this about that, or is it about something else? Because I’m already looking into ways to maybe hopefully alleviate that issue. I’m not sure if I can outright fix it since well-”

“Some of this is reliant on other gods.” 

“Yeah that.”

“But to answer your question no it is not dealing with the housing situation at camp. As it turns out that is not the only major concern we need to be looking into with the camp.

“Okay, if its not about the Hermes situation than what is it about?”

“Disciplinary issues.”

“Oh I have a feeling I am not going to like whatever you’re going to tell me.”

“Most likely not.” She certainly hadn’t liked it when Percy had told her what he had.

Chapter Text

As it turned out Percy didn’t end up going home that weekend.

Amphitrite had taken one look at him Saturday morning. And had become insistent that he spend the remaining weekend in Atlantis.

He had tried to argue against that of course. He did actually feel better compared to Friday. But she had still shut it down. 

It was weird to be wandering the castle with nothing to do again. That really hadn’t been a thing since his first few days out of the infirmary. 

After Triton had picked up training him. He always seemed to have something happening. It was nice not to have anything to do really at first. Even if it became kind of boring really fast.

Boring and lack of action with children with ADHD turned out to not always mix well. He still wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to put up with that stay in the infirmary.

Maybe he had just been too exhausted for it to bother him?

It was the only thing he could think of that remotely made sense.

Thankfully Amphitrite had found a solution of sorts. “Would you like to get together with those children you’ve been playing with during the week?”

He actually would love that but at the same time…“Wouldn’t that just go against why I’m here?”

“Us getting together with them doesn’t necessarily have to be for the same reasons you have. There are other activities to partake in that are less strenuous.”

That made sense.

“It would also allow you to see part of Atlantean culture we haven’t really been to somewhere that isn’t part of the direct royal household.”

Right this was still supposed to be about the whole cultural lessons wasn’t it? Honestly the playing with the merkids had come up so infrequently in that context. That if it wasn’t for the fact that it was usually part of that time with Amphitrite. He probably would have forgotten about it.

Especially since it didn’t seem to have the same structure as everything else they had done so far. Which he didn’t mind.

But it did make him curious if Amphitrite had other motives going on here. Though considering she was the queen of the seas he wasn’t entirely sure what those other motives could have been.

But then again it seemed like politics under the sea were far more complicated than he had realized. If the last week or two were any indicator of it anyway. Since they really hadn’t touched that in their lessons yet. 

Amphitrite was taking him to Dylan’s house as it turned out. Who was the merkid who seemed to be the sort of defacto head of the friend group he had joined. Since Percy definitely wasn’t it.

(Usually when he was dealing with these kind of friend groups. He was the one being targeted and being left out of them. Not being allowed into it. So even knowing who his Dad was and them knowing that. 

It still wasn’t something he was entirely used to.)

“Good to see you Percy. You were missed last week.”

It had taken them a few get togethers before he had managed to get them to drop using his full name. And go by his preferred nickname of Percy.

But eventually they had gotten there.

He cringed slightly. “Yeah a lot happened last week.”

The whole incident with Triton and the actually not a tutor, tutor. Had meant more then a few things had been shuffled around from his normal schedule. Including having missed the normal meetup. 

“Does this have anything to do with the King and your status?”

Right the weird thing about where he fell in the monarchy status. By decree apparently he was considered a Prince of Atlantis even though he was a demigod. Which was still a weird concept to wrap his brain around at times.

He had only found out about it after it had come up briefly shortly after Triton had first started teaching him lessons. His Dad’s decree about his children regardless of whether they had a human mother would be considered part of Atlantis’ royal family. Something he hadn’t really understood why at the time.

But after the incident with the tutor that wasn’t actually one. 

Well he sort of understood it. Even if he wasn’t sure it would have made an actual physical difference in his opinion whether or not he had the label.

Since he was pretty sure the tutor would have done that even without the label.

But if his Dad thought it made a difference. Then there really wasn’t anything he could do about it. Just deal with it on the rare occasion that it seemed to come up.

Like now.

“Sort of?” It technically was he guessed. Since them getting at his Dad was because he was the king of Atlantis. But it also was’t because of him specifically arguably. He just was a means to an end “It’s complicated.”

“Well its good to have you back around.”

“Thanks.”

It was nice to be around other kids that just didn’t tolerate him at times. Or in the best case situation just ignored the awkwardness that had been past history with them. 

“For what?”

“It’s complicated.” Hopefully the other boy would get the hint to drop it. He really didn’t want to explain his own complicated history of trying to make friends with other kids.

Just because he was getting closer to the kids he was playing with. Didn’t mean he was ready to have that conversation. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be.

Going by the look on the other boy’s face. He didn’t seem to want to drop it. But eventually in the lapse of talking seemed to accept that he wasn’t going to expand on it.

“Do you want to see my room?”

Percy perked up a bit at that. Happy to be getting away from the other topic for a moment. “Yes please.”

Apparently the rest of the invites had probably been given out during when they would normally have met up. But because Percy was absent due to everything else going on. Dylan was just now getting it to him.

Honestly part of him was surprised that he had been planned to get an invite at all. Let alone it being remembered afterwards. It wouldn’t have been the first time someone ‘forgot’ to give him an invitation. 

Dylan was rambling a bit nervously. “I apologize if this is a bit confusing. I know things with land mortals aren’t exactly the same-”

That finally got Percy to snap out of his train of thought realizing the merkid was starting to spiral. “No, no I get what you're talking about.”

This was his first time actually encountering one. But Amphitrite had explained to him before that it was essentially the Atlantean term for birthdays. When he eventually had gotten around to asking her about birthdays and Atlantis after Rhodes comment. So he knew what this was about.

The invite being given at all had honestly caught him off guard honestly more then the different names. When was the last time he had been invited to a birthday party? Had he ever been invited to one that a school wasn’t being put on?

Sure they had that celebration over the summer for Annabeth’s birthday. But that had been different from what he assumed most birthday parties were like.

(And well this still wouldn’t be like a normal mortal birthday with friends he realized. They were in Atlantis after all. But this would still be the first time attending a party in a more normal setting.)

“We just call them birthdays though back on the land.”

He just didn’t know how to tell Dylan that he wasn’t normally invited to this kind of thing. Even in a school full of social pariah like Yancy. He had been the bottom rung of the social ladder.

No one had ever wanted him at their birthdays before this year. And even then it had only been a couple of times.

“I understand if the King and Queen say no of course.”

Percy cringed slightly at that. Since it wasn’t a total invalid concern. “I’ll talk to them about it. I don’t think its going to be a problem since we’ve been hanging out before though.”

He would get them to agree to this. Somehow. He just had to figure it out first.

He wasn’t going to pass up the first chance to actually go to a birthday party he had been properly invited to.

The only reason he could think of was because of the whole thing that had happened with the ‘tutor’. But that couldn’t be enough to ban this kind of thing. Right?

He knew his Dad was protective. But any reason he could think of for not coming wouldn’t even make sense. Not unless he stopped visiting his new friends entirely. Which didn’t seem to be something that was about to happen.

(Or at least he hoped not.)

“When was yours anyway?”

“About three months ago.”

Dylan tilted his head at that in slight confusion. “I am surprised I had not heard more about it.”

Percy just shrugged at that. “A lot of things happened right around then. So it was a pretty low key affair in comparison to probably it would normally have been around here.”

Or at least he assumed it would have been if they had actually done something. But he wasn’t telling Dylan that.

“That tracks.”

Percy almost wanted to ask about whether any of his godly relatives ever had such celebrations. But he had a feeling asking that would just admit to the fact that their actually hadn’t been a celebration. He was just covering that fact up.

“I am not sure what next year is going to look like. But if I have one you can come to I’ll ask Dad about inviting you.”

What actually would happen next year who knew. But that could be figured out later. Though that also might not be the only issue to deal with.

“One of the kids I play with gave it to me.” He says trying to fill the silence as his Dad looks over the invite. He had figured his Dad probably had final say in this all things considered. So he had brought it to him the first chance he got. 

“I figured as much.”

It wasn’t like he had been around to know a lot about this.

“When is your birthday anyway?”

Percy frowned in confusion at the slight change in topic before saying. “Back in August.”

Poseidon frowned at that seeming to be thinking for a moment before asking. “Back when you were in the infirmary?”

Percy nodded at the question. He wasn’t entirely sure why his Dad was just figuring this out. But then again he had been unconscious for his actual birthday. So it wasn’t like he had anyway of knowing if his Dad had remembered it then and then forgotten.

Or somehow didn’t know it at all.

Which to be honest he really wasn’t sure if that would be something his Dad could do or not. He probably had a vague awareness of his birthday. Since he remembered him visiting as a baby. 

But time with Gods was different right?

So who knew if he even tended to keep track of birthdays. Like just because Atlanteans celebrated it didn’t mean that applied to everyone else.

“Why didn’t you say anything? We would have done something once you had recovered.”

Percy just shook his head at that slightly. “It’s fine.” They were well past August at this point. One missed birthday wasn’t the end of the world.

His Dad raised an eyebrow at that. “I doubt your mother would agree with that statement.”

Yeah well she hadn’t said anything either about it before this point.

But that might also be because she had assumed they had done something in Atlantis to make up for it. Since he hadn’t really bothered to correct anyone on it.

“Anyway back to the actual topic. Can I go?”

The look he got in response told him the conversation probably wasn’t dropped. Just moved to a later date. 

But eventually Poseidon just sighed at the question. Which caused Percy’s shoulders to dip a bit already seeing where this was probably going “It’s not a no Perseus. Just a give us some time to review thing and we will get back to it.”

Which to Percy might as well have been a no. Especially after the events of the past few weeks.

Maybe Amphitrite would change his Dad’s name once they had the conversation probably. But he wasn’t too hopeful.

Well at least hopefully he could convince one of them to take them shopping for presents. Just because he couldn’t go didn’t mean he couldn’t get a present right?

Though where to even start with that already felt overwhelming.

Hopefully someone could help with this.

“He really wanted to go.” Poseidon was talking with Amphitrite later in the evening. About the conversation of the birthday party.

Which the attending part wasn’t a surprise. As much as Percy seemed to almost be pushing a bit to be allowed. Where as so far Percy had only pushed things on occasion. So this must hold some significance to him that he didn’t fully understand.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Based on the conversations he’s had with Rhode and Benthesykime. Along with what I’ve gathered from Sally. He’s never really been able to hold down a friendship before he met his satyr friend. This might be his first real invite.”

That definitely would explain it. Even if he was a bit surprised. He knew Percy had trouble in school with teaches. He hadn’t realized as much that it wasn’t limited to them.

Partly because Percy even after living there for three months. Still tended to skirt around certain topics.

“We’ll need to check and make sure none of the guests can cause trouble.” He said after a moment.

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow at that. “I wouldn’t have let them anywhere near him if I thought they were a danger.”

This was reminding her a bit of when Poseidon had first brought Percy to Atlantis. Not the same thing of course. But similar enough to the whole idea of her husband thinking he needed protecting from things she might not account for.

Which she had thought they had gotten through.

Apparently not.

“I know but its not just that friend group this time we have to be concerned about.”

“True.” Before all she had to concern herself was the children and their parents. Vetting the remaining family members hadn’t been needed since the likelihood of Percy meeting any of them was small.

And while they should be safe considering the families she had picked. It was best to check. Especially after the events of the previous week it was always better to be a bit over cautious.

“We are going to need to vet the remaining people attending the party that we haven’t already looked at.”

“Which shouldn’t be a problem.”

Most of those families already ran in the same social circles as it was. So a lot of the people that would be in attendance would already have been cleared before Percy started to play with them in the first place. 

“No it shouldn’t but after the incident last week it never hurts to check.”

Admittedly the ‘tutor’ hadn’t actually been vetted in any shape or form before they had been allowed in the castle. Since Perseus hadn’t exactly told anyone about the plan. 

But it was still a reminder that not everyone was friendly towards the royal family. Thus it never hurt to be a bit cautious.

“No.” Amphitrite admitted after a moment of thought. “Though that does explain a few conversations I’ve had with him.”

Though why he hadn’t just come flat out and said something before now. She was far less sure on. Maybe it went back to those other issues they had been noticing more and more it felt like?

A lack of self worth would certainly explain it in her mind at the very least. Though then again she wasn’t a mortal child so maybe she was reading this all wrong.

Truth be told she was partially responsible for this as well since she had never asked Percy. And of the two of them she had always been the one that was better with dates that were important for mortals, like birthdays.

So it slipping Poseidon’s mind while not great wasn’t exactly a surprise.

And she really should have seen Percy not mentioning his birthday before now coming. Considering the other issues that they had been seeing. Him trying to downplay it wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Still it really should have been caught before now regardless.

“We’ll need to arrange something.”

“No disagreement there despite what Perseus keeps saying.”

There honestly could be any number of reasons Percy had downplayed the birthday party. And any of them could be true here with what they knew.

They couldn’t invite Percy’s mortal land friends unfortunately. Percy did not have many and the ones he did…well inviting them would be complex. 

Like the Athena girl he somehow had managed to befriend they could not even start to consider no matter how much Percy might want her there. It was just not a good idea. That would be a disaster on all fronts even if they tried to ignore who her mother was.

There had been some discussion about Percy’s noticeable self worth issues. Not within ear shot of him quiet yet. But they had been planning to bring it up to Sally when Amphitrite went for the weekly get together. 

This just emphasized the need to for both of them.

“So what did Dad say about the party?” Percy asked at the next lesson with Amphitrite.

Technically some part of him new that the answer wouldn't have changed. She had said she would talk with him. That didn't mean a nights worth of sleep would make things go in his favor though. But that didn't stop him from asking.

She sighed. “I don’t have an answer yet. Your father just wants to check a few more things before he says yes or no.” 

That still felt like a no to him no matter what Amphitrite claimed. Maybe because similar answers had usually lead that way in the past. Usually about field trips more then anything else.

Admittedly less to do with safety and more to do with lack of money thanks to Gabe. But it still felt familiar just in a different way.

“Can I maybe at least go shopping for a present for him even if I can’t go?”

“Percy we didn’t say you can’t go.” There’s a bit of exasperation in Amphitrite’s tone. Which just makes him shrug. 

“I know. But I know how Dad can get.” And he wasn’t going to put all of his faith in his Dad agreeing with this. “Come on you can’t tell me he’s probably at least considered not letting me go?”

They both knew that had to be true. His Dad was way too protective to at least not have remotely considered it at one point or another.

He’s pretty sure he’s only been allowed the playdates when they first started. Because there probably were plain clothes guards around. Not that anyone would actually confirm that if he tried asking. 

And he knew the idea had to have been Amphitrites for multiple reasons. Including but not limited to the whole being protective of him thing. To maybe being to a point of being overly so. 

“True though I’ve done my best to encourage him not to do that.” Amphitrite admitted after a moment. “I do think I can reason him into letting you go if need be even if I understand his concerns. But if he does say no than yes I can still take you shopping for a present.”

“Thanks.”

Though he was going to have to figure out what to get. Dylan’s family seemed well off which made sense if his immortal family was allowing the friendship. Realistically they weren’t going to know a lot of non royals. Even he knew that much. 

And when it came to rich kids…well if what he had seen at Yancy was any indication. Then finding something they didn’t already have was going to be a challenge.

Maybe he should try getting something when he was back in New York? At the very least he doubted Dylan had anything like that. 

Though if he even wanted something from up there was a whole other matter…

Maybe two different things?

But what if that was too much…

He never had really realized how complicated buying birthday presents were. But then again him and Grover had kept things low key. And he had given Annabeth something he had made over at camp. 

So this was really a first for him.

“What do you even get?”

The comment had been made more towards himself then Amphitrite but she answered anyway. “I am sure between myself and your sisters we can figure something out. If it helps they will probably be asking the same question when yours comes up next.”

Guess his Dad hadn’t brought up the birthday thing yet.

Though that wasn’t the only issue with that statement. Who knew if he would actually be let back next year? This was supposed to be a one year thing. And while he already preferred it to the schools back home…whether that would continue for multiple reasons he had to wonder.

“Yeah you're probably right.”

No matter what it was a problem for future him to worry about.

Even after a few hours at various stores. Percy still felt like he was spinning in circles for present ideas. 

Sure he had gotten a few ideas. But every time he thought about it a bit too much he ended up changing his mind. He wanted to try and get this as right as he could. And well that wasn’t easy since he really was still getting too know Dylan in some ways.

Sure visiting his house had let him get to know the merkid better. But it still felt like he really didn’t know a lot about what to get.

Add in the fact this was only one of a handful of times he had ever shopped for a birthday present for someone. And well he was feeling overwhelmed. Even if there was a possibility that he maybe just overthinking it.

Having Benti there made it slightly less overwhelming at least. Since she was a patron of children she knew a bit more in general about what might be good to get compared to the rest of the family.

But she also only knew Dylan from his stories so there was that.

“I’m sure whatever you’ll get him he will like. Regardless of what it is.” Rhode had tried to reassure him. Amphitrite had gotten her to come along for a trip to Atlantis this time. Since she still might have the best idea of what to get of the three of them.

“You know what I mean. I already told you about how trying to make friends back at school usually goes.”

She probably was right in that he was overthinking it. But at the moment he would rather overthink it then underthink it.

“Plus everything with that tutor that wasn’t actually a tutor probably isn’t helping things right now.”

“Ah yes mother mentioned something about that. Though I must admit some confusion on the chain of events based on what I was told.”

Percy just shrugged at that. “I’ve had teachers give up on me for far less then instigating an argument. Just because things should be better doesn’t mean  they always are.”

He was slowly starting to entertain the idea that Triton might not be like the other experiences. After enough time had passed since the argument followed by the incident. And Triton so far had shown no signs of actually dropping him.

(Even with Triton saying before he was his teacher for his safety. Percy still had occasionally hard time with the idea that he wouldn’t drop at the first inconvenience despite whatever excuse he gave.)

“Well that’s fair enough even though that feels ridiculous.”

“Yeah, you're not the first person to say that.”

It was funny how much of his immortal family. Seemed to be in agreement about that without maybe having talked to each other about that. 

It was nice. Different but nice.

Though he wasn’t going to let himself get used to it. Next year would most likely mean a normal school year and thus return to normalcy with what he had experienced.

But for now he was going to let himself enjoy it.

Soon whether or not he was going to get a birthday. Or get to go to his friends birthday. As it seemed Althia had finally reached a point in feeling confident on how to tackle the wrist.

The good news was she seemed confident she could help repair it to a degree. Not to the point of being brand new.

But it would hopefully be less of a nuisance then it had before.

The main issue though now? Timing.

Althia made it fairly clear that she wanted him staying in Atlantis during recovery. Saying that for a variety of reasons it was the best option. And he got it.

He had water healing powers. Being in the ocean would be beneficial. Along with the healer just wanting to probably keep an eye on him.

The problem though was well…

“I just don’t want to spend the holidays with not being able to use my wrist.”

And Christmas in Atlantis. Or whatever the Gods celebrated down here if they celebrated anything.

That was the one holiday he had always been able to get with his Mom. No matter what else got messed up. No matter how much Gabe interfered with their lives. They had always had that. He didn’t want the newest part of his life to take that away.

He wanted his wrist taken care of. But he also didn’t want to miss all of this with his Mom. He couldn’t see why they couldn’t wait other then his Dad being overprotective again.

“Perseus-”

“Dad I’ve been living with this for years. What is a few more weeks difference going to make at this point? Right?” The last part was more directed at Althia than his Dad.

“He’s not wrong my Lord. Actually doing it closer to the Winter Solstice even if it is a few days after would be more beneficial.”

“Because of the magic boon that comes with it.”

“Correct.”

“Alright if that is really the best choice. Then we can wait until around the new year. But I don’t want to postpone this any longer than that, understood?” The last part was directed more at Percy than Althia he was pretty sure. But none the less both said yes.

Triton and him were finally trying to address the elephant in the room that was his use in weapons. And whether or not the damage from the sting was going to cause problems with Riptide.

Part of Percy didn’t fully understand why they weren’t waiting until after Christmas. After Althia had done her thing. But well Triton was his trainer so he must have something in mind that Percy wasn’t thinking of.

Hopefully.

(Because otherwise it felt like they might be doing all this work only to have things reset in two months. Though that could still happen with Riptide arguably so maybe that wasn’t the strongest argument against this.)

They had pretty much avoided the topic for the entirety of the past week or two. After moving past the whole mishandling of the hellhound incident. 

But it wasn’t until the announcement from Althia earlier. That they had decided to sit down. And actually figure out somewhat where he was at with weapons handling.

So they had at least a baseline to compare with for after it was all over with. Since he wasn’t going to be able to train for a few weeks from what he understood.

“It doesn’t really hurt. It just feels weird.”

It was hard to explain really. Because he could feel something when Triton pressed on that area. But he knew it wasn’t nearly anywhere the normal response he should be feeling. 

“Well that is something I suppose.”

Percy raised an eyebrow at the tone Triton was giving off. “Do you think I would have used it if it still hurt?”

“I do not know would you have? You are probably best to answer that question than I am.”

Well that was fair.

“I’m not sure. Maybe? Riptide’s the only sword that has ever really worked for me like I said before. I’ve not really had anything else to compare it with that worked well.”

Okay so he probably had been listening to Annabeth’s opinion a bit too much on the subject maybe…He would really need to try and fix that during the next summer. 

“Aphrodite tends to have some powerful domains beyond just love of her own. However it is not something that is well talked about. Has not been for a long time.”

“Do you think I’ll actually have to change swords?”

Triton hummed in thought at that before answering. “That is slightly less clear I must admit. On the one hand you seem to handle Riptide fairly well. On the other it is hard to draw a comparison since we’ve never tried to branch you out into other weapons.”

Yeah that was fair.

“At the very least a second weapon should be considered regardless of whether Riptide turns out to be the best fit for you.”

Yeah with his luck that was probably a good idea.

“Admittedly there are other factors to keep in mind here.”

“Like what?”

“Some weapons that are old enough can be finicky with their wielders. I do not know if sentience would be the right word here. But they can let whoever holds them know in their own ways they do not appreciate them being held by that owner.”

“...That actually explains a few things.” Like why Riptide hadn’t come back to him during the fight on the arch like it was supposed to. That must have been before it picked him as a wielder properly. “Have you ever had that happen before?”

“No. My trident was made for myself and myself only. So I have never had to deal with that. But I have definitely seen others run into the problem. And I am sorry but what do you mean by that explains a few things?”

“Do you know that Riptide is enchanted to return to its holders pocket?”

“...Yes?”

“Well it might not have returned to my pocket during one of the fights I got in during the quest. I thought at the time it was because it got stuck in the mud. But now I’m wondering…”

“If it might not have fully recognized you yet?”

“Yeah.”

Eventually they had reached the conclusion that it was just too early to know if dropping Riptide as a weapon was a viable plan or not. And instead had refocused on trying to see what other weapons he handled well at the moment.

(He would find out way later from Triton that sea forged weapons tended to be the best for children of the sea. So his difficulty with the camp weapons was because he had nothing before Riptide to handle that came from the sea.

Which had explained quiet a number of things.)

“Just how many weapons can I carry anyway?”

“Honestly that answer depends on both the weapon and the enchantments on it. If you are carrying something that can’t shapeshift like your sword can then that will limit you. And really it is best to be more specialized in a few different weapons than be carrying a lot of them.”

Since admittedly with the mist and things changing items. He probably could get away with carrying a number of weapons. But after a point it might be a bit much.

It felt like having too many could be just as much as a problem as having too little. But maybe he wasn’t understanding the situation…

“Since having too many poorly trained would just make the situation worse?”

“Correct.”

“So what can I learn then?”

Triton sighed. For all of him being the one to start this conversation. He had to realize that maybe now they were having it too soon. If the wrist impacted his brother more then he let on. Then weapons training was going to change after the healer was done with him.

His first inclination was to try and train his brother with a trident. But with the ongoing situation with Perseus’ arm. That probably should wait until after that was taken care of.

Taking it up too soon was simply too risky. It might cause him to learn the weapon incorrectly.

(As it was Triton was already expecting they were going to have to correct some of his training yet again once he was cleared for it. Even if Perseus only seemed to show favoring the arm on occasion. It most likely still had an impact they weren’t seeing.

At least they would have a few months before he would need to worry about camp again.)

So dagger was the next best choice after that. While it wasn’t the same as a sword. It wouldn’t be shaking the boat too much for his brother to learn. And shouldn’t change too much after the end of years events. Or at least no more then the change with the sword would.

Weekends saw him back with Rhode and Benthesykime. And while he had been annoyed in the beginning about them showing up. He had slowly starting to get used to it. Since his Mom always seemed to have something to do that she couldn’t just avoid. Usually schoolwork in his experience. So it was either be around the apartment keep himself entertained.

(Something that could be slightly disastrous with his ADHD.)

Or hang out with his half sisters.

And he was still looking for a present for Dylan. So it wasn’t like this was the worst way of time for once.

Benthesykime tilted her head at him curiously when he had cut himself off mid click. Seeming to realize something he had never picked up on. “You do not realize what you are doing?”

“...no?” 

Was he supposed to? He hadn’t even considered this might be some part of him being a demigod that no one had yet to explain to him. But it would explain a lot of things actually.

School had called them auditory ticks at one point. And had tried to label him with another disorder because of that. But more testing had revealed it to supposedly just be a quirk of the ADHD. Well supposedly anyway.

He first had noticed maybe it wasn’t just that while hanging when Dylan with his friends. Because he had noticed them making some similar noises he had made when he was younger. But hadn’t been sure on how to ask them about it.

So it had come down to talking to Rhode and Benti.

(After some weeks of trying to pronounce his half sisters his name. He had eventually resorted to shortening it with her permission.

Apparently no amount of Greek or Atlantean fluency made her name less of a tongue twister for him. Thankfully she hadn’t seemed to mind it too much. Maybe because she had possibly had another kid do it before?

He honestly wasn’t too sure.)

Finding out it was something he had inherited because of his Dad. Helped explain a lot actually.

Benthesykime tilted her head again at that. Obviously confused. “You act like this is a bad thing?”

“I mean I was kind of discouraged from doing it when I was younger.”

Gabe had discouraged it because to him it was annoying.

And he wouldn’t have cared about it if it had just been from him. But his Mom had also discouraged it growing up. He had thought at the time it was to keep him from being wrongfully labeled. But knowing this now made him realize it was actually because it was a dead giveaway to his heritage.

Now that he didn’t have to worry about keeping that a secret though he could start doing that again. But not stopping the minute he caught himself doing it was going to be a habit that would take time to break.

Benthesykime’s eyebrows narrow before she asks. “Why?”

“My ex-stepdad found it annoying. Which I didn’t care about. Mom also discouraged it though to be honest I never understood her reason.”

Some things she had said in the past now made sense. Since he knew about the Greek world now. However this one was not something he had been able to understand fully yet.

“Ah. That would be because its another form of Atlantean. That I am assuming based on this no one has tried teaching you?”

“No I mean I know I can read it. But no one had ever talked to me about the verbal part of it.”

Though it being Atlantean in origin did explain his mothers reactions when it had come up before. This would have been a major safety risk for him and he wouldn’t have known it.

“Though it does explain Mom’s comments finally.”

“Yes, since only children of the seas would be able to speak the language naturally in such a fashion.” Rhode concluded.

“Yeah probably that.” Percy agreed. “I honestly didn’t even realize I was saying anything. It just sounds like whistles and chirps to me.”

He guessed if he was accidentally speaking another language. He had gotten lucky that he hadn’t ever said something in another language that was offensive. 

But that also might be because he didn’t do this that often. He was going to have to relearn it after the active discouragement to use it probably.

“Yes that will be something we will need to work on.”

“Do you think me starting it this late will be a problem?” If his experience with English was anything to go by this was going to be interesting…

“It shouldn’t. It might not make it easier admittedly. But considering it should come naturally to you. This won’t present a lot of the difficulties other languages would for you. It will be closer to learning Ancient Greek than English in other words.”

“I’m kind of curious why no one brought it up before.”

“Most likely mother and father didn’t realize you could. Being able to read it does not mean you can speak it. And not everyone of the sea demigods can speak Atlantean. It tends to be very hit or miss. Even with mortal children of mother and father.”

Ah that made sense.

Amphitrite used her weekly meet up with Sally to bring up a topic. That her and Poseidon had been talking about. That wasn’t just the birthday party issue. One that had been lingering around for a while now.

Partly because the mortal might have an idea on what to do with the situation. Or if they were reading too much into it.

(Though personally Amphitrite didn’t think so. But mortals were different so she wouldn’t be the best to know.)

“Poseidon and I have been noticing some concerning comments from him. Some in relation to his own powers. Some not.”

Sally let out a quiet sigh at that. Not entirely surprised to hear this. Unfortunately living with Gabe had gotten to them both mentally. It was partly why she had sent Percy away to boarding school. Among many other things she had been hoping getting away from him would improve Percy’s mental health.

She could protect him from the physical harm Gabe inflicted. But from a mental standpoint there had only been so much she could do.

Combine that with the problems from the teachers. With her only being able to support from afar certainly hadn’t helped things.And well him needing help wasn’t a surprise.

She had known Percy probably needed to be seeing someone before now. But before now it just hadn’t been feasible.

“I am aware of it. School hasn’t always been the best for him. Like I’ve said before I wish we had had more options for him.”

School of course wasn’t the only problem. But she does not feel like explaining Gabe and everything there. With the family’s notoriety in certain aspects finding out about Gabe would not go well.

So she couldn’t make any inferences to him.

“Its amazing sometimes how poorly the schools have handled him.”

“Yeah it's all been downhill since the incident in daycare with him getting kicked out over something he had no control over.”

“What happened may I ask?”

“I am still not sure how but apparently some snakes managed to get into his bed during nap time. And he managed to strangle the pair of them.”

At least Amphitrite hadn’t been too judgemental about the topic so far. She knew others in her position, immortal or not, would have been less kind. It just simply wasn’t an easy thing to find for Percy.

Both from a monetary standpoint (The shops insurance would not cover psychiatric care for him or her. That insurance wasn’t nearly that good. And the schools insurance was a step up. But she hadn’t really had a chance to look for a therapist yet.) And from the reality of the fact he was so intertwined with the Greek world.

(Gods knows the school therapists hadn’t handled it well before. And back then they could blame it on an overactive imagination. That wasn’t something they could do anymore. 

Not without Percy having to deal with ill fitting treatment anyway.)

So for proper treatment. And not to be wrongly labeled with something he didn’t have. He needed someone who was also familiar with it. Which was a problem because most mortal therapists didn’t have the faintest clue about the Greek world being actually in existence. 

Something Amphitrite seemed to understand at least in part. “Unfortunately a normal mortal therapist would not have the skills to deal with our world.”

They were most likely going to need an Atlantean therapist to help with Percy. Since even a legacy might be pushing it on how well they could handle it. Since they would arguably need one closer to Percy’s level or with similar background to help with.

And she wasn’t aware of any legacies that could really match that description. 

“They are more likely to label him with something he doesn’t have if they don’t know about the Greek world. Which could be dangerous for him on so many levels.”

“Possibly.” Amphitrite agreed. After all Percy’s relation had already caused a problem once. There was nothing to stop it happening a second time. “But I still think they are his best chance.”

“Not that I really care too much about this. But won’t this interfere with his lesson schedule?” She didn’t think it would be a problem since it was Amphitrite who had brought it up in the first place. But still…

“A bit but we can definitely shuffle his schedule around to accommodate it.”

Especially since it was very apparent her stepson needed it.

“There was also something else I wanted to tell you about. Thankfully this is more of a lighter topic.”

“Is this about the birthday party invite?”

“Yes.”

“Percy talked a lot about it yesterday when he came back. He was excited though he said you hadn’t said yes to the party yet.”

“We’re just taking some precautions before we do so. But the way things are looking it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“That’s good. Thank you again for introducing Percy to them. Its nice to just know of yet another thing managing to improve because of what happened.”

The scorpion attack still wasn’t great for obvious reasons. It shouldn’t have taken her son nearly dying for any of this to happen. But somehow it had lead to Percy being happier in a way she hadn’t seen since before she had brought Gabe home. 

She guessed this is what some people meant when they talked about good things coming out of bad situations.

While his Mom and stepmom were discussing possible health plans. Percy was having a talk with Annabeth. It was basically a weekly thing at this point. Him and Annabeth IMing each other to talk about just about anything.

He felt bad about skipping that past weekend.

But he didn’t know how she would react to the regular visits to Atlantis. When if it hadn’t been for his parents arrangement it would have stopped months ago now. 

“Yeah I was out sick. And Mom insisted on me keeping it easy and not making any unnecessary phone calls or IMs.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong either. He had been kind of out sick. Like he had been told not to overextend himself. But it was just because of the exhaustion.

Not because of some bug going around.

He really needed to talk to Dad about this. Hiding it from Annabeth would only work so long it felt like.

She would eventually figure out that he was telling half truths at best. When it came to what was actually happening. She was too smart to not notice them after some point. And trying to keep the story straight of what he was supposedly doing vs what he was actually claiming. Was starting to get exhausting.

But the only one that could know if he could talk about this at all would be to talk with his Dad’s family.

“I got an invite to someone’s birthday party.”

“Really?”

“Yeah I was just as surprised. Non demigod kids don’t tend to invite me to this kind of stuff.”

Annabeth cringed at that. “Yeah I’ve noticed that as well. A lot of kids don’t seem to know how to interact around me. Which probably isn’t helped by the fact this is my first normal school year in close to six years.”

Yeah that wasn’t something he could entirely relate to. While he had hopped schools a lot. Which definitely hadn’t helped a lot of things. He also hadn’t been living in the camp for the past five years.

And Annabeth might be his best friend. But there were definitely times on the quest he had seen how that isolation hadn’t always done her very good.

He got the campers needed to stay their for there safety. But what happens when it was time to live in the real world again? If Luke was any indicator of things it didn’t probably go well.

But didn’t Annabeth also mention their being counselors in college.

“Have you tried talking to some of the older kids from camp about this? Maybe they can offer some advice on how to handle this? Since you mentioned before they are some of them are in college.”

They at the very least would have a better idea than he had.

Annabeth cringed at that. “I might not have always gotten along with them. So I’m not sure how willing they would be to help.”

That didn’t entirely surprise him. Though admittedly a lot of their own conflict had come from his parents. The fact that she seemed to stick closest to the Hermes cabins. And he had seen a lot more inter cabin friendships the longer he had been at camp.

He had a feeling that while she meant well she probably had gotten on more then a few peoples cases.

“I mean we didn’t get along when we first met. But after getting to know each other things got better. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give it a second chance?”

Admittedly there was extenuating circumstances with them. But it couldn’t hurt to try right?

He just didn’t want Annabeth to be miserable. And maybe this was being too hopeful about the situation. Since it was a hard time getting a read on the older kids at times even for himself but…

He couldn’t really help with this. 

Even though he had been in a mortal school. His first friend had been Grover. Who was from their world. Not the best example to trying to befriend mortal kids. Especially since everyone else he had become friends with since then also were from the Greek world.

“I guess not.” Annabeth admitted slowly after a moment. “I’ll try to keep that in mind at least before trying again.”

“And hey if it doesn’t work out with them you still have us. I know Mom’s always saying I need more friends who aren’t so attached to the Greek world. But I’ve had a hard time. I can’t imagine what it must be like for you.”

Because gods knows it wasn’t like he had the best tracord of making new friends. It hadn’t been until he started meeting kids from the Greek side that had changed. And he was still reticent to even try shaking up things on the Non Greek side.

There was just too much history there in a bad way.

Chapter Text

Percy was not enthusiastic about the idea of doing therapy.

Not that he isn’t sure it can help people. He is sure it can. Just maybe not him since in his experience…therapists and him didn’t get along great.

Or at least the school issued ones didn’t.

But then again they tended to have some of the same issues his teachers used to have. Thinking of him more as an experiment then a patient. Trying to fix his issues. And then getting frustrated with him when he wouldn’t play along.

But it wasn’t like most people knew about that. He was pretty sure his Mom didn’t even know about that problem.

“You do know that schools have tried to send me to therapists and its never worked before right?” Maybe that was a school issue though…It was hard to tell since his Mom had never had the money to try and get him a non school sanctioned therapist.

And in his experience those people tended to behave the same way some of his teachers behaved.

Only taking him on as a pet project. In hopes of being the one that finally fixed him. And maybe it would be different since he wasn’t having a school sent one dealing with him.

Maybe it would be different because this was somewhere within his fathers domain. So arguably they would be able to understand things the mortal therapists just couldn’t…

But he still had his doubts…

Too many bad experiences made it impossible to just hope for the best.

“I am aware. You’re mother, Amphitrite, and I had extensive conversations about this before even bringing it up to you.”

Oh.

Percy honestly wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that.

“Okay then you know I’ve not had the best experience with other therapists before.” Though that might be a fairly decent sized understatement all things considered…

“I am aware. This would be someone that both myself and your stepmother had thoroughly vetted before you would even start. We are going to do everything in our power to prevent what you went through with those others.”

“I mean I bet the school vetted them too.” Percy pointed out with a shrug.

Most of the time.

He wasn’t so sure about Yancy’s ‘therapist’ in hindsight. He was fairly certain the man had been there to collect a paycheck. More then he had been there to try and help any of the kids who had been long since labeled as lost causes. 

And that wasn’t even starting on the whole Mrs. Dodds thing. 

Which yeah she hadn’t been a therapist but also she still had managed to get employed somehow. So they couldn’t have been looking too closely right?

His Dad frowned at that. “I am not certain what I’ve heard about them constitutes something even remotely approaching vetting.”

Okay so he definitely had more details than just the bare minimum then. Because he’s pretty sure his Dad wapouldn’t have made the comment otherwise.

“If it doesn’t work out we can try something else. We’re just concerned Perseus. You’ve been through a lot and being a demigod means things won’t ever be truly healthy. But learning to talk about this can help.”

Yeah it was probably a good thing they didn’t know about his drowning thoughts. Since he was pretty sure this was entirely based on things that had been happening since he had come to Atlantis.

“Yeah its just like I said I haven’t always had the best experience.”

“Yes, your mother has mentioned before that the schools haven’t always been the healthiest for you.”

“To say the least.” Percy muttered more to himself then his Dad. Honestly now the schools issues was the least concerning thing probably in the past year. But he really wasn’t going to tell anyone in the family about the post arch thoughts.

He didn’t need to be able to see the future to know that wouldn’t go well. Since at the very least wanting to drown and being unhappy about being able to do so he knew wasn’t a normal thought. He just never thought a chance of being able to talk to someone who might actually care would be an actual option.

“And if no one works?”

He got this was supposed to help but at the same time…Every time when it seemed like someone was trying to get him to go therapy. It never went well. He didn’t know it was a him thing. Or if he just had bad luck.

But therapy and him had never gone well. 

“Then like I said we can drop the subject entirely if you wish. But we shouldn’t have to reach that point.”

Yeah he wasn’t as enthusiastic about that prospect as his Dad was. But he’ll let him hold onto that delusion for as long as it lasts before the reality hits that always does with him it felt like.

Apparently it hadn’t been mentioned to Triton. Which did actually make sense when he thought about it. The only people that probably needed to be involved in the decision process was his parents, his stepmom, and possibly Althia.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure on the last one.

Mental and physical health weren’t the same thing, right?

“Did they ever try to get you to go?”

“No.” Triton admitted with a wince. “Which admittedly probably didn’t help with certain situations.”

Yeah that pretty much was a given he felt like.

“Though I suspect with recent events mother will be trying to find me one as well. If they don’t just send us to the same one.”

Percy scrunched up his face at that. “That feels like it would cause some kind of weird conflict of interest.”

“Possibly but its not like this is something either of us really know that well.”

“True.”

Part of him realized that he had never met any of his immortal family’s friends at this point. And he wasn’t sure of the exact reason. Though he had several guesses. Including it might be for the same reason he hadn’t told his friends where he actually was. 

(Though that didn’t entirely make sense.)

“I am still trying to understand how you pulled that off.”

“Like I said before, quests are great bonding experiences.” Percy offered with a shrug.

“Which still doesn’t really answer the quest.”

Percy shrugged debating for a second before deciding to give Triton a bit of context. Not enough to give details. “Long story that I don’t feel like going into details but: I did something that pissed her Mom off and she decided to take it out on her for not stopping me.”

Triton stared at him for a moment. “That is certainly an…interesting choice in logic.”

Percy just shrugged at that. Normally he would have thought Echidna was lying. But the fact she was let into the temple in the first place kind of spoke volumes.

Him and Triton were getting closer. And he was slowly feeling like he could trust the God. But he still wasn’t ready to tell him every single thing that had happened on the quest.

Especially since there were things he had skimmed over telling his Dad after returning the bolt.

So not only would he have to deal with Triton’s reaction. He would almost definitely have to deal with his Dad’s reaction as well.

Percy was maybe 10 minutes into the session and he was already mentally done with it. Why did it always seem to go the same way with therapists?

(Admittedly it coming on the heels of that session with his Dad. And him discovering he could apparently cause small earthquakes and gods knows what else. Definitely wasn’t helping matters. 

But the therapist seeming to be more interested in the social ladder. Then whatever help his mother and stepmother seemed to think he needed. Definitely did not help matters.)

You would think that things would change at least a bit. Especially with it being in Atlantis and not in school. But while there were differences between the school therapist and this whole experiment.

He was already starting to notice a few red flags from having done this before so many times.

Guess it really showed how Gods really weren’t infallible since his Dad had reassured him at least a dozen times yesterday. That this time would be different. That it wouldn’t be like all of the other.

And yet here they were.

He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised something like this had slipped through the cracks. But it still annoyed him and hurt a bit.

(Or at least he was hoping it was just a simple matter of missing the issue. That little voice in the back of his head that wasn’t being helped by recent events definitely was questioning that.)

This was supposed to be different. He had been told this time it would be different. Assured multiple times by his Dad and Amphitrite it would go differently.

And yet here they were.

With him having to meet a therapist who he was fairly sure was more interested in getting in his fathers good graces than actually caring. 

(Which honestly was a whole other thing. Wouldn’t you know actually trying to be helpful be better at doing that. Then whatever the so called therapist was trying to pull.) 

And his own reluctance to have done with this in the first place. Since it always seemed to go belly up no matter what he did. No matter who he saw. No matter where he saw them apparently. 

(Honestly with the track record he had. Part of him was starting to question if it was ever possible for him to even find one that didn’t either have ulterior motives. Or didn’t actually have the patience for him.)

It always had the same result.

He just needed to get through to the end of the session. And then ask Dad to either drop it (though he didn’t think he would get that lucky) or change therapists.

Though he had to give it to the mer therapist. This had to be one of the quickest ways to get into his Dads bad graces most likely. Seriously did he think he was going to keep quiet about it or something?

Actually that would make some sense. Since if it wasn’t for his past experiences making him want less to deal with this kind of thing. He probably wouldn’t have told Dad.

Heck he would have probably just started skipping appointments if he thought he could get away with it. But that he knows won’t happen. 

Regardless, he wasn’t going to be coming back.

And thankfully he didn’t think this was going to be something that he had to fight his Dad on.

They’re about five minutes from the office before Triton decides to ask. “So I am going to take based on your face it didn’t go well?”

“Went about the same as normal for me.” Percy said with a noncommittal shrug. He didn’t feel like really going into details about it. And he wasn’t sure what Triton had been told beyond what he had already told him. 

If anything really.

“Which from what mother said normal isn’t exactly good?”

“No, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before.” Percy said with a half hearted shrug. “Well mostly anyway.”

The insinuations around his Dad were different. But that was because the mer had actually known he was alive and was a God.

Versus the other therapists who well…had a habit of making all sorts of conclusions about his dad. And about why he wouldn’t want to be around him. 

Which admittedly there was a bit of an intersection there. But it was less being a deadbeat for his Dad. And more about him just being a mortal demigod.

“And that means?” Triton asks him with a frown.

Oh so Amphitrite had expanded on it then. Since apparently she had told him something going by the earlier comment. But not enough for context. 

“It’s fine. Not like he hasn’t really said anything I haven’t heard before.”

Well mostly anyway. There were definitely some creative comments in there. That came with the territory of being his fathers mortal child. But a lot of it he had heard before more then once in just about every unhelpful manner possible it felt like.

He just didn’t feel like repeating any of them.

Triton stares at his brother for a second later before starting. “Perse-”

(He’s not sure when he’s started being able to read his brother. Especially considering that would have helped a couple of weeks ago. Though that may have also been the grief clouding his judgement again…)

“Really Triton I promise they weren’t any worse then the ones I’ve had before. I just don’t want to repeat them.” Not to say any of the ones before were really any good…

“Only new thing was some stupid comments about the social ladder. Which I don’t even know how we got on that topic. Considering that’s been the last thing I was interested in. But guess everyone likes to make assumptions about demigods.”

Triton is fairly certain he isn’t really supposed to be hearing or paying attention to Percy’s mumbled rant. But godly hearing means he hears it anyway. 

Triton stared at Perseus for a moment. Before deeply inhaling through his nose. He had been hoping the boy’s quietness was simple exhaustion. But apparently it was not. 

Admittedly for a long time, he had been more than happy to have a demigod not trying to climb the social ladder. However as time had gone on in the past few months. He had become not completely oblivious to some of his brother’s comments or attitudes that did not seem healthy at the best of times. 

And while not being so self righteous that you ended up like an olden hero was good. Perseus seemed to swing to the opposite direction in a concerning degree.

(Looking back at the situation where his brother had come to him of all people. To find out if he was okay to stay around on a more regular somewhat permanent basis had been a red flag for something going on. 

He just hadn’t known enough to see it at the time.)

It was partly why he had understood why his half brother was now having some of his day taken up with therapy. Or was supposed to anyway. Since if this was the result of one session. He doubted they would be coming back.

(And he can’t blame him either. Considering these were the kind of assumptions that people that people helping him were supposed to be making. 

Well mostly.

It hadn’t kept him from making those comments he is aware. But he also hadn’t been supposed to be his brothers therapist. So it wasn’t exactly the same kind of help.)

Even if Percy wouldn’t say anything. Father definitely would pull the plug the minute Triton told him about it. Which Triton definitely was planning on doing.

“I am going to be having a talk with this so called therapist of yours.” Triton said turning around to swim back in the direction they had come from. 

It probably would end up being redundant in the end. Since he knew their father and his mother would definitely have choice words for the mer.

“What-no. Triton it’s fine! We can just talk to Dad about it and find someone new.”

Percy had tried to talk Triton out of this before they had returned to the office. All the way there without any success.

So here they were, back at the office. Watching Triton and the so called therapist argue presumably about something around him. Though he was having a hard time catching all the details.

Since Percy could understand Atlantean. Usually.

But they were talking too fast for him to catch exactly what they were saying. But judging by the hand motions and general tone from Triton he wasn’t happy with whatever the therapist had said to him.

Well more unhappy then when he had left the office anyway. It seemed like the therapist just kept making the situation worse for himself. Which was rather impressive considering how heated the argument had been from the start. 

He had to wonder just what was being said now to make it even worse.

Like he had a few ideas. But considering Triton’s normal tolerance for uncomplimentary things towards him it felt like. This went beyond what he could guess and into unknown territory.

And he had no clue how to feel about any of it.

And now Amphitrite had joined the heated discussion.

He’s not entirely sure why his stepmother had decided to show up. The only comment he had gotten from her was a pat on the shoulder before she had joined in saying. “Don’t worry about it darling. We can handle this.”

Something told him the therapist was going to regret the comments. Since judging by both of their reactions neither were happy with him.

Which was weird. Amphitrite he had gotten to know well enough that it was only mildly surprising. But Triton…he knew things were improving but this definitely felt out of left field for his half brother. 

Even after the argument had been going for at least somewhere around twenty to thirty minutes. And it became more and more apparent they weren’t taking whatever comments he was having at face value.

Amphitrite apparently was finally done with trying to argue with the so called therapist. As she swam up to him making a motion to follow her. “Come along Percy we are going.”

There back in the palace living quarters before Percy really has a chance to question Triton on his reaction. The reaction from Amphitrite he had expected at this point.

Maybe not with the level of vehemency.

But he had expected it to some degree.

Triton though? The more he tried to figure out why he had responded that way. The more confused he seemed to get. It just didn’t make sense to him. 

Yeah they were getting closer. And Triton was gradually getting friendly. Especially as he tried to make up for the whole thing around the death of his daughter. 

But he hadn’t pinned them being at the place for Triton to pull this kind of stunt yet. If ever.

Something he told Triton almost point blank. “I thought you would have agreed with him.”

Well maybe not entirely. Some of the comments had been uncalled for. Even part of Percy realized that much. He had only let it go in one ear and out the other. Because arguing back probably wouldn’t have been productive.

And thus it would have been a waste of energy.

But there were definitely some things that had felt like it would have been stuff Triton might have agreed with. At least in the beginning since apparently things had shifted a bit more then he had realized.

Triton sighed knowing internally that the comment wasn’t completely uncalled for. Back when Percy had arrived in Atlantis he definitely would have.

“You are right on that once upon a time. But I do not anymore.”

Triton spending time around children of Rhode’s island had been eye opening. Not only had it given him a better understanding of how mortal children in the modern day worked. 

But it gave him a better idea of how Percy really shouldn’t be. And yet somehow was.

Children shouldn’t have this many levels of self belief that he kept seeing. The fact his brother had walked away from the Pallas argument. Was a giant red flag in hindsight.

And a sign of the things of why his parents had tried to get him a therapist in the first place. Little good that had done.

He really hopes that whoever they find next isn’t such a disaster. Because he isn’t sure how much his brother, understandably, will put up with this kind of thing. 

Their father had already mentioned the sheer reluctance to do this at all. 

“What changed?”

“Getting to know you.” At Percy’s snort he raised an eyebrow. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“I mean considering that half the time when people get to know me it seems to make them like me less? It kind of is.” 

Percy’s hands twisted the shirt he was wearing for a second. Like  he knew things were different now with us then when he first got here. But he guessed he was still having a hard time realizing how much.

“Things don’t normally get better.” 

Annabeth and now Triton apparently. Were the first two people that he could honestly think of that he had started off on a bad note with. And had things actually improve over time with.

Triton stared at him for a moment before asking. “Just how many friendships have you lost over this kind of thing?”

It wasn’t the first time he had wondered something. He had been curious about his brothers relationships. Particularly when he tended to make some sort of curious comment that he wasn’t expecting.

This was the first time asking him about it though.

Percy gave a small shrug at that. Which earned him an exasperated “Percy.”

“I don’t know okay. I’m not trying to underplay it. I just don’t know honestly. Sometimes I know it probably was other families not wanting their kid to be around the wild one with the ‘dangerous imagination.’-”

Triton had a feeling he was at least partially quoting someone there. Which brought up some internal questions for him.

“Maybe this is a mortal thing but I do not understand how an imagination can be dangerous?”

“It’s complicated.” Percy admitted after a second. “I got that label after I ended up on one of my schools rooftops because I saw what I now realize was a pegasus.”

Probably there had been stuff leading up to that admittedly. But he couldn’t exactly remember it. All he did remember was the schools so called counselor giving him some weird lecture just because he saw a pegasus.

He still didn’t understand why that had been a big deal.

Even a few hours later. Percy was still trying to wrap his mind around Triton actually coming to his defense against the therapist. Because for him it was such a wild concept to him that he didn’t know how to handle it.

Of course he had known there was a possibility that they could reach that point. That at least him and Triton might eventually become somewhat amicable at least.

The incident with the ‘mentor’ had really been the first sign of it arguably now that he had time to process it. Or at least to him it felt like it was the first sign. 

But just because something was the first sign didn’t mean anything else. So he hadn’t really expected they were at the point where he would defend him in such a way. 

Especially since the road here had been so bumpy to say the least. For a long time he had pretty much dismissed the chance a long time ago as so foregone it wasn’t going to happen.

Plus in addition to things with Triton, half the time his relationships usually seemed to get worse rather than better. With only some exceptions starting after finding out he was a demigod. Particularly with Annabeth.

So in his mind he had really no reason to think Triton would have even argued for his favor in any form. Let alone against a therapist his parents had found. 

It was just weird. Not bad weird. Just plain weird to him.

Especially since it had only been about a week ago that the whole thing with Pallas had wrapped up. When Triton had stepped on a boundary he really shouldn’t have. And to Triton’s credit he had seemed to understand that after but…

It was such a reversal that he still couldn’t make sense of it.

Was this going to be a permanent thing? This had happened twice after all so it didn’t seem impossible even if he had a hard time thinking so. 

Because what if this was just because Triton had been guilt tripped by the rest of the family over his handling of that situation around what had happened with the hellhound?

Percy honestly didn’t know at this point. And he knew it would take time to figure it out.  Which sucked in its own way because that was probably going to cause its own issues.

Chapter Text

While therapy was continuing to be a dead end for the moment. Things were taking a bit of an interesting turn in terms of looking into Percy’s abilities. 

Trying to teach Percy how to use the mist while not entirely unsuccessful. Had also been a bit more of a struggle compared to his other powers. So maybe when Percy finally lost his patience over lack of progress on it.

(Because while he got this wasn’t something that happened overnight. This was his best chance at maybe not getting blamed for everything under the sun in the mortal world.

Out of all of his abilities he could potentially have. This was the one that he still wanted to learn to control the best. Even after months in Atlantis.)

So him getting frustrated to the point of his powers lashing out in another manner wasn’t something that had entirely surprised Poseidon. It was just he had been expecting him to cause a small storm. Not an earthquake.

A minor one admittedly. But still one nonetheless.

This was definitely unexpected.

Not necessarily bad. Just unexpected. Since it could be channeled into other powers that could be used in other ways that had its usefulness.

And with his sons luck so far. Poseidon felt that his son needed any powers he could get at the moment. No matter how certain gods might feel if this ever came up to them. 

“I’m not in trouble am I?” Percy asked chewing on his lip slightly as he looked back up at his Dad. Which made him realize that his silence as he processed what had just happened had given the wrong impression.

“No.” Poseidon said almost instantly. “I was just a bit startled.”

“I thought you said that having these kind of powers with that domain is pretty rare?”

They hadn’t exactly tested for them yet admittedly. His Dad having only made reference to it once or twice. Since their focus had been elsewhere. They hadn’t known if he could actually do it.

Well not until Percy had accidentally done this.

“It is but Perseus look at me.” Poseidon waited for his youngest to make eye contact before continuing. “Even if this is more unusual. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad thing. You are a demigod who will be more likely to draw attention from unwanted sources compared to your peers. Having more power to defend yourself and your friends is a good thing. ”

Particularly against father and his minions. Especially since no matter as much as Poseidon wanted to deny it there were going to be times Poseidon was only going to be able to interfere so much.

His youngest needed to be able to take whatever gifts he got.

“We just have to teach you how to control it best to protect yourself and others while also being able to use it on the enemy. I know this seems maybe a bit scary right now. But this is not a bad thing to have.”

They needed to nip in the bud any potential fear Percy might develop of his own powers. The last thing his son needed when he would have so much on his plate. Was to be scared of something that could be instrumental in protecting himself and his friends. 

“It’s just so destructive.” Percy said looking at the crack in the ground he had accidentally caused in his frustration.

“Destruction isn’t necessarily a bad thing my son. As I said before it can be a valuable tool in protecting you and those around you. Destruction isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It all comes down to how you use it.”

After all destruction was how one helped build things anew. You couldn’t have one without the other. At least not without great difficulty. 

Percy chewed on his lip at that. But decided not to respond to that last comment. Causing Poseidon to give a quiet internal sigh at that. Seeing already that this was going to take a while to convince his child of his words.

Part of him wonders not for the first time. If they should talk about the Great Prophecy sooner than later. Since it might help explain a few things to his youngest.

Having these powers wasn’t a bad thing. It would be extremely useful in the years to come when you had that kind of label of surviving all odds lingering above you.

However it wasn’t like Perseus actually knew any of that at this point. Telling Perseus was something that really shouldn’t be done on a whim for multiple reasons. It would need to be a family discussion at the very least. And maybe something he needed to do after Perseus felt comfortable with a therapist.

Since for one they might be able to offer some guidance on how to even broach the topic since it implied Perseus could potentially die. For another it would give Perseus someone to talk to that it wouldn’t backfire on him somehow.

If that first therapist had worked out. Than they could already be having this discussion right now about how to potentially broach this topic. But as it was they were scrutinizing potential therapists even more. Before they made a second attempt.

So any attempts at having this conversation were going to be a long while off at the moment. And they were going to have to do damage control on their own. Which probably wasn’t going to be easiest under normal circumstances.

It was made even more difficult with Perseus’ noticeable issues. And Poseidon’s own known tendency to sometimes say the wrong things while well intentioned when it came to difficult topics.

He really needed to get Amphitrite or someone else involved in this conversation. Before something went truly wrong that they couldn’t undo.

“Perseus there are other ways to use the powers in a more defensive manner.” Admittedly he had not really used it that way. But he is sure with some creative thinking they can come up with it. “Just because it is traditionally destructive does not mean it can be only viewed  that way.”

That finally got him to relax a little bit. “Really?”

“Yes. Admittedly that speciality isn’t really my forte. But I am sure I can find someone who can help you learn that side. Along with me working on the other side.”

Percy frowned at that. “Dad-”

“I get you are weary of what one side might bring. But ignoring it will not do any good either.”

Though now that Poseidon had a moment to process his surprise. He realized something else. 

If his son had inherited the earthshaker side of him…then there was very little chance he didn’t at least have a chance to tap into stormbringer as well. It was just that in the heat of the moment the rarer of the two domains had popped up. 

They would need to test Percy for it. And depending on how that went…him and Amphitrite might need to have a discussion about one of their other children. That really was most likely long overdue.

“Perseus showed the ability to use earthshaker domain earlier today.” Poseidon informed Amphitrite later that evening.

That earned him a surprised and naturally a bit of a skeptical look from Amphitrite. “Really?”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t felt the minor tremor. She had. She had just assumed it had come from Poseidon over something she would hear about later. Not that it was coming from the demigod.

“Truly.” At the continued look of skepticism. “Love. What reason would I have for covering up a tremor?”

That was a fair point. But then again weirder things had happened recently she supposed. “When was the last time you had a demigod inherit that domain?”

She certainly couldn’t remember the last time. She had remembered thinking that considering the track record with her husbands demigods. She had been grateful when most of them had never inherited that particular powerset. And had never looked too close. 

“It’s been a few centuries now.”

That’s what she had thought. The last time they had a child with a natural tendency towards that domain had been a long time before Olympus had come to America. 

“This is unusual.”

“Highly. He didn’t exactly handle the revelation of it at first very well.”

Amphitrite gave him a critical look at that. Knowing as much as she loved her husband. He wasn’t the best at words at times. “Poseidon-”

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Don’t worry. I assured him it was nothing to be concerned about. And that it is good to have learned of it now.”

Amphitrite gave a relieved sigh. “Good. We don’t need adding possible catastrophe from fears of his own powers. On top of everything he is dealing with.”

That being said it was probably best to make sure with Percy himself he hadn’t said anything too egregious. Since while he meant well he still could say things out of line without realizing it at times.

While causing an earthquake or an eruption could cause problems of course. There were definite benefits from inheriting the domain. They just needed to make sure the child saw it in due time.

“Yes though…”

“What?’

“This brings up the issue of the Great Prophecy again.”

Amphitrite frowned. “Poseidon I am not sure if telling a just turned 13 year old that kind of information is the best idea.”

While she didn’t entirely agree with her brother in laws embargo on the prophecy. 13 was still fairly young to know that you might die in 3 years time. Especially when they had already seen signs that Persesus was struggling with his mental health.

Dropping something like this on him did not seem like the best idea. Not now anyway.

“I know that. But at the same time I can’t help but wonder if maybe understanding why he needs these powers could help at all.”

Amphitrite hummed in consideration at that. “That is a point to consider I suppose. For the moment though I think this is something we should not rush either way. I think we need an outsiders perspective.”

One way or another they were most likely going to have to tell someone else about the Great Prophecy. Whether or not that was Percy or possibly the therapist they hopefully settled on to get advice from was something they would have to wait and see however.

Triton had dealt with his fair share of interesting training sessions with his brother before. Not all of which had been good. That he knew very well himself. 

But this…well he had never quite seen one that was quite this off before it felt like. And he couldn’t put his finger on why. As far as he could tell he hadn’t done something this time to set his brother off.

He had been working on trying on that. And he had thought he was improving. But then again mortals were still something he would not say he fully understood.

Yet if Triton didn’t know any better…. He would swear Percy was almost holding back in some form. Which was just plain odd. He knew it couldn’t be because of his opponent. 

“Alright what is the problem?” Triton finally asked when he realized that the training was really going nowhere. Since whatever was bothering his half brother was messing with the training.

“What?” Percy looked up at him in confusion.

“You are very much obviously not into the training as you normally are. Which in the entire time we have been working together has never been a problem before. Is this because of the incident last week?” Triton asked.

Percy winces at the question. He hadn’t even realized he had been holding back apparently until Triton had said something. But he guessed this morning had messed with him that much.

He gets why Triton probably thinks its because of last week. He almost wishes it was because of last week. It would probably be easier to deal with it was just because of that therapist. That seemed so simple right now compared to finding out he had the ability to use earthshaker powers.

“No its not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Percy visibly hesitated at the question again. Not really wanting to answer Triton. No matter how much his Dad assured him that there was nothing to worry that these powers nothing to worry about.

And really probably Triton wasn’t going to be the problem part of him knew. 

Gods weren’t going to be the problem when it came to his powers. It was going to be using his powers when he was away from his immortal side of the family. Particularly when he was back at camp.

He had no clue how that was going to go.

“Perseus?”

Triton probably wouldn’t really even understand what he was going through. But he probably wasn’t going to drop it either at this point so… “So during Dad’s lessons today-”

"I guess I'm just worried about how the other kids will see this when everything comes out eventually." Percy eventually finished.

Triton cocked an eyebrow at that. “Why? Can you not see the usefulness?”

Percy shifted uncomfortably a bit at that. “I mean yeah I can. But well-”

All he can remember is how camp barely seemed to tolerate his ‘normal powers’. He doesn’t think him having powers like these are going to go down much better.

Even if he learns to channel them into a much more useful out.

“Well what?”

Percy hesitated still. Him and Triton were getting closer but talking about what had happened right after claiming still felt like a big step forward and part of him wasn’t sure if he was fully ready to take it yet.

But another part of him wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready to talk about how hard that first week had been like with anyone. No matter how comfortable he might get with someone.

Triton opens his mouth to say something. Just as Percy finally makes up his mind. “When it first came out who Dad was. Camp…didn’t take it well.”

Percy isn’t looking at Triton so he can’t see the look on the gods face. But he has a feeling he is frowning when he asks. “What do you mean they ‘did not take it well?’”

“Just that. Right after I was claimed camp basically went out of their way to avoid me. Even people I had been spending regular time with before then were suddenly not wanting to be anywhere near me.”

Which honestly was why this new revelation was freaking him out so much.

It wasn’t like he had gained new sword fighting skills overnight. But you wouldn’t have known that with the way the rest of the Hermes cabin had suddenly up and refused to go anywhere near him after the capture the flag game had happened.

“The only people that would regularly come anywhere near me were Annabeth and that was because of the Ancient Greek lessons. Luke for sword fighting lessons. And Grover of course. Everyone else went out of their way to avoid me in the week after I was claimed and before I left on the quest.”

“Is that why you struggled with excepting the traitor as being a traitor?” Triton asked with a frown.

“Yeah that was definitely part of it.” Percy agreed.

When the amount of people that had been willing to put up with him being the son of Poseidon in the beginning had been so low. He apparently had been willing to ignore almost anything apparently. 

Even when Luke was ignoring him for the better part of the summer. Which in hindsight was a giant red flag. That he had really wanted to ignore.

“Like I said before when you don’t have a lot of friends. You tend to grasp at straws to keep the ones you have. Even if it leads to stupid decisions.”

Okay maybe he should have been more weary of Luke when he thought about it now. But hindsight is 20 20 as his Mom liked to say. 

Triton sighed. “It might not have been the smartest. But considering what you just informed me it does make the most sense and I feel most would not fault you given the situation.”

Percy blinked at the comment not having that from Triton of all people. That was a more sympathetic response to the whole thing. Than what Triton had been giving in the past. Where was this coming from?

“Anyway how do you think Dad’s going to handle this? He did say this is a bit unusual?”

“I am not entirely sure. But I suspect that father maybe getting one of our other sisters involved you haven’t met yet.”

Percy frowned at that. “Who?”

“Kymopoleia.”

Percy blinked. He remembered reading about her. But he hadn’t exactly missed the fact that none of them were around. And he had no clue if asking about any of them. Particularly the one that seemed to be the most well known one was a good idea. Considering he knew about the concept of Gods fading. Plus after finding out about Pallas…

He wasn’t entirely sure if going around asking about random sea gods was the best idea in the family. Since he didn’t know if her not being around was by choice. Or by force. Or something weirdly in the middle.

“I remembered hearing about her. But I hadn’t seen her so I wasn’t sure about asking after some of the rest of our family history…” Percy trailed off hoping Triton would get where he was going with that.

“Ah in her case it’s nothing quiet like that.” Triton said waving off the concern. “Her and our parents had some arguments a few millennia ago that ended poorly in part mainly due to her domains. She hasn’t been back since. Though he keeps in touch with Rhode though from what I understand.”

“Oh.” Percy said. That option honestly hadn’t even occurred to him. Though really it should have. And now that was causing a worrying thought starting to form in his head. “Is that same sort of thing going to be a problem for me.”

Some part of him knew he was being irrational. His Dad hadn’t overreacted when he had let over that little quake earlier today accidentally. But Percy was still very much freaked out by that discovery as it was. 

And to find out someone else in the family had violent powers that hadn’t been taken well. Even if she was a goddess and he very much was not a god. Well it wasn’t setting the happiest president for him to say the least.

Triton shook his head at the question however. “No. For one your a demigod. For another I think mother has been coming to the recent realization that they didn’t handle everything with her the best. But only looked to rectify it recently.”

Percy blinked at that in confusion. Not really seeing how he could have possibly contributed to that kind of change in mind. And wondered what conversation his godly family was having when he wasn’t around. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. You are still new to our world so you’re still learning this. But gods are slow to change. And thus can be slow to realize things. But sometimes it takes something staring us point blank for us to come to a realization. Which I believe is what happened with mother.”

Huh. That he honestly didn’t know about.

Talking to Triton had relieved some of the pressure of the discovery at least. Made him feel like it wasn’t entirely the end of the world as much. And help him see more what his Dad had meant in that their could be uses to his powers.

But he still couldn’t entirely shake the nervousness about what would inevitably happen when camp found out about the powers. Part of him wanted to think that after the initial big shock nothing would happen again.

But…he couldn’t entirely ignore the fear again.

Part of him wanted to call Annabeth and ask her for her opinion on this. But there was no way to do that. Not without raising too many questions that he probably wouldn’t be able to answer.

And what if he didn’t like the answers he got from her anyway?

No it was probably best to just leave people out of the loop. And only use the powers when he absolutely had to. That way they minimized a risk of a repeat of what happened last summer over people ostracizing him again over the littlest thing.

Even if that wasn’t what everyone else was telling him to do apparently.

“You're still are in regular contact with Kymopoleia correct?”

Rhode frowned in surprise. This was unexpected. When her mother had come to her saying she needed to do something for her. She had not been expecting a conversation about her sister.

While her mother did ask occasionally about Kymopoleia occasionally. It had been a while. And she couldn’t think of a particular reason for her to be enquiring about her now.

“Yes, why?” 

“Your father and I think it is well past time to try to bring her home again. He thinks she would be best at teaching Perseus some of his abilities.”

Rhode frowned slightly at that. Seeing the plans that her parents were most likely putting together. Having already heard of the most recent incident with her younger brothers powers. 

And while it made some sense. As far as she was aware her younger brother hadn’t summoned a storm, yet. 

“Just because Perseus inherited father’s earthshaker domain doesn’t necessarily mean he got stormbringer.”

“No but the odds are highly likely. Considering how many of his children are inclined to that as it is. And how rare the other domain is to begin with.”

That was true enough Rhode supposed. “Not that I am not happy to bring the offer to her. But why even have her be the tutor to begin with? Couldn’t father do the job just as well?”

“Your father and I think that someone with a less restrained approach is what Percy needs. While he shouldn’t be one that has no restraint towards other mortals for obvious reasons. In battle with monsters he also should not fear his own abilities. And Kymopoleia naturally of course-”

Rhode made an aw noise finishing what her mother had started. “Will have less restraint when teaching how to conjure storms and that should carry over to certain other abilities hopefully?”

“That is the hope yes.”

“I can’t guarantee that she will say yes, you know that?”

Admittedly the curiosity about a sibling with these powers might be enough to at least bring her home temporarily. Especially when combined with a lift of the banishment. Kymopoleia would never admit it of course but she did miss Atlantis.

Rhode could see it even if she did her best at hiding it. 

“I am aware. I just ask that you try.”

Triton managed to get a chance to talk to Rhode before she went off to talk to Kymopoleia. 

Rhode raised an eyebrow at him stopping her. Knowing how her two siblings did not always get along at the best of times before the banishment. “Do you think this is a bad idea?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I do think this is a good one. I was just wondering that is all I suppose. Kymopoleia is probably what he needs anyway. Since he is acting more restrained than normal since that reveal.”

For all their disagreements and butting heads. He knew when something was over his head. And for once his other sister was the approach needed in this situation.

Plus this was a call being made by his parents. And if they thought she was the best person for this situation. Then so be it. Since truthfully there weren’t many people besides their father that could teach Perseus.

Rhode’s eyebrows went up in surprise. For one it was unheard of for her brother to actually agree that their sister’s approach was the more called for approach here. Though that wasn’t the more concerning statement at the moment…

“Perseus’s never been one to behave like this before.” Rhode said, pursing her lips into a frown. She admittedly hadn’t done much teaching of her younger brother beyond working a bit on the Atlantean language over the weekends.

But from what little exposure she had of that. He hadn’t exactly held back on that. And from the stories she had always heard Perseus, like most children of the sea, was not one for self restraint.

So this behavior was unusual and concerning.

“No.” Triton agreed with a tired sigh.

“So where is this coming from?”

“Apparently when father claimed him. The camps reaction to it left a lot to be desired. And that is now snowballing into this based on the conversation we had earlier.”

Rhode’s eyebrow went up at that. Her brother was not one to believe in his siblings to be coddled just simply being demigods and thus being Atlantean royalty. So if he is agreeing with her brother on something. “Just what exactly did they do?”

“Ignore and isolate him for the better part of a week. Which I would have been skeptical to believe but it helps explain how he was so willing to ignore the red flags that is the fact that he was friends with the traitor.”

Rhode gave a sympathetic wince as she realized what Triton was saying. “Because the boy was one one the few boys that wasn’t ignoring him I take it?”

“Yes.”

“Wonderful. Sounds like Benthesykime is going to have her work cut out for her.” Rhode said with a wince massaging her temples. 

Triton made a confused noise at that.

“Ah I take it you did not hear then?”

“About what?”

“After some choice words from Percy to her and some second hand stories through mother apparently. Benthesykime is rather determined to make some changes at camp. This is just another thing to address there apparently.”

“Percy is the only child of Poseidon.” Triton pointed out with a frown.

“True.” Rhode agreed. “ But I doubt the behavior of ostracization is unique to him. That sounds like something that is taught.”

“Ah I may not have considered that.”

Admittedly he isn’t entirely sure what other children the camp could ostracize. But that was an issue for his sister to figure out.

“Children can be creative in their cruelty. I have unfortunately seen that on my own island at times. I am not entirely sure what Percy might have gone through himself. But if he is weary. Then there must be a reason. Hopefully between our sisters something can be done before this truly becomes a bigger problem.”

“Hopefully.” He agrees.

Kymopoleia was about as weary about the offer. As Rhode had expected her sister to be.

It wasn’t that her sister didn’t want to come back. She did want to come back. She had expressed interest in it over time since whole series of arguments had occurred. But despite Mother’s insistence that there were no strings attached to the offer.

Well she had a hard time believing…and Rhode couldn’t blame her for the skepticism. Especially since it was Rhode making the offer and not her parents.

Even if it was well intentioned at the end of the day. 

“Considering how things went the last time the three of you tried to have a conversation. Mother thought it was best I make the offer.” Rhode explained.

“I guess that explains it. Though I still don’t get why now after all this time. Like I am not really complaining but the flip is sudden. Did we have another sibling I missed out on?”

“Father did go and have another child, yes. But he is a mortal. He showed a recent alignment to father’s earthshaker domain which of course means-”

“That he probably also inherited Stormbringer by extension.”

“Yes.”

“And I am less likely to hold back on lessons than the Old Man. Which we all know but usually isn’t the thing that gets me brought into teaching the kids.”

“In this case our brother has had some issues with some other children and attitudes towards his powers. So I think it is being decided that a more free spirited approach is actually what he needs for once.”

“Ah. Well that’s definitely…different.” Kymopoleia said. “So what’s the catch?”

Rhode gave a tired sigh. Understanding her sister's weariness but at the same time… “If there is one. At this point I was not told of it. I told you what I was told.”

“Pardon me for being skeptical. But it sounds too good to be true for there not to be a catch in this whole situation Rhode.”

And she completely understood her sister's skepticism. “I get where you are coming from. But all I can tell you is what I’ve been told and at this point-”

“There’s no catch.”

“None.”

“Well I guess we’ll see if that actually ends up being true.”